Tabular IQ AP Enterprise Edition
AP Enterprise is Tabular IQ plus audit modules. The first two are Duplicate Analysis, for duplicate payments, and Vendor Master Analysis, for vendor master cleanup. Both test the full population on your own computer.
01 — The data
AP data seems to come in any manner of different shapes and sizes. Sometimes it's a fixed-width extract directly from an ERP system. Sometimes it's an Excel workbook. Other times it's read-only access to a SQL Server. Tabular IQ is able to open all of them side by side and link them together like tables in one database, so the same data analysis runs work with all data sources.
02 — Duplicate Analysis
Most ERP systems reject identical vendor and invoice numbers out of the box — that's straightforward. But unwanted duplicate payments almost always occur when these numbers differ slightly: a prefix, a typo, or a second entry in the vendor file. Tabular IQ's Duplicate Analysis module groups data records on any combination of fields, and each field can match loosely in four ways.
Smith Supply matches Smyth Supply, because the field is compared by how it sounds.
Invoice 10432 matches 10342: the same digits in a different order.
INV-00123 matches 123 once non-numeric characters and zeros are stripped from the front.
A payment of 1,250.00 matches an entry of -1,250.00, because the sign is ignored.
Similar spellings are matched with the SOUNDEX algorithm, so any match can be checked by hand. The same tool finds duplicate vendors, customers, or any other records: you choose the fields. For more information on how near-identical supplier names can cause duplicate payments, read the article Paying the Wrong Vendor.
03 — Vendor Master Analysis
Vendor Master Analysis maps your file's columns to the fields each check needs and runs the checks you choose. The result is one table sorted by risk: each flagged vendor with a score, a severity, and its findings, and duplicate vendors grouped together.
The same bank account, tax ID, VAT ID, DUNS number, address, phone, or email, and similar names.
One bank account under different names, and one name with different tax IDs or bank accounts.
A malformed IBAN, routing number, or SWIFT code, and an IBAN from another country than the vendor.
Placeholder or malformed tax IDs, and a social security number where a company's tax ID belongs.
Names that suggest an employee or an internal account, and a PO Box with no street address.
Inactive vendors with recent activity, and active vendors with no activity for years.
Email at a free mail provider, phone and fax on the same number, a postal code outside the state given.
No tax ID, an electronic payment method with no bank account, and required fields left blank.
Why each of these matters, with the cases behind them, is in The Dirty Vendor Master File.
04 — Confidentiality
Opening, testing, and reporting happen on the machine in front of you. Tabular IQ sends none of that data to us.
When the AI features are in use, they send your request and the names of your tables and columns. The privacy policy lists exactly what goes where.
05 — Your own tests
The two modules run the standard AP tests. Anything else an engagement calls for, you build in the same workspace, on the same data.
Scripts are plain JavaScript, documented in the developer resources. Every function has a page in the function reference.
We have spent two decades finding duplicate payments in large accounting systems. Book 30 minutes and we will run both modules live, on our sample AP data or on a file you are free to share.