A pile of invoices from last month
Your accounts team receives hundreds of garage invoices a month from across your supplier network, as PDFs by email, through portals and occasionally by post. Each one should match an authorised job. Some have an extra hour of labour. Some have a part at list price rather than your discounted price. A few are for work nobody authorised, or for a job that has already been invoiced once.
Checking every line against the authorisation takes time the team does not have, so they spot-check and pay the rest.
Why invoices drift from authorisations
Most garages are honest. Differences come from the way work happens on the ramp and the way invoices are produced.
- Extra work is agreed on the phone during the job and not recorded on the authorisation.
- Garage systems price parts at list and apply discounts inconsistently.
- Invoices quote the registration but not your authorisation number.
- The same job is invoiced twice, once by email and once through a portal.
- Invoices arrive long after the work, when nobody remembers the details.
What unchecked invoices cost
Overpayments on individual lines that add up across a network. Charges passed on to clients who then find them in their own audits, which damages trust in you as their fleet manager. And an accounts team that spends its time keying invoices rather than checking them.
The invoice checking we build
- Invoices from every channel land in one intake. We read the garage, registration, date, reference and each line from the PDF or portal export.
- Each invoice is matched to its authorised job by registration, date and garage, or by authorisation number where it is quoted.
- Every line is compared with the authorised lines: labour hours and rate, parts and prices, tyres, and any agreed additions recorded during the job.
- Invoices that match within a tolerance you set are passed for payment and for rebilling to the client.
- Invoices that differ are held with the differences shown line by line, so a person can query the garage or approve with a reason.
- Duplicates, invoices with no authorisation and invoices for vehicles not on any client's fleet are held separately.
| Result | What happens |
|---|---|
| Matches authorisation | Passed for payment and client rebilling |
| Line above authorised amount | Held with the difference shown |
| No authorisation found | Held for investigation |
| Possible duplicate | Held and linked to the earlier invoice |
Recording the phone calls
Many differences come from extra work agreed by phone. So we add a small change to the authorisation desk: any addition agreed during a job is recorded on the authorisation through the same screen, in a few seconds. That way, genuine agreed additions match automatically and only real discrepancies are held.
Paying for what was agreed
Picture the first week of the month. Instead of a pile of invoices waiting to be keyed, the accounts team opens a list: most invoices already matched and passed, a few dozen held. One garage has charged an extra half hour of labour on several jobs, which turns out to be a new technician logging time differently and is resolved with one phone call. Two invoices are duplicates of ones paid through a portal. A handful are for extra work agreed by phone that nobody recorded, which the authorisation desk confirms.
The accounts team handles the exceptions, not every invoice. Garages learn that invoices matching the authorisation are paid promptly, which is an incentive to get them right. Clients receive rebilled costs that match what was authorised on their behalf. And you have a record, per garage, of how often their invoices differ, which is useful when reviewing your supplier network.
Signs this is your accounts team
- Garage invoices are keyed in by hand.
- Only a sample of invoices is checked against authorisations.
- Extra work agreed by phone is not recorded.
- You have paid the same invoice twice.
- Clients have questioned charges you passed on.