01 of 05
"The wire cleared. That's strange — they're calling about an unpaid invoice."
The invoice looked legitimate. The amount was right. But the bank account had changed three weeks earlier — one digit different, buried in the footer. $42,800 sent to a fraudster. The real vendor never received it. Wire transfers don't reverse.
Nothing checked
Bank account change vs. history
No contract cross-reference
No audit trail of approval
02 of 05
"Legal wants to know who approved payments at rates we never agreed to."
The invoice matched the PO. The PO was approved. But the PO was created with the wrong rate — 15% above what the contract said. Twelve payments over eight months. Legal found it during a contract review. Now someone has to explain why.
Nothing checked
Invoice vs. original contract rate
Rate deviation over time
Who authorised the deviation
03 of 05
"Both are paid. Nobody noticed until we ran the quarterly report."
INV-1042 was submitted in March. Then again in April under INV-1098 — different number, same vendor, same amount, slightly different date. Both approved. Both cleared. The vendor has the money. Asking for it back is an awkward conversation nobody wants to have.
Nothing checked
Fuzzy duplicate detection
Amount + vendor + date pattern
Cross-session payment history
04 of 05
"The auditor is asking why we approved these. We don't have an answer."
The payments were legitimate. Everyone did their job. But there's no record of what was checked, what documents were reviewed, or who made the call. The audit trail is a spreadsheet with names and dates. The auditor wants the reasoning. Nobody can reconstruct it.
Nothing captured
What documents were reviewed
What checks were performed
Why each payment was approved
05 of 05
"Our vendor was added to the OFAC list last month. We paid them twice since then."
They were a legitimate vendor for three years. Then the ownership changed. Then they were sanctioned. Nobody knew. Two invoices processed, two payments cleared. OFAC violations don't care whether you knew — penalties start at $100,000 per transaction.
Nothing checked
OFAC watchlist screening
Ownership / entity changes
Ongoing vendor monitoring