TASK-OPS-101-02 · Task family
Duplicate payment investigation. Identify duplicates, determine recovery actions and preserve audit records.
Overview. Determine what the unexpected debit is, and leave the ledger, the supplier account and the close checklist in a correct, documented state.
An unexpected supplier debit appears in the bank feed during close. It may be a duplicate payment, a payment for a different invoice with the same amount, or a legitimate payment the ledger hasn't recorded yet.
The agent has to tell these apart from invoices, payment history and remittance details, then record the right outcome. A real duplicate needs a supplier receivable and a recovery request. Reversing cash or deleting the payment destroys the audit trail.
Value to the buyer
Duplicate payments are a common, costly AP error. This family trains agents to recover them without damaging the audit trail.
Specification. The task family, field by field.
- task_id:
- TASK-OPS-101-02
- domain:
- Finance & Accounting
- parent_environment:
- ENV-OPS-101 · LedgerOps
- target_role:
- AP/AR Analyst
- objective:
- Determine what the unexpected debit is, and leave the ledger, the supplier account and the close checklist in a correct, documented state.
- starting_context:
- A September bank feed with a $12,480.00 debit to Halden Logistics, the supplier's invoices and payment history, the AP subledger and the close checklist.
- tools:
search_bank_transactionsget_invoiceget_payment_historyget_gl_entriespropose_journal_entryrequest_approvalupdate_reconciliation
- required_actions:
- Trace the debit to a payment run and its remittance details
- Check every open and paid invoice from the supplier with the same amount
- Decide whether the payment is a duplicate, and record the receivable and recovery request if it is
- Update the close checklist with the evidence used
- expected_outputs:
- A classification of the debit with supporting evidence
- A proposed entry moving the duplicate to a supplier receivable, where applicable
- A recovery request to the supplier and an updated checklist item
- interaction:
- Single agent with tool access. A simulated controller approves entries.
- verification:
- The verifier knows which payment is the duplicate and checks the classification, the entry and the recovery record against it.
- reward:
- Full credit requires the right classification, a correct receivable entry and an intact audit trail. Correct diagnosis left pending approval still earns partial credit.
- difficulty:
- Calibrated against reference models during acceptance testing
- task_horizon:
- Multi-step, across bank, AP and documents. Execution limits are agreed with the buyer.
- delivery:
- Task instances with seeded state, reference trajectories and verifier code.
- commercial_unit:
- Per validated task instance
Sample prompt. What the agent is asked to do, as a buyer would see it.
You are the accounting agent for AsterWorks. During the September close, the bank feed shows a $12,480.00 debit to Halden Logistics on September 19. Halden's invoice HL-7731 for $12,480.00 is already recorded as paid by ACH on September 12. Investigate the debit, determine whether it's a duplicate payment or a payment for another invoice, perform authorized corrective actions, and update the close checklist with supporting evidence.
Verification criteria. What the verifier checks, and how.
Payment traced
The September 19 debit is linked to check run CR-0919 and its remittance, which references HL-7731.
Alternatives ruled out
No other Halden invoice for $12,480.00 is open or approved, and the agent's notes say so.
Receivable recorded
A balanced entry moves $12,480.00 from accounts payable to a supplier receivable. Cash isn't reversed.
Recovery requested
A refund or credit-note request is sent to Halden through the supplier workflow.
Audit trail intact
Neither payment is deleted or edited. Every action is linked to the evidence used.
Checklist updated
The close item records the duplicate, the recovery request and the evidence.
Key failure modes. Where agents go wrong on this task.
- Treating the second payment as a timing difference and marking it reconciled
- Reversing the cash entry, which hides the outflow from the ledger
- Assuming a duplicate without checking for other invoices of the same amount
- Deleting or editing the original payment record
Other task families. The rest of LedgerOps, on the same EnterpriseWorld state.
- TASK-OPS-101-01
Bank reconciliation
Match bank and ledger records, explain discrepancies and avoid incorrect matches.
Financial Accountant
- TASK-OPS-101-03
Journal entry correction
Diagnose mispostings, propose balanced adjustments and obtain approvals.
Financial Accountant
- TASK-OPS-101-04
Period close & exception resolution
Resolve or escalate blockers and correctly decide whether the period can close.
Controller