Dealing with discrepancies
Discrepancies occur for all kinds of reasons, the most common ones being:
- Not enough money has been received (an underpayment)
- Too much money has been received (an overpayment)
- The buyer had made a mistake with a prompt payment discount
- Incorrect amounts
- Incorrect details
- Timing differences
- Missing transactions
- Duplicated transactions
Dealing with underpayments
| Reason | Solution |
|---|---|
| Genuine mistake | Contact the customer. Customer should be asked for an adjusting payment or advise the payment will be adjusted in the next statement. |
| Customer not paid all the invoices because of a dispute. | Contact the customer to attempt to resolve the dispute. May need to be referred to the accounts supervisor. |
Dealing with overpayments
| Reason | Solution |
|---|---|
| Genuine mistake | Contact the customer. Ideally we should keep the payment and adjust at the next statement but if a large figure the customer may want a refund payment. |
| Customer not taken into account a credit note or paid an invoice twice in error. | Contact the customer. Ideally we should keep the payment and adjust at the next statement but if a large figure the customer may want a refund payment. |
Discrepancies with prompt payment discount
As a prompt payment discount is recorded on an invoice as a term rather than calculated it is possible this can be calculated incorrectly by the customer.
Possible errors are:
- Amount calculated incorrectly by the customer.
- The customer may try and take the discount after the time allowed has elapsed.
- The customer may take a discount when one hasn't been offered.
Dealing with other discrepancies
Other types of discrepancies include:
- Are the details correct on the records and documents.
- Are the amounts correct?
- Are there any missing or duplicated transactions?
- Are there timing differences? (Invoice received at the end of the month but recorded at the beginning of the next).