Invoice Integrity Copy Pack

A plug-and-play implementation kit you can set up in 60–90 minutes:

• minimum invoice standards ("eligibility-to-pay")
• a consistent review checklist
• variance + change order logging
• dispute / return scripts
• a monthly variance root-cause cadence that drives variance down over time

Value chain intelligence:

• Cost reduction: prevent out-of-scope charges, pricing errors, duplicate charges, undocumented pass-throughs
• Risk mitigation: reduce disputes, improve auditability, prevent vendor "scope creep," and keep operations stable
• Carbon impact (secondary): better line-item and period discipline improves activity data quality when you later compute emissions from spend/usage

Use this pack if any of these are true:

• Invoices arrive with vague lines ("misc," "services," "labor") and no dates
• Out-of-scope work gets billed without approval
• Pricing doesn't match what you thought you agreed to
• The same issues repeat every month
• Disputes drag on and credits never get collected
• You can't answer "what changed?" when a vendor bill spikes

Step 1 — Decide what you will enforce (10 minutes)

Pick the enforcement level for the Minimum Invoice Requirements:

• Level 1 (recommended start): return invoices missing dates + site + line detail
• Level 2: also require contract/SOW/PO reference
• Level 3: also require change order ID for extras and pass-through documentation

Beginner rule: enforce fewer rules consistently rather than many rules inconsistently.

Step 2 — Create your "Invoice Integrity" folder (5 minutes)

Create a stable place to store evidence and logs:

• Invoice_Integrity/
  • 01_Invoice_Logs/
  • 02_Disputes_and_Credits/
  • 03_Change_Orders/
  • 04_Policies_and_Checklists/

Step 3 — Copy the templates into Google Sheets (20 minutes)

Copy these into Google Sheets (each one its own tab):

• Invoice Intake + Status Log
• Variance Log
• Change Order Log
• Hold/Release Log
• Dispute and Credit Tracker (optional but recommended)

Step 4 — Implement the "Return Policy" (10 minutes)

Copy the Minimum Invoice Requirements into an internal doc and share it with:

• AP / Finance
• Ops approvers
• Category owners (procurement)

Then use the Dispute/Return email to enforce it consistently.

Step 5 — Run the system for one vendor first (15 minutes)

Pick one vendor with frequent issues (high spend, messy invoices, or high variance):

1. Log invoices in the intake log
2. Apply the review checklist
3. If needed, return the invoice
4. Record the variance root cause
5. Log change orders (if scope creep exists)

Step 6 — Install the 30-minute monthly cadence (10 minutes)

Schedule a recurring meeting: "Monthly Invoice Variance RCA" Use the agenda included below.