How to find duplicate bills in AppFolio.

How the same bill gets in twice

• The vendor emails the invoice and mails it too, and each copy reaches a different person.
• A statement and the invoice on it both get entered.
• The invoice number is typed differently the second time: INV-1041, then 1041. A search for one doesn’t find the other.
• A bill the vendor collects by autopay is entered, then also paid in the weekly payment run. That one shows up at the bank as two debits.
• A bill gets corrected by entering a new one instead of editing the first.

The test

Check every pair of bills from the same vendor. Name variations count as one vendor: “Sample Plumbing, LLC” and “SAMPLE PLUMBING” are the same.

1. Same invoice number: likely a duplicate. Compare numbers without punctuation, prefixes or leading zeros, so INV-01041, #1041 and 1041 match.
2. Same amount within about two weeks, and the invoice numbers don’t tell them apart (one is blank, or they’re one character off): possibly a duplicate.
3. Invoice numbers one character apart, or with two digits swapped, at the same amount: worth a second look. Often a typo; sometimes two real bills. Consecutive numbers (1041 and 1042) are usually just the vendor’s next invoice.

An amount alone never means a duplicate. The same landscaper bills the same amount every month, and two vendors can bill the same amount on the same day. A check that flags every repeat amount buries the real duplicates in noise, and people stop reading it.

Checking your last few months in AppFolio

1. Run the Bill Detail report for the last two or three months, all properties, and export it.
2. In the spreadsheet, sort by payee, then invoice number. Same-vendor, same-number rows sit together.
3. Sort again by payee, then amount, and look for the same amount within a couple of weeks where the invoice number is blank or nearly the same.
4. A bill split across properties exports as several rows with the same invoice number and date. That’s one bill, not a duplicate.
5. Pull the invoice for anything flagged before you change anything.

Or drop the export into the free duplicate bill check, which does all of the above at once.

When one was already paid

• One paid, one not: void the unpaid copy before the next payment run.
• Both paid: ask the vendor for a refund or a credit on the next bill, and keep the note with both bills.
• Paid twice at the bank (usually an autopay that also went out by check or eCheck): look at the bank for two debits of the same amount close together with the vendor’s name. Get the money back, then mark that vendor’s bills as autopay so they never go into a payment run again.

Stop it at the door

Before entering any bill, search Bill Detail for the same vendor: same invoice number, or the same amount with a bill date within about two weeks, means it may already be in. Enter autopay bills as paid, referencing the bank’s debit, and untick anything on autopay before each payment run. A person approves every payment. The full method is in the free playbook.