How it works

Every figure traced to a document.

Invoice Investigator does not guess at market prices. It compares your invoice against the documents you provide, and tells you what those documents actually support.

Uploaded

  • Invoice_48120.pdfInvoice · 2 pages
  • Pricing_notice_Mar.pdfPricing notice · 1 page
  • BOL_77219.pdfBill of lading · 1 page

Findings

  • Line total arithmeticMatches
  • Net vs gross gallonsMatches BOL
  • Per-gallon price$0.0828 above notice
  • Freight lineNo supporting document

The three things you do

  1. 01

    Upload the invoice.

    Start with the invoice you are questioning. PDFs, scans and photos are all accepted.

  2. 02

    Add the evidence.

    Add the documents that say what the price should have been: the quote, contract, rate sheet, pricing notice, delivery receipt, BOL or a prior invoice.

  3. 03

    Know what you owe.

    Every relevant charge is compared to your documents. You get the evidence, the dollar impact, a downloadable report and a drafted response email.

What happens after you upload

  1. 01Validation

    We confirm the invoice is readable, identify the vendor and invoice number, and check that the documents you uploaded are relevant to it. If something essential is missing, you are told before analysis continues.

  2. 02Extraction

    Line items, quantities, units, unit prices, taxes and totals are read from the invoice. Prices, effective dates, terms and quantities are read from your supporting documents. Every extracted value keeps a reference to its document and page.

  3. 03Comparison

    Each invoice charge is matched to the evidence that governs it. Comparisons are made on like-for-like terms: the same unit, the same quantity basis and, where it matters, the same effective date and time.

  4. 04Calculation

    Where a difference exists, the financial impact is calculated arithmetically from the extracted values - per-unit difference multiplied by quantity - and shown with the formula.

  5. 05Report and response

    You get a downloadable report containing every finding with its evidence, plus an editable email drafted to raise the issue with the vendor in neutral, factual language.

How findings are labelled

Verified
The invoice matches your documents on this charge.
Possible discrepancy
The invoice differs from your documents, but a legitimate explanation is plausible and not ruled out.
Likely discrepancy
The invoice differs from your documents and the documents do not offer an explanation for the difference.
Insufficient evidence
A comparison cannot be made without an additional document.
Needs human review
The documents conflict, or the interpretation requires a judgement we will not make for you.

A difference is never reported as a billing error on its own. Where freight, margin, taxes, a timing change or a contracted charge could account for it, that is stated in the finding.

A worked example

Sample - anonymized, not a real customer case

Per-gallon price above the supporting pricing notice

Status: Possible discrepancy
Supported by documents
$5.4280 / gal
Charged on invoice
$5.5108 / gal
Difference
$0.0828 / gal
Quantity
8,391 gal

Financial impact

$694.77

$0.0828 / gal × 8,391 gal = $694.77

The documents provided do not identify whether the $0.0828 difference is freight, margin, or another contracted charge. This should be clarified with the supplier before it is characterized as a billing error.