XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Country Restriction: All regions
Risk Type: Duplicate Risk
Business Function: Purchases
Overview
The "Duplicate Bill Raised" XBert detects bills that appear to have been entered more than once for the same supplier, amount, and due date. Identifying duplicate bills early helps prevent duplicate payments, overstated expenses, and inaccurate financial reporting.
What it does
This XBert checks all Draft, Submitted, and Authorised bills in your accounting system and looks for duplicates based on a unique combination of:
Supplier name and ID
Bill due date
Bill code
Bill amount
Currency
Bill line descriptions
If more than one bill shares these details, XBert raises an alert for potential duplication.
How it works
XBert reviews your bills and identifies duplicates by matching key fields. If two or more bills exist with the same amount, due date, supplier, and descriptions — and they are still in Draft, Submitted, or Authorised status — the alert is triggered. This allows you to review and resolve the issue before multiple payments are made or financial data is distorted.
Example/Use Case
A bookkeeper returns from leave and begins entering a backlog of bills. While they were away, the receptionist created and saved a bill for a recent staff training session but didn’t mark it as complete in the system. The bookkeeper unknowingly enters a second bill for the same training. Both bills are later paid, resulting in an unnecessary duplicate payment. The supplier, unaware of the error, never refunds the second payment — and the company absorbs the loss.
Accounting software
All major Australian-compatible accounting software (e.g., Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online).
Which countries it supports
All regions.
Processes
This alert falls under the ‘Purchases (AP)’ category and helps prevent duplicate data and payments. To resolve this issue:
Review all flagged bills for the supplier, including those in Draft, Submitted, and Authorised status.
Confirm if the bill was intentionally raised more than once.
If it's a duplicate, delete or void the unnecessary bill to prevent duplicate payment.
If the bill is part of a recurring entry, you can file the alert to avoid future false positives.
Double-check that no partial payments have been made across both versions, which could require additional correction.