Situation
A midstream energy company with $400M in annual AP spend engaged us after an internal audit flagged potential duplicate payments. Their SAP system had basic duplicate detection, but finance leadership suspected they were missing issues.
Findings
Our forensic analysis uncovered 847 duplicate or erroneous payments spanning 4 years. The largest category was vendor name variations—the same vendor existed in the master file under 12 different spellings, defeating the ERP's duplicate detection. We also identified $340K in unapplied statement credits from a major equipment supplier.
Outcome
We recovered $2.3M in 90 days. The client also implemented our vendor master hygiene recommendations, reducing duplicate payment risk by an estimated 85% going forward.
847
Duplicate Payments Found
12
Vendor Master Duplicates
Situation
A manufacturer with operations across 6 states suspected vendor billing irregularities after noticing their freight costs had increased 40% year-over-year despite flat shipping volumes. They needed forensic analysis to quantify the issue and support potential litigation.
Findings
Our contract compliance analysis revealed their primary freight carrier had been systematically overbilling for 3 years. Rate escalations had been applied that weren't permitted under the MSA. We also discovered the carrier was billing "expedited" rates for standard shipments on 23% of invoices.
Outcome
Armed with our forensic documentation, the client recovered $4.7M through negotiated settlement—avoiding litigation. They also renegotiated their freight contract with $1.2M in annual savings.
$4.7M
Settlement Recovery
Situation
A 4-hospital network was consolidating AP operations after a merger. During the transition, they wanted a clean baseline and asked us to audit the combined vendor database and 3 years of transaction history.
Findings
The merger had created chaos in the vendor master—2,400 duplicate vendor records existed across the combined system. Our Benford's Law analysis flagged unusual payment patterns to a medical supply vendor, which turned out to be an employee kickback scheme (referred to authorities). We also recovered $340K in missed GPO rebates.
Outcome
Direct recovery of $890K plus termination of the fraudulent vendor relationship. The client implemented our continuous monitoring platform to prevent similar issues post-merger.
2,400
Duplicate Vendors Cleaned
$340K
Missed Rebates Recovered
Situation
A retail chain with 200+ locations had never conducted a vendor audit. With $180M in annual disbursements flowing through an aging Oracle system, they suspected leakage but had no visibility into the scope.
Findings
Classic duplicate payment patterns: same invoice paid via different payment methods (check + ACH), invoices resubmitted with minor variations, and payments continuing to vendors after contract termination. We identified 312 recoverable items across 4 years of history.
Outcome
$1.1M recovered over 120 days. Client ROI: 16x our contingency fee. They now run annual audits as standard practice.
120 Days
Time to Recovery