XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online
Country Restriction: All supported countries
Risk Type: Data Quality Risk
Business Function: Sales
Overview
The "Duplicate invoice raised" XBert finds sales invoices that look like they have been raised more than once for the same customer. Catching duplicates early protects your cash flow, keeps your sales figures accurate and saves your customers the confusion of being billed twice.
What it does
This XBert scans the sales invoices you have raised over the last 12 months and looks for two or more invoices that share exactly the same key details. The details it compares are:
Customer
Invoice number
Due date
Total amount
Currency
When more than one invoice matches on every one of these details, XBert treats it as a likely duplicate and raises an alert for you to review.
How it works
XBert looks at your current sales invoices and groups together any that go to the same customer with the same invoice number, due date, total amount and currency. If a group contains more than one invoice, the alert fires so you can confirm whether it is a genuine duplicate.
To keep the alert relevant and avoid false alarms, XBert deliberately limits what it checks:
It only looks at invoices raised in the last 12 months, so old closed-off invoices are ignored.
It only considers invoices that are still live in your ledger, that is invoices in a draft, submitted or authorised (approved) status.
Invoices that have been voided or deleted are ignored, because they no longer affect your accounts.
Example/Use Case
Priya, a bookkeeper, returns from a week of leave and starts clearing a backlog of billing. Without realising, the account manager had already invoiced some of the same jobs while she was away, including a $1,200 invoice to Macks Earthworks. Priya raises another invoice for the same job, with the same invoice number, due date and amount. The business now shows $2,400 of sales instead of $1,200, its revenue reports are overstated, and when the team chases payment the customer is annoyed at being billed twice. XBert flags the matching pair so Priya can void the extra invoice, restore the correct sales total and follow up with the customer before any harm is done.
Accounting software
This XBert runs on all major supported accounting platforms, including Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online.
Which countries it supports
This XBert is available in all supported countries.
Processes
This alert falls under the Sales (accounts receivable) area and helps keep your customer billing accurate. To resolve it:
Open the invoices flagged for the customer and compare them side by side, checking the invoice number, due date, amount and the work being billed.
If one of them is a genuine duplicate, void or delete the extra invoice so the customer is billed only once.
If both invoices are correct and intentional (for example two separate jobs that happen to be the same value), no change is needed and you can simply note that they are legitimate.
If the invoice belongs to a recurring billing schedule, review the schedule so the same charge is not being raised twice.
Agree a clear invoicing process with your team so the same job is not billed by more than one person.
Once the invoices are correct, mark the XBert as resolved.