# Find duplicate AP payments and risky vendor master changes

Matches AP invoices and vendor records to catch duplicate payments, recover overpaid cash, and tighten vendor setup controls.

- Topic: Finance & Accounting
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Finance, Analyze
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/find-duplicate-ap-payments-and-risky-vendor-master-changes

## Prompt

```text
Help me find duplicate payments in accounts payable and clean up risky vendor master records.

**AP invoice and payment data:** [PASTE or describe columns - vendor ID, vendor name, invoice number, invoice date, amount, payment date, payment method, PO number]
**Vendor master extract:** [PASTE - vendor ID, name, address, tax ID, bank account (last 4 digits only), date created, last changed, changed by]
**Review period:** [DATES - duplicate recovery reviews often look back 12-24 months]
**AP system and how invoices arrive:** [e.g. "Bill.com, invoices emailed and also mailed", "NetSuite with OCR scanning"]

Duplicate payment tests (explain how to run each with spreadsheet formulas or filters):
- Same vendor, same amount, invoice numbers that differ only by formatting: leading zeros, dashes, spaces, suffixes ("1234" vs "INV-1234" vs "1234A").
- Same invoice number and amount paid to two different vendor IDs.
- Same amount and invoice date, different invoice numbers (statement paid as well as the invoice).
- Credit memos never applied, and vendor overpayments sitting as unapplied credits.

Vendor master tests:
- Duplicate vendor records: similar names, same tax ID, same bank account, or same address.
- Bank detail changes followed by a payment within 30 days, and who made and approved the change (a common business email compromise pattern).
- Vendors with no tax ID or W-9/equivalent, and inactive vendors (no activity in 12+ months) that are still open.

Return:
1. An exceptions table: Test | Vendor(s) | Invoices/payments | Amount at risk | Why flagged | Next step (request credit / verify bank change / merge or inactivate record).
2. Total potential recovery, ranked by amount.
3. A short, neutral email to request a refund or credit from a vendor for a confirmed duplicate.
4. Control fixes: duplicate-check settings in the AP system, call-back verification on bank changes using a number already on file, periodic vendor master cleanup.

Never put full bank account or tax ID numbers in the data you paste. A flag is a lead, not a finding - confirm against the invoice and payment records before contacting a vendor or drawing conclusions about anyone.
```

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