XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Country Restriction: All regions
Risk Type: Other Risk
Business Function: Purchases
Overview
The "Accounts Payable Process Not Followed" XBert identifies when payments to suppliers have been processed via bank transactions rather than being reconciled against existing bills. This helps ensure that your accounts payable workflow remains consistent and accurate, reducing the risk of duplicate payments, incorrect profit and loss reporting, and unresolved liabilities.
What it does
This XBert monitors suppliers who have previously had bills entered and paid through the accounts payable (AP) process. If subsequent payments to those same suppliers are made via direct bank transactions without linking them to bills, XBert will raise an alert. This supports a consistent bookkeeping process and accurate reconciliation.
How it works
XBert reviews your accounting data to find:
Suppliers with bill payments recorded in the last year.
The most recent payment date for each supplier.
Any spend money bank transactions dated after that last payment, made to the same supplier.
If such transactions exist and haven’t been reconciled as bill payments, XBert alerts you — limited to the top 10 suppliers by total spend, for prioritisation.
Example/Use Case
A bill for $3,400 was raised and approved for payment to ACME Services for an advertising campaign. The money is transferred, and Bob, when reconciling the bank account, codes the $3,400 directly to the Advertising expense account. Although the payment was made to the correct supplier and account, it wasn’t matched to the bill. The bill remains in the system as unpaid, while the same expense is also recorded via a separate bank transaction. This results in overstated expenses and an open payable that shouldn’t exist.
Accounting software
All major Australian-compatible accounting software (e.g., Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online).
Which countries it supports
All regions using accounts payable workflows.
Processes
This alert falls under the ‘Purchases (AP)’ process and is designed to encourage best practice in bookkeeping and reconciliation. To resolve this issue:
In your accounting software, locate the bank transactions that were incorrectly reconciled as direct expenses.
Unreconcile each transaction to return it to the bank feed.
Reconcile the bank statement lines properly against the corresponding approved bill.
This ensures the bill is marked as paid and avoids duplicate entries in your Profit & Loss report.