A statement nobody reads line by line
At the end of the month, each lab sends a statement. Frame suppliers send invoices with each delivery and a statement later. The owner glances at the totals, sees they look roughly normal and pays. Checking each line against the jobs ordered would mean opening the practice system for every job number and comparing lens codes, coatings and prices by hand.
So small errors slip through: a coating charged that was not ordered, a job billed twice, an agreed discount not applied, a remake charged when it should have been free.
Why checking never happens
- Statements are long and arrive as PDFs in varying formats.
- Lab product codes do not always match how the practice describes the job.
- Agreed prices and discounts are in an old email or a price file.
- Remakes and warranty jobs should be charged differently, but are not flagged on the invoice.
- Frame deliveries are not reconciled against orders on arrival.
What unchecked invoices cost
| Type of error | How it usually slips through |
|---|---|
| Duplicate charge | Same job appears twice across two statements |
| Wrong price | Agreed discount or price list not applied |
| Extras not ordered | Coating or tint added by mistake |
| Remake charged in full | Warranty or non-adapt terms not applied |
| Frame invoiced but not received | Delivery not checked against the invoice |
Individually these are small. Across a year of statements from several labs and suppliers, they are worth checking, and suppliers generally correct genuine errors when they are shown them clearly.
How we build invoice checking
- Invoices and statements are collected from a dedicated email address, and read by a document parser, including PDFs, and turned into line items.
- Each line is matched to a job or frame order in your practice system by job number, order reference or patient.
- Prices are compared with your agreed price list or terms for that supplier, which we load once and you can update.
- Remakes and warranty jobs, where they are recorded in your system or remake log, are checked against the charge.
- Duplicates across statements, lines with no matching job and frames invoiced but not received are flagged.
- A person reviews the flagged lines, and a query to the supplier is prepared listing each one with its job reference.
- Approved invoices can be passed to your accounts package, such as Xero, for payment.
We do not negotiate with your suppliers or decide what they should charge. The check shows where invoices differ from what you ordered and agreed.
Month end, differently
Statements are checked line by line without anyone reading them. The owner sees a short list of genuine questions instead of a long PDF. Queries go to suppliers with clear evidence, which tends to get them resolved quickly. And frame deliveries are reconciled against orders, so the stock record stays accurate.
It also gives you better information when terms come up for renewal. A year of checked invoices shows exactly what you bought from each lab, at what prices, and how often corrections were needed, which is a far stronger starting point for a conversation with a supplier's account manager than a rough sense of what you spend.
Does this sound like you?
- Supplier statements are paid after a glance at the total.
- Nobody compares lab invoice lines with jobs ordered.
- Agreed discounts are not checked on invoices.
- Remakes may be charged in full without anyone noticing.
- Frame invoices are not checked against deliveries.