Profit recovery glossary
This glossary explains, in a few lines each, the terms most used in profit recovery audits, accounts payable and procurement. It is a quick reference for finance, procurement and accounts payable teams, and for anyone preparing a diagnostic with Qrecovr.
- Profit recovery audit: a retrospective review of invoices, contracts and payments to identify and recover amounts paid in error to suppliers or authorities.
- Duplicate payment: paying the same invoice or obligation more than once.
- Near-duplicate: a possible duplicate payment where the data does not match exactly (for example, an invoice number with one different character).
- Credit note: a document issued by the supplier that reduces a previous invoice or acknowledges an amount in the customer's favour.
- Supplier account statement: the record of transactions (invoices, payments, credits) between the company and a supplier.
- Supplier debit balance: a situation where the supplier owes money to the company, for example after an overpayment.
- Vendor master file: the database holding each supplier's details (name, tax number, IBAN, terms). Errors in this file cause many incorrect payments.
- Contract compliance: the match between what is billed and what was agreed in the contract (prices, discounts, terms, conditions).
- Volume rebate: a discount granted by the supplier based on the purchase volume reached in a period.
- Trade allowance: a contribution agreed with the supplier for promotions, shelf space or campaigns, typically in retail.
- Deductible VAT: VAT paid on purchases that the company can offset against VAT charged on sales, under the applicable law.
- VAT adjustment: a correction of VAT deducted or charged in prior periods, subject to legal rules and time limits.
- Spend analytics: organizing and analyzing purchasing data to understand where, with whom and at what price the company spends.
- Continuous monitoring: regular, automated checks of payments and suppliers to catch errors before they become losses.
- Contingency fee: a fee calculated on the value actually recovered.