Duplicate Invoice Check - Part 1
created by G. Ajit Kumar on Jan 24, 2013 12:29 PM, last modified by G. Ajit Kumar on Feb 4, 2013 7:21
AM
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Introduction:
When I was sent on my first assignment on starting out my career as an apprentice with an Auditing firm, the first instruction
that was handed out was to cross check all the Invoices with their Purchase orders and the GR documents.
If all the documents were in place they had to be marked with a green tick. And if by any chance any instance was noticed
wherein all the documents were not in place, it was a probable duplicate invoice posted in the system and it had to be marked
with a red mark to be digged in further.
At that time, I used to wonder if there was any automated system to do this manual task or even better to prevent any of this
from happening, it would have been great.
SAP has an answer to address this issue.
Object of the document:
This document is an attempt to analyze the issue of duplicate invoice postings and ways to prevent them.
The document covers:
Brief introduction to Duplicate Invoices
Possible reasons for Duplicate Invoice Postings
Holistic approach to be adopted to prevent Duplicate Invoice Postings
Detailed overview of the processes available in SAP to prevent Duplicate Invoice Postings
Example illustrating the duplicate invoice check process in SAP
Duplicate Invoices:
Duplicate Invoice postings happen when a single invoice received from a vendor is posted in the system more than once and
consequently paid more than once.
Reasons for Duplicate Invoice Posting:
Duplicate Invoices might be posted in the SAP system because of various reasons such as:
Vendors sending invoices more than once because of delay in payments or misplacement of invoices
Invoices posted twice because of simple inefficiency of accounting staff
Duplicate Invoices posted by staff with an intention to defraud the organization
Duplicate Invoice Posting which can be prevented:
Duplicate invoice postings and consequent payments made as a result of AP staff colluding with vendors with an intention to
defraud the organization would require targeted efforts to detect and prevent.
In cases other than the above, duplicate invoice postings can be prevented by adopting the inbuilt features and processes in
SAP.
Holistic Approach to Prevent Duplicate Invoice Postings:
Implementing the inbuilt processes in SAP for checking Duplicate Invoice Postings will not eliminate the risk of duplicate
invoice posting arising because of collusion of AP staff to commit fraud.
But it will certainly help in making the system more robust and reduce the chances of duplicate entries because of reasons
other than fraud.
A holistic approach to mitigate the risk of duplicate invoice postings includes:
Restricting the access to create vendor masters to authorized people only and preferably staff from non-AP functions
Putting in place framework for preventing creation of duplicate vendors
Creating a framework for identifying and blocking vendors that do not have any transactions in say, previous three months
Making certain fields like Bank Account Number, Alternate Payee etc. in the vendor master as sensitive fields, requiring
approval by authorized persons, for making changes
Use the PO process for most, if not all procurements
Use the three way check (Purchase Order, Goods Receipt and Invoice Verification)
Limit the usage of Non-PO processes for procurement
Adopting the process of parking, posting and approving of invoices by different users, to record invoices.
Making the Header Reference Number field as a mandatory field for all the document types used for posting vendor invoices
Making requisite configuration settings to achieve the duplicate invoice checks in case of Logistics Invoices.
Finally, creating programs for identifying duplicate payments which have passed through despite the best efforts
Processes to be adopted in SAP to carry out a check for Duplicate Invoice Posting:
In SAP there is an inbuilt check for ensuring that duplicate invoices are not posted.
The check can be achieved by a combination of the following:
Vendor Master data maintained with Indicator for duplicate invoices and credit memos checked
Message to be displayed on entering a duplicate invoice should be maintained as - Error Message Type
Additional parameters configured in SPRO to control the fields to be checked in case of Logistics Invoice Verification
Making the Reference document number field as a mandatory field for all the document types used for posting vendor
invoices
Maintain the field - Check Flag for Double Invoices and Credit Memos (LFB1-REPRF), as mandatory, for the account
groups being used for vendors
Duplicate Invoice Check Relationship with Invoice Type:
The Duplicate Invoice check carried out by the system will depend upon whether the invoice is a:
FI Document or
Logistics Invoice document
Process Flow of Duplicate Invoice Check depending upon Invoice Type:
Fields checked in case of Logistics Invoice Verifiaction:
In case of Logistics Invoice, the following six fields would be checked to identify duplicate invoices in standard SAP:
Company Code
Vendor
Currency
Gross Invoice Amount
Reference document number
Invoice Date
Out of the above fields, there is an option available to skip the checking of any of the following three fields while trying to
identify duplicate invoices:
Company Code
Reference document number
Invoice Date
This can be acheived by carrying out the requisite configuration in the transaction - OMRDC.
Whether the duplicate invoice checks would consider the fields Company Code, Reference Document Number and Invoice
Date would depend upon whether these fields are configured as activated or deactivated in OMRDC.
Description Transaction Code
Set Check for Duplicate Invoices OMRDC
Screenshot of Duplicate Invoice Check Configuration:
Fields checked in case of FI Invoices:
The fields to be checked to identify duplicate invoices in the case of FI invoices depend upon whether the reference
document number is filled or not.
Reference document number is NOT filled up:
In the cases where the reference document number field is not filled up, the following fields would be checked to identify
duplicate invoices:
Company Code
Vendor
Currency
Invoice Date
Amount in document currency
Reference document number is filled up:
In the cases where the reference document number field is filled up, the following fields would be checked to identify
duplicate invoices:
Company Code
Vendor
Currency
Invoice Date
Reference document number
Illustration of Duplicate Invoice Check:
SAP Configuration - Define the field Double invoice validation as mandatory field:
Maintaining the field status of the field - Double invoice validation as a required entry field will ensure that whenever a
vendor master is created the field Check Flag for Double Invoices or Credit Memos in the Payment Data tab of the company
code segment of the vendor master is always checked.
Description Transaction Code
Define Screen Layout per Company Code (Vendors) SPRO
Screenshot of Field Status of Double Invoice validation field marked as mandatory:
Master data - Maintain Vendor Master:
Description Transaction Code
Create/Change vendor master FK01/FK02/XK01/XK02
Screenshot of Vendor Master Data:
SAP Configuration - Change Message Control:
Maintain the message - Check whether document has already been entered under number & & & as an Error message
type.
This will put a hard stop to the process of duplicate invoice being posted in the system.
If the message is not maintained as an error message the system will display the message as a warning or information and
allow the user to go ahead and post the duplicate invoice.
Description Transaction Code
Check Message Control OBA5
Screenshot of Error Message maintained:
SAP Configuration - Maintain Document Type:
Maintain the field - Reference Document Number (XBLNR) in all the document types used for posting vendor invoices as
requiring an entry while posting invoices.
This will make the user mandatorily enter a Vendor Invoice number in the field. This will aid in the process of duplicate
invoice check in the system.
Description Transaction Code
Maintain/Change Document Types OBA7
Screenshot of Document Type with Reference document number field marked as mandatory:
Transactional data 1 - for illustrating Duplicate Invoice Check process:
Description Transaction Code
Enter Vendor Invoice FB60
Post an Invoice against a vendor.
In the example an invoice is posted against a vendor with the following parameters:
Company Code - 0001
Vendor - TESTVENDOR
Currency - EUR
Invoice Date - 19.12.2012
Reference document number - DUPL1
Screenshot of Document entered
A document is posted with number 1900000005 as displayed above.
Transactional data 2 - for illustrating Duplicate Invoice Check process:
Description Transaction Code
Enter Vendor Invoice FB60
Try to post a Duplicate Invoice against the same vendor with the same parameters as already mentioned above.
In this example an invoice is tried to be posted against the same vendor with the identical input parameters as already entered
for document - 1900000005:
Company Code - 0001
Vendor - TESTVENDOR
Currency - EUR
Invoice Date - 19.12.2012
Reference document number - DUPL1
After entering the input parameters when the save button is clicked an error message is displayed - Check whether
document has already been entered under number 0001 1900000005 2012
Error Message Screen Shot:
For further details and illustrations please refer to the SCN document - http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-35424
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Duplicate Invoice Check - Part 2
created by G. Ajit Kumar on Jan 28, 2013 9:22 AM, last modified by G. Ajit Kumar on Jan 28, 2013 12:07
PM
Version 3
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Introduction:
As discussed in the document - Duplicate Invoice Check - Part 1 (http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-35459), the duplicate
invoice check is performed on the basis of a combination of configuration settings and master data maintained.
This document is an attempt to analyze the importance of checking the field - Check Flag for Double Invoices or Credit
Memos in the Vendor Master, in the entire process of Duplicate Invoice Checks.
The FI Invoice posting process has been used for illustrating the importance of checking the field - Check Flag for Double
Invoices or Credit Memos in the Vendor Master.
The fields to be checked to identify duplicate invoices in the case of FI invoices depend upon, whether the reference
document number is filled or not.
In the example taken, the reference document number is filled up.
When a document is tried to be posted in the SAP system, in the cases where the reference document number field is filled
up, the system would check the values entered in the following fields to identify duplicate invoices:
Company Code
Vendor
Currency
Invoice Date
Reference document number
Expected Results:
If identical input parameters are tried to be entered in the system:
If the duplicate invoice check settings are in place, then an error message will be displayed and the document would not be
posted in the system
If the duplicate invoice check settings are not in place, then the duplicate invoice would be posted in the system
Step 1: Master Data Maintained - for illustrating the Duplicate Invoice Check:
Description Transaction Code
Create/Change Vendor Master XK01/XK02/FK01/FK02
The field Check Flag for Double Invoices or Credit Memos in the Vendor Master taken in the example is Unchecked as
shown in the screen shot below:
Step 2 - Transaction Data for illustrating the Duplicate Invoice Check:
Description Transaction Code
Enter Vendor Invoice FB60
An Invoice is entered in the system with the following input parameters:
Input Fields Input Values
Company Code 0001
Vendor TESTVENDOR
Currency EUR
Invoice Date 20.12.2012
Reference document number DUPTEST1
A document is posted in the system under the number - 1900000006
Step 3 - Transaction Data for illustrating the Duplicate Invoice Check:
Description Transaction Code
Enter Vendor Invoice FB60
Another invoice is tried to be entered in the system with following input parameters which are identical to the input
parameters used in Step 2 above:
Input Fields Input Values
Company Code 0001
Vendor TESTVENDOR
Currency EUR
Invoice Date 20.12.2012
Reference document number DUPTEST1
When the Save button is clicked after entering the above mentioned input parameters, the document is saved with the
number - 1900000008 as shown in the screen shot below:
Reasons for Duplicate Invoice Check Failing to prevent duplicate invoice posting:
The system has allowed the duplicate invoice to be posted because the field - Check Flag for Double Invoices or Credit
Memos in the Vendor Master has not been checked.
Step 4 - Master Data maintenance for illustrating Duplicate Invoice Process:
The field - Check Flag for Double Invoices or Credit Memos in the Vendor Master has been checked as shown in the
screen shot below:
Description Transaction Code
Create/Change Vendor Master XK01/XK02/FK01/FK02
Step 5 - Transaction Data for illustrating the Duplicate Invoice Check:
Description Transaction Code
Enter Vendor Invoice FB60
Another Invoice is tried to be entered in the system with the identical input parameters as used in Step 2 and 3 above after
the field - Check Flag for Double Invoices or Credit Memos in the Vendor Master has been checked:
Input Fields Input Values
Company Code 0001
Vendor TESTVENDOR
Currency EUR
Invoice Date 20.12.2012
Reference document number DUPTEST1
Error Message:
An error message is displayed and the duplicate invoice is not allowed to be posted in the system as shown in the screen shot
below:
Conclusion:
The duplicate invoice check would identify a duplicate invoice only if the field - Check Flag for Double Invoices or Credit
Memos in the Vendor Master has been checked.
The best way to ensure that the field - Check Flag for Double Invoices or Credit Memos in the Vendor Master is always
checked is to make the field - Double invoice validation a mandatory field in the SPRO configuration as discussed in the
SCN document - http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-35459.
