Playbook: paid for goods that never arrived

The situation

A supplier bill for a large amount arrives. It is approved because the supplier is known and the amount looks plausible. Nobody checks that there was a purchase order behind it, or that the goods were received.

Step 1 — See the bills with issues

Open Finance → 3-way match.

In the demo, seven bills have issues. The first has no purchase order at all; others were billed before the goods were received. Each row names the supplier, the purchase order (or its absence), the total and the issue.

Step 2 — Fix the chain, then pay

For a bill without a purchase order, ask the requester for one or reject the bill. For a bill ahead of the receipt, wait for the goods. When the chain — order → receipt → bill — is complete, confirm the match on Reconciliation.

Why it matters

A bill is only true if the records behind it agree. Because Otiox links each bill to its order and receipt, it can tell you which payments would be for goods you never ordered or never got.

What you have at the end

• Every bill checked against its order and receipt.
• Mismatches named before money leaves.
• Payables an auditor can follow end to end.

Screenshots come from the Otiox demo workspace. Choose Switch to demo in the sidebar to follow along; changes there never touch live data. Command reads your records and never changes them.