Check for Duplication of Invoice Entry

Use

In the vendor master, set whether the system should check for duplicate invoices.

The check for duplication of invoice entry aims to avoid invoices being accidentally created and paid twice.

When you enter invoices, the system first checks whether the accounting documents in Financial Accounting and then documents in Logistics Invoice Verification – only those that contain errors or that were entered for verification in the background – match up according to the following criteria.

Vendor
Currency
Company code
Gross invoice amount
Reference document number
Invoice doc. date

The system only checks invoices. It does not check credit memos or subsequent credits/debits. When you create a duplicate invoice, the system displays a warning or error message, depending on your settings in Customizing.

Note Note

Exception

For the Argentina country version and for documents in Financial Accounting, both invoices and credit memos are checked for duplicate entries.

End of the note.

If a previously created document is canceled and then created again, the system does not display a message.

Integration with Financial Accounting

One of the following checks is performed in Financial Accounting, depending on the entry in the Reference field:

If you enter a reference document number in the current invoice or credit memo, then the system checks for previously posted invoices or credit memos in Financial Accounting that match the following attributes:

Company code
Vendor
Currency
Document date
Reference document number

If you do not enter a reference document number in the current invoice or credit memo, then the system checks for previously posted invoices or credit memos in Financial Accounting that match the following attributes:

Company code
Vendor
Currency
Document date
Amount in document currency

Your system settings determine whether the system sends a warning or error message when it finds an invoice or a credit memo that matches all the relevant attributes.

Prerequisites

In the vendor master record, select the Chk double inv. (check for duplicate invoice) on the Payments in Accounting screen.

The system only checks for duplicate invoices in Logistics Invoice Verification if you enter the reference document number when entering the invoice.

In the Implementation Guide (IMG) for Logistics Invoice Verification, you can define that the following characteristics are not checked:

Start of the navigation path (Logistics Invoice Verification Next navigation step Incoming Invoice Set Check for Duplicate Invoices) End of the navigation path

Reference document number
Invoice date
Company code

The result of this is that the system is more likely to find a duplicate invoice, as it checks fewer characteristics.

Note Note

Note, that if you deselect the Company Code field this can have a negative effect on system performance. This is because the system then checks numerous documents from existing company codes.

End of the note.

Features

During the check for duplicate invoices, the system compares the following entered attributes in the standard system in Logistics Invoice Verification:

Reference document number
Invoice date
Gross invoice amount
Currency
Vendor
Company code

Example Example

Connection Between Settings in Customizing and Entering a Duplicate Invoice

End of the example.

In this example, the fields reference document number and company code are not selected in Customizing for Logistics Invoice Verification. This means that these characteristics will not be checked.

Now you enter a new invoice as set out in the example. The reference document number and the company code are not the same, all the other characteristics have the same values. The system displays a message telling you that the invoice is a duplicate entry.

If, for example, the reference document number is selected in Customizing, then the system checks this and recognizes that this is different from the previously entered invoice. No message is displayed.