Prevent and Resolve Duplicate Vendor Records

Reduce data cleanup, protect reporting accuracy, and save time by preventing duplicate vendor records and resolving duplicates when they occur.

Configure Duplicate Vendor Detection

Set up a business rule to identify potential duplicates during vendor entry. This helps users select the correct vendor before creating invoices or payments.

  1. From Settings, select Payables.

  2. Under Business rules, select Vendors.

  3. Define your duplicate criteria.

  4. Select Automatically check for duplicate vendors.

  5. Choose whether to warn users about potential duplicates or block duplicates entirely.

When duplicate checking is enabled, users receive immediate feedback during vendor entry. This reduces rework and helps maintain a clean vendor list.

Resolving Duplicates

When you identify a duplicate vendor, determine which record to keep and how to handle the other. The best approach depends on whether the duplicate vendor's transactions are posted to General Ledger.

Transactions not posted to General Ledger

If the duplicate vendor has invoices or payments that are not posted:

  1. Delete the invoice or void the payment.

  2. Add the invoice or payment to the correct vendor.

This ensures transactions remain accurate without affecting General Ledger activity.

Transactions posted to General Ledger

If the duplicate vendor has transactions that are posted:

  1. Mark the duplicate vendor as inactive.

  2. Add the transactions to the correct vendor.

  3. Set the transactions to Do not post.

This approach prevents duplicate postings and distribution errors while keeping Payables reports accurate for the active vendor.

Tip: You can also void and delete the posted payment for the duplicate vendor, then add the payment to the correct vendor.

Merge vendor records

Combine duplicate vendor records directly from the Vendors list to simplify your vendor data.

1. From the Vendors list, select Merge vendors.

2. Select the duplicate vendor record and the primary vendor record.

3. Select Merge now.

Note: If Merge vendors is unavailable, contact your administrator to verify your permissions.