## TL;DR

Shared vendors bill multiple subsidiaries, and the same invoice can be submitted to two entities, especially with centralized AP. Run dedupe globally on vendor plus invoice number plus amount, then allow legitimate multi-entity billing (allocated invoices) via explicit allocation records. The global check catches what entity-scoped checks miss.

## Steps

1. Centralize invoice intake or replicate the dedupe index globally.
   Expected: One view of all invoices.
2. Run the duplicate check across all entities.
   Expected: Cross-entity duplicates found.
3. Allow allocated invoices via explicit allocation records.
   Expected: Legitimate splits pass cleanly.
4. Route cross-entity flags to the shared-services team.
   Expected: One owner for the decision.
5. Report duplicate attempts by entity.
   Expected: Visibility into the pattern.

## When to use

- Multi-subsidiary AP
- Shared service centers
- Centralized intake

## When not to use

- Single-entity AP
- Intercompany billing (different flow)
- Entity-level reporting

## Compatibility

ERP-agnostic; needs cross-entity data access (NetSuite OneWorld, SAP company codes).

## Variant phrasings

### cross entity duplicate invoice

### subsidiary duplicate billing

### global AP dedupe

## Root cause

Entity-scoped dedupe has a blind spot exactly where shared vendors operate. Centralized AP teams see the invoices together, but the checks run separately.

## Edge cases

- Data residency rules may limit cross-entity data pooling; check legal
- Allocated invoices need the allocation sum to equal the invoice total
- Intercompany invoices are not duplicates; exclude by document type

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_pvzrFNI3V_92TKKvzDGAlw