XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Country Restriction: AU only
Risk Type: Unusual Risk
Business Function: Sales
Overview
The "Unusual Monthly Invoicing" XBert detects months where your total invoicing to a specific customer appears significantly higher or lower than normal. By identifying these statistical outliers, this alert helps you catch potential invoicing errors or uncover meaningful trends in client behaviour.
What it does
This XBert compares the monthly invoicing totals for each customer (based on invoice due dates) over the past 12 months. If the total invoiced for a recent month falls outside the expected range — as determined by a statistical outlier calculation — it triggers an alert, prompting you to review that period's invoices for accuracy.
How it works
XBert reviews invoices with statuses of Paid and Raised, excluding those that are Deleted or Voided. For each customer, it:
Calculates monthly totals using invoice due dates.
Excludes the current month (as it may be incomplete).
Identifies outlier months using the interquartile range (IQR) method, flagging any invoice totals that are unusually high or low compared to typical patterns.
Issues an alert for each detected outlier within the last 3 completed months.
Example/Use Case
Higher than usual: Your business normally invoices Bob’s Burgers between $1,000 and $2,000 monthly. This month, you’ve issued invoices totalling $5,000. It could be due to a genuine uptick in business — or it may be a mistake, such as an incorrect invoice amount or a duplicated invoice.
Lower than usual: Client ABC has received $2,000–$3,000 in invoices each month for the past year. Suddenly, you’ve only invoiced them for $200. This could mean an invoice is missing a zero, was forgotten entirely, or that your client has reduced their engagement without notice.
Accounting software
All major Australian-compatible accounting software (e.g., Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online).
Which countries it supports
Australia only.
Processes
This alert falls under the ‘Sales (AR)’ category and supports proactive financial oversight. To resolve this issue:
Open the Sales records for the flagged customer.
Review all invoices due in the month noted by XBert.
If an error is identified, correct it by reissuing the invoice or creating a credit note.
If the invoice is incorrect and should not be paid, void it and notify the client accordingly.
If no issue is found and the invoicing is valid, you may file the alert as complete.