Invoice Approval Checklist

Confirm the invoice is for goods or services you actually received

This is the single most important check. An invoice for something never delivered is the most common source of wrongful payment — and it is almost always caused by approving without confirming receipt. Match the invoice to a delivery note, a signed-off service, or a confirmation from the person who requested the purchase.

Match the invoice amount, quantity and items against the purchase order

Suppliers occasionally change prices, add line items, or charge for quantities different from what was ordered. A three-way match — purchase order, delivery note, invoice — catches discrepancies before payment, when they are still easy to resolve. After payment, the supplier has no incentive to correct them.

Check for duplicate invoice numbers from the same supplier

A supplier who reissues an invoice after a correction often sends it with the same number. Without a duplicate check, you pay twice — and recovering an overpayment is far harder than preventing one.

Confirm the bank details on the invoice match the supplier's known account

Bank detail fraud is one of the fastest-growing invoice scams. A fake email asks you to update payment details, or a compromised supplier account sends an invoice with a new IBAN. Verifying bank details against a known, trusted source — not the invoice itself — is the cheapest guardrail against this. A single unchecked change can redirect a large payment to a fraudster.

Verify any new or unfamiliar supplier before the first payment

The first payment to a new supplier is the highest-risk payment a small business makes. Confirming the supplier exists, has a legitimate relationship with your business, and is not a fabricated entity prevents the most damaging type of invoice fraud — one that is discovered only after the money is gone.

Confirm the approver has authority for the invoice amount

Approval authority exists for a reason: it prevents a single person from authorizing payments beyond their responsibility. An approval from someone without authority is not an approval — it is a signature that creates a process violation discoverable only during an audit.

Record who approved the invoice, when, and on what basis

An approval without a record did not happen. If a payment is later questioned — by an auditor, a partner, or the tax office — the approval trail is what proves the payment was authorized and verified. A timestamped record turns "we approved that" from a claim into evidence.