SAP and Duplicate Payments

SAP Duplicate Invoice Controls

Presented by Karl Andersson, AP Impact

Hi, this is Karl Andersson from AP Impact. And today we’re going to talk about SAP and duplicate invoice setup and configuration within SAP environments.

The reason I’m doing this video is because I’m always surprised when we analyze data from SAP systems — our clients often ask, “How did these duplicates happen? What’s wrong with our setup?” There’s a bit of a misconception about how duplicate invoice controls actually work within SAP, and what configuration options are available.

So, I decided to put together this video to give you an overview of how we can set up controls within SAP to stop duplicate invoice processing.

Agenda

I’ve broken this discussion into three key points:

1. An overview of what duplicate invoices are and how people generally control for them.

2. The configuration options for vendor-related invoices within SAP — and how to set up duplicate invoice controls.

3. Vendor-level configuration — an area often overlooked, but just as important.

Overview: Basic Invoice Controls

If you ask anyone in Accounts Payable or Finance, “What are your duplicate invoice controls within your ERP system?” they’ll usually respond with the same four data elements:

• Vendor number

• Invoice date

• Invoice number

• Amount

This is common across most systems — but in SAP, those are not actually the true controls.

SAP’s Default Duplicate Payment Configuration

By default, when SAP is set up (unless you configure it otherwise), the duplicate payment control logic checks the following fields:

• Client ID (or “instance”)

• Company code

• Vendor number

• Currency

• Invoice date

• Reference number

• Amount (in document currency)

This surprises a lot of people — especially the inclusion of company code. It means you could enter the same invoice in two different company codes, and SAP would not flag it as a potential duplicate.

This design dates back to the early days when computing power was limited, and SAP needed to minimize system load. But many organizations have upgraded through the years without ever changing these legacy settings.

Another field that can cause confusion is document currency. For multinational companies, it’s possible to enter the same invoice in one currency and again in another — and SAP won’t flag it if the currency field differs.

Best Practice Recommendations

There are several items you can configure in SAP to strengthen duplicate detection. My recommendation is to focus on:

• Vendor

• Invoice date

• Reference number

• Document currency amount

This allows you to identify duplicates across company codes, while also catching data entry mistakes involving the wrong currency.

Hard Stop vs. Soft Stop

SAP gives you two options for handling duplicates:

• Hard Stop: When a duplicate is detected, SAP blocks the invoice and forces the user to change something before proceeding.

• Soft Stop: SAP issues a warning — “This looks like it’s already been entered. Do you want to process it?” — and allows the user to continue.

My preference is always hard stops.

With soft stops, users tend to click “OK” to keep things moving — especially if their performance is measured on transaction volume. A hard stop requires them to make a conscious effort to verify the invoice and resolve the issue correctly.

Vendor-Level Duplicate Invoice Controls

Another area that often gets missed is vendor master configuration. In SAP, the “Check Double Invoices” option must be selected on each vendor master record for the duplicate invoice check to occur.

If this box isn’t checked, SAP won’t perform a duplicate check for that vendor — regardless of the system-wide settings.

This is sometimes intentionally deselected for intercompany transactions, where duplicate reference numbers aren’t a concern for tax or internal reasons. But for external vendors, this control should always be enabled.

Additional Configuration Resources

For those who want to go deeper, there’s an excellent resource available on SAP’s Community Members Blog. It provides step-by-step guidance on configuration settings, including T-codes and setup details for duplicate invoice checks.

I highly recommend reviewing that blog if you’re configuring or auditing your SAP duplicate payment controls.

AP Guru: Detecting Duplicate Invoices Across Systems

If you believe your organization may have duplicate invoice or payment risks, AP Impact offers a powerful solution — AP.Guru.

Our platform mines your data to identify duplicate payment and invoice issues within SAP and other ERP environments. We offer a free trial, where we’ll:

• Pull in three years of your AP data.

• Identify duplicates and provide a sample equal to the product’s annual fee.

• If you move forward, we’ll deliver the full results — and can even assist with recovery.

Closing

I hope you found this video useful. If you’d like to learn more about our solutions or request a free proof of concept, please visit us at www.apimpact.com

Thank you for your time.