Duplicate, price and purchase order warnings

While you fill in a bill or a transaction, Plainstamp quietly checks it against what's already there. If something looks off, a yellow warning appears above the buttons at the bottom of the form. Warnings never stop you saving. They're there so nobody pays the same invoice twice or misses a price jump.

The check runs once the form has a vendor (or payee) and an amount, a moment after you stop typing. It runs again whenever you change the vendor, amount, invoice number, date or purchase order, on new items and when you edit one.

"This looks like a bill you already have"#

Plainstamp looks at your other bills from the same vendor. You get this warning when either:

• the Invoice # matches one you already have, or

• the Amount is exactly the same as a bill dated within 10 days of this one (by invoice date, or due date if there's no invoice date).

The warning names the bill it matched, with its amount and date, and adds (already paid) if that one is paid. Open Bills to pay or Completed > Paid bills to compare.

"This looks like a transaction you already have"#

The same check for transactions: same payee, same amount, and a date within 10 days of one you already have. If it really is a second purchase (two identical supply runs in a week, say), just save it.

"Someone already sent this for approval"#

If there's no match on the boards, Plainstamp also checks requests still waiting for approval: same vendor, and the same invoice number, or the same amount within 10 days. The warning says Check My approvals before adding it again. Open My approvals (or My requests) to see the one that's waiting.

"…% higher than … usual"#

For bills only. When a vendor has at least 3 earlier bills, Plainstamp averages their last 6. Amounts are compared in your main currency, so a bill in another currency is converted at its exchange rate first. If this bill is 15% or more above that average, you see, for example, 22% higher than ABC Cleaning Co.'s usual $400.00 (average of the last 5 bills).

The same bill shows a 22% higher than usual label on the Bills to pay board, so whoever pays it sees it too. It might be a price rise, extra work, or a mistake on the invoice. Worth checking before you pay.

Purchase order warnings#

When a bill is linked to a purchase order:

• This takes PO PO-2041 over its approved $500.00 by $40.00. The bills linked to the PO, plus this one, add up to more than the PO allows.

• PO PO-2041 is closed. The bill is linked to a PO someone has closed. Pick another PO, or ask an admin to reopen it.

What to do#

• It's a real duplicate: click Cancel. Nothing is saved.

• It's fine: save as usual. Nothing else happens; the warning isn't kept on the item.

For questions about who can add or delete bills, see Bills and transactions: common questions.