In an emergency, receipts paid through check request forms can inadvertently create a situation where duplicate payments can slip. Since three-way matching is not often used when processing check requests, the purchase order and recipient are usually open.
And when the original invoice finally appears in accounts payable, it is processed through a standard payment process and second payment is made. What is worse is that these check request payments are sometimes paid without a backup, making it difficult, if not impossible, to link them to a particular invoice.
Manual data entry practice encourages the issue of double invoice where invoice numbers can be repeated. Most organizations know that they need to include invoice coding standards and have done that.
This greatly reduces the possibility of duplicate payments. However, what they can miss out on is the nifty ways processors can work around the controls. Virtually, all processors know that they can force an invoice through their system simply by adding a space or period or some other digit or letter to the invoice number.
Payments made by employees who are not fully educated on strict accounts payable can lead to duplication. With the transfer to ACH and p-cards, a significant number of organizations are allowing employees to make payments outside of accounts payable.
When looking superficially, there is nothing wrong with that. However, if these employees are not trained using strict coding standards in accounts payable, or do not properly close the purchase order or receipt document, the issue of duplicate payments arises.
Also, although not related to payments, incorrect closing of these relevant documents can lead to inaccurate financial statements and additional work because one has to review.
The lack of a single payment method to pay each merchant can sometimes result in payment being made with both the p-card and the invoice. While it is a good theoretical practice to pay each vendor using only one payment vehicle, in practice this is not always possible.
Some p-card sellers claim that they cannot suppress invoice printing and theoretically most of them are marked with zero balance or the invoice is paid via p-card.
In the past, it was relatively easy to find a faxed copy of an invoice or second invoice. Today, with the advancement of printing and email, it is not so easy anymore and it is often impossible to know which the original is and which the copy is.
Vendors send PDF files of invoices, and it is difficult to know if the invoice was received for the first or is a copy. Although refusing to pay from copies copying or faxing is still a good idea, this approach will not give you the same protection it did a few years ago.
While it is not possible to completely eliminate duplicate payments, by identifying problems that can cause them and taking appropriate security measures, you can greatly reduce their number with minimized efforts.
It goes without saying that you can use technology to your advantage and use automating invoice processing.
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