XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online
Country Restriction: All supported countries
Risk Type: Financial Reporting Risk
Business Function: Sales
Overview
This XBert checks whether the same sales invoice has been raised twice to the same customer. A duplicated invoice double-counts your income, overstates the amount the customer appears to owe, and can over-report the GST or VAT you have collected. Catching it early keeps your revenue, debtors and tax figures accurate.
What it does
It looks across the sales invoices you have raised and groups them by customer. For each customer, it checks whether the same invoice has been entered more than once for the same amount within a short period.
How it works
This XBert raises a flag when two invoices to the same customer carry the same invoice number and the same total within about 30 days of each other. To avoid false alarms, it deliberately ignores a number of normal situations:
Recurring or repeating invoices, such as a subscription or standing monthly charge, are skipped.
A regular series of invoices to the same customer for the same amount at roughly monthly intervals is treated as expected and is not flagged.
Voided, deleted, draft and rejected invoices are ignored, because a cancelled or corrected invoice is not a real double-up.
Very small or nil-value invoices are ignored, as they do not pose a meaningful risk to your figures.
An invoice number that has been used across several different amounts is treated as a generic reference rather than a duplicate.
In short, it focuses on the clearest sign of a genuine double-up: the same invoice number, for the same amount, raised again to the same customer in a short period.
Example/Use Case
Priya runs a design studio and raises invoice INV-2048 to a client, Harbour Cafe, for $3,300 on 2 June. Two weeks later, while catching up on admin, she raises what she thinks is a new invoice but enters the same number, INV-2048, again for $3,300. Her accounting software now shows Harbour Cafe owing $6,600 and her income inflated by $3,300, with extra GST recorded that was never actually charged. XBert flags the second invoice as a likely duplicate. Priya checks her records, confirms the work was only billed once, and voids the duplicate. Her revenue, the customer's balance and her BAS figures are all correct again.
Accounting software
This XBert runs on Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online.
Which countries it supports
This XBert is available in all supported countries.
Processes
Business area: Sales (Accounts Receivable). To resolve this XBert:
Open both invoices and compare the customer, invoice number, date and total.
Confirm whether the goods or services were genuinely billed twice, or whether one invoice is an accidental re-issue of the other.
If it is a duplicate, void or delete the extra invoice so the customer is only billed once.
Check that the customer's outstanding balance and your sales income now reflect the correct figure.
If the original invoice has already been paid or partly paid, allocate the payment correctly and refund or credit the customer for any overpayment.
Review the effect on the relevant GST or VAT period and adjust your next return if the duplicate was already reported.
If both invoices are correct and genuinely separate, no change is needed.
Once corrected, mark the XBert as resolved.