On the first morning of a new AP workflow, a supplier forwards an invoice the old team already approved. The new queue sees a fresh attachment. Before turning on posting, give AP a way to find the original bill and decide which workflow owns it.
Take an inventory of bills in flight
List the invoices in each intake channel, including email, portals, and any import folder. For each open item, record the vendor, entity, invoice reference, amount, and latest approval or posting status. Include drafts and rejected imports. A report of posted bills cannot tell you what is still waiting outside the ledger.
Choose a cutover rule the team can apply. For example, let the old queue finish bills it already received and send new ones to the new queue. If you transfer open items, move their original documents and approval history with them. Record who can reconcile items that show up in both places.
Reconcile the first batch before retrying
| At cutover | What AP should check |
|---|---|
| Supplier resends an existing bill | Find the draft or posted bill before creating a second record |
| A batch imports with errors | Separate accepted records from rejected rows and tie them to the original batch |
| An approver was already assigned in the old queue | Confirm who owns the approval now and which version they can see |
| A held bill moves to the new queue | Verify the hold reason and its effect on payment selection |
| The new workflow needs to pause | Name who stops intake or writes and reconciles the records already in flight |
Use your accounting system’s import results. Oracle, for example, documents a NetSuite CSV import workflow where Import Status details show failures and an error file identifies affected rows. Check the actual tool and import path you use. Before resubmitting anything, look for records already saved. Oracle’s CSV import error documentation.
Review the first payment run
Match the approved invoice list to saved bills, unresolved items, and held bills. Ask the payment reviewer to confirm that a posted bill on hold is excluded. If counts or amounts do not agree, investigate before adding a new supplier group. The AP pilot guide covers the tests to run before cutover, and the AP rollout checklist helps assign the decisions.