Urgent !!!! Duplicate invoice entry

Question

Hello Experts,
I have a meeting tomorrow with business people to discuss the problems of "Double Entry Invoice" and how to control that.
Here is what I was told by Business Unit head:
I have observed that we sometimes make duplicate payments, usually through the AP check payments then again via wire transfer, but also could be duplicate invoice entry.  I need to understand how this could happen and what we can be done to prevent (or minimize) the possibility of this occurring.  Are there any SAP configuration settings we can use that we are not currently using?
I joined very recently in this project and didnt know much about the configuration settings of the System.
How should I deal this situation? Please advise me on what points should I prepare.
Any help in this regard is highly appreciated and duly rewarded.
Regards,
Sriram

Answer 1

HI Sriram,
In vendor master data you need to check " check double invoice"
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.
Exception
For the Argentina country version and for documents in Financial Accounting, both invoices and credit memos are checked for duplicate entries.
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:
(Logistics Invoice Verification ® Incoming Invoice ® Set Check for Duplicate Invoices)
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, 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.
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
Best Regards
Ashish Jain