Invoice and payment fraud checks for manufacturers

Manufacturers can reduce invoice-payment risk by checking each invoice against a known supplier, approved bank details, the purchase order, receipt and job before payment. Route any changed account, duplicate, mismatch or unassigned invoice to a person for review and approval.

A plausible invoice can still point to the wrong account, repeat a prior charge or claim goods that do not match the order and receipt. Email alone is not a reliable approval record, especially when supplier details or payment instructions change.

The AFP 2025 Payments Fraud and Control Survey reported that 79% of organizations were targets of attempted or actual payments fraud in 2024. Business email compromise was the top vector at 63%, and vendor impersonation was cited by 45%, up 11 points.

Practical steps

1. 01Verify the supplier identity against the approved vendor record. Treat a bank-account change as an exception, not an ordinary invoice update. Confirm the change using a known contact channel already on file, not the contact details in the new message.
2. 02Compare invoice number, date, amount, currency and line items with prior invoices and open records. Look for duplicate references, split charges, unusual changes in payment details and amounts that do not follow the agreed terms.
3. 03Match the invoice to its purchase order and receipt. Check part or service, quantity, unit price, delivery evidence and any approved change. A mismatch should remain visible until the responsible buyer or receiver resolves it.
4. 04Connect the charge to a job or authorized cost center. If an invoice has no job, PO or receipt, send it to the right owner rather than guessing where it belongs. Preserve the reason for any exception and its supporting documents.
5. 05Require a named person to approve flagged items and the final payment. Keep who checked the supplier, what evidence was reviewed, how a change was confirmed and who released the payment in the audit record.

How Achilles does this

Achilles checks supplier invoices against supplier, PO, receipt and job information. It can flag a changed bank account, duplicate invoice, price or quantity mismatch, or invoice without a job before the payment decision reaches finance.

Every flag goes to a person to approve. Achilles keeps the supporting records with the exception so finance and procurement can review the same evidence. A licensed partner may provide financing or insurance on request, but payment approval remains with the manufacturer's authorized team.

Treat a bank-detail change as a request to verify, not as an instruction to update payment data. Contact the supplier using a previously established phone number or other trusted channel, and keep the verification record with the change. Do not rely on contact details supplied in the message requesting the change. A second person can review the result before the approved account is used for payment.

For duplicate and mismatch checks, compare invoice identifiers, supplier identity, PO lines, receipt quantities and the job reference. Similar documents can be legitimate when an order is delivered in parts, so a flag should present the reason and source records rather than block payment without context. Finance can resolve the exception, document the decision and ensure the same discrepancy is not silently carried into another invoice.