Duplicate payments occur when a business pays the same vendor or employee two or more times for the same invoice or service. This can happen when a business mistakenly enters the same payment twice or when a vendor or employee submits the same invoice twice.

Duplicate payments can create an administrative burden for a business, leading to additional costs and extra work for the accounting department. It is important for businesses to have controls in place to identify and prevent duplicate payments from occurring. These controls may include requiring invoices to be submitted in a specific format, or requiring employees to review payment history to ensure that a payment has not already been made. Additionally, many businesses are turning to automated software solutions to detect duplicate payments and prevent them from occurring in the future. By taking the necessary steps to prevent duplicate payments, businesses can reduce the amount of time and money spent dealing with them.