Rejected, no PO
A large contractor's accounts payable team sends back a batch of invoices. Half have no order number. Some have the site name typed differently from how their system knows it. A few have an order number that belongs to a different site. Each rejected invoice has to be investigated, the right reference found, often by ringing a site manager who has moved on to another job, and the invoice reissued.
Meanwhile those invoices are not in the contractor's payment run. For big accounts that can be a lot of money sitting in the ageing report for reasons that have nothing to do with the goods.
Why the reference goes missing
The reference is easy to get at the moment of sale and very hard to get afterwards. It goes missing because the counter is busy and nothing stops the sale without it.
- Site operatives collect goods and don't know the order number.
- Phone orders are taken without asking for one.
- Some accounts require a number and some don't, and the counter can't tell which.
- Contractors issue one order number per site, per month or per order, depending on the customer.
- The reference field in the merchant system is free text, so anything is accepted.
What rejected invoices cost
Payment delays on your largest accounts. Credit controller time spent on detective work. Credit holds triggered by overdue invoices that are only overdue because of a missing reference. And a strained relationship with the contractor's accounts team, who see your invoices as the problem ones.
How we make the reference stick
- Each account's reference rules are recorded: whether an order number is required, its format, whether a site reference is required, and whether numbers are issued per site or per order.
- At the till and on phone orders, the order screen or a linked prompt asks for the reference when the account needs one and checks its format.
- For contractors who send order numbers in advance, their PO emails are read and stored, so the counter can pick the right one from a list for that site.
- Site operatives collecting goods can be looked up by name or card, with their site's current order number offered.
- Before invoices are sent, a check holds back any for accounts that require a reference and don't have a valid one, and lists them for the branch to fix.
- Rejections that still come back are logged by account and reason, so the rules can be tightened.
| Contractor rule | Where we enforce it |
|---|---|
| Order number required | At the till and phone order |
| Specific format | Checked as it is entered |
| Site reference required | Picked from the contractor's site list |
| Number issued per site | Offered automatically for that site |
| Invoice must quote both | Pre-send check before the invoice run |
How accounts payable queries change
Invoices reach the contractor's system with the reference it expects, so they go into the payment run. The few that do come back are specific, and the log shows whether a particular branch or site is the source. Credit controllers stop spending their days finding order numbers.
Is this happening to you?
- Contractors return batches of invoices for missing references.
- Your ageing report is inflated by invoices that are only waiting on paperwork.
- Counter staff don't know which accounts need an order number.
- Site operatives collect goods without a reference.
- Reissuing invoices is a regular task for credit control.