Service invoices with no purchase order: how to code, route and check them

Service invoices are the ones that hurt: no purchase order, no receipt, a vague description, and a building that needs the work paid for so the vendor comes back. In nursing homes and assisted living they’re a steady share of AP volume, and they’re where most coding errors and duplicate payments hide.

Why they’re hard

• No PO to match against. The work was ordered by phone, often in an emergency.
• Unclear coding. “Labor and materials” doesn’t say which GL account it belongs to.
• Easy to pay twice. The same invoice arrives by email and by post, or gets re-sent with a new date.
• Nobody owns approval. The administrator called the vendor, but AP gets the bill.

A process that works

1. Get every invoice into one place. Whatever the source, it should land in the same queue, with the original attached.
2. Check for duplicates first. Same supplier and invoice number is the obvious one. Same supplier and same total in the same week catches the re-sent ones.
3. Code from history. A plumber’s invoice for one building was probably coded the same way last time. Suggest that, and let a person confirm.
4. Route by building and amount. The building’s administrator approves work done at their building; larger amounts go up a level.
5. Ask the vendor in writing. When the description is unclear, ask on the invoice itself, so the answer stays with it.

The quick wins

• Tell vendors where to send invoices, and only accept them there.
• Decide who approves service work at each building, and up to what amount.
• Review last quarter’s duplicates. You’ll find some.

In Vendoro, invoices with no PO are read by AI like any other, checked for duplicates, given GL suggestions from past coding, and routed through the invoice approval chain. “Ask the vendor” keeps the question on the invoice. See invoice automation.