Why it matters for manufacturers
- Plants may receive the same invoice by email, post and portal. Each plant may then enter it.
- Recurring bills such as gas rental and maintenance contracts have the same amount each month, so a repeat looks normal.
For manufacturers in SAP B1
- Tooling, maintenance and utility suppliers often send monthly bills. Key the supplier's invoice number in Vendor Ref. No., not the account number, so a reused reference is caught.
- Set the Document Settings check to block release and receipt on purchase documents if your plants are prone to double keying. The default allows duplicates without a warning.
- An A/P invoice with no goods receipt PO behind it also raises stock quantity. For a manufacturer this overstates raw material on hand, so check the reference before saving.
- Only open documents appear when you create an invoice by reference, and a base document stays open until all items are copied. Use that to confirm a delivery has not already been billed.
What SAP B1 does on its own
Document Settings has a check on duplicate vendor reference numbers. It can warn only or block release and receipt. It works on the Vendor Ref. No. field, so it only helps if staff fill that field in.
The check works on the Vendor Ref. No. field.
What you need and the setup steps: Duplicate invoice checks for SAP B1.
Example
Example Motion Parts sends invoice 3310 for conveyor belts. The plant enters it from the email. Head office enters it again from a statement a week later.
| Line | Amount | What the check finds |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice 3310 entered by Plant 2 | $4,600.00 | First entry |
| Invoice 3310 entered by head office | $4,600.00 | Same supplier, amount and number |
| GST on both | $460.00 | Would be claimed twice if both are paid |
The check flags the second entry. Only the first goes to approval, and the plant is told not to enter bills that arrive from the supplier statement.
Common mistakes
- Letting plants and head office both enter bills for the same supplier.
- Ignoring flags at month end because the bill looks like a normal recurring one.
Step-by-step guides for SAP B1
What Pulsify adds
Pulsify checks every invoice for a duplicate, including bills keyed straight into SAP B1, and asks before approval. Pulsify connects to SAP B1. We set up the connection for you. More about duplicate invoice checks in Pulsify or Pulsify for manufacturers.
More help
- Duplicate invoice checks in S/4HANA for manufacturers
- Duplicate invoice checks in SYSPRO for manufacturers
- Duplicate invoice checks in Business Central for manufacturers
- PO matching in SAP B1 for manufacturers
- Supplier price checks in SAP B1 for manufacturers
- Invoice approvals in SAP B1 for manufacturers
- Multi-entity accounts payable in SAP B1 for manufacturers
- All SAP B1 how-to guides
Sources
Last checked 2026-10-19.
- help.sap.com/docs/SAP_BUSINESS_ONE/68a2e87fb29941b5bf959a184d9c6727/44f58df7adac41e1e10000000a1553f6.html
- help.sap.com/docs/SAP_BUSINESS_ONE/68a2e87fb29941b5bf959a184d9c6727/45071a63f61941dee10000000a1553f6.html
- help.sap.com/docs/SAP_BUSINESS_ONE/68a2e87fb29941b5bf959a184d9c6727/450a572b37ca1f2ce10000000a1553f6.html
- www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/gst-excise-and-indirect-taxes/gst/tax-invoices
Common questions
Why did the Business One duplicate check miss a repeat bill?
The check reads Vendor Ref. No. only. If that field is blank, or the supplier's number was typed differently, nothing matches. The default setting also allows duplicates without a warning, so it must be changed in Document Settings.
How do I check recurring bills?
Compare each month's bill to last month's by date range and reference. A rental or contract bill should appear once for each period. Two bills for the same period is a duplicate.
Does the check cover all vendors?
You choose Individual Vendor Only or All Vendors.
Pulsify setup guides
Want this done for you?
Book a call to see how Pulsify handles duplicate invoice checks in SAP B1 for manufacturers.