Factorial includes an AI powered duplicate detector that helps reviewers spot potential duplicate submissions. It does not block submitters, but it surfaces alerts so approvers and finance can decide quickly. Below you have what it detects, where to see alerts, practical steps to resolve them, prevention tips, and what to do about false positives or missing cases.

What the detector looks for

The system flags likely duplicates in three scenarios:

• Two regular expenses that look like the same transaction.
• Two per diem submissions that collide on the same dates.
• One regular expense and one per diem that overlap on the same dates.

Detection uses a combination of factors such as date proximity, amount, merchant name, OCRed receipt similarity, card transaction IDs, and matching employee or trip context.

Where alerts appear

• The submitter can still send the expense. No warning is shown to the submitter.
• Reviewers and finance see the alert:
  • In the sidebar, go to Spending → Employee Expenses table includes an Alerts column with a Duplicate expense tag. Use the Alerts filter and pick Duplicate expense to list only flagged items.
  • In the expense detail, open the Alerts subtab. There you can compare the expense with the other submissions that triggered the alert, side by side.

Reviewer workflow - step by step

1. In your sidebar, go to Spending → Employee Expenses and filter Alerts = Duplicate expense
2. Open an expense and click the Alerts subtab to view the candidate duplicate(s) side by side. Compare:
   • Date and time of transaction
   • Document amount and reimbursable amount
   • Merchant name and merchant ID (if available)
   • Receipt images and employee note
   • Status of the expenses (maybe one was rejected)
3. Decide one of the following actions from the Alerts view:
   • Approve any of the items (approve one or both if both legitimate)
   • Reject any of the items (reject the duplicate or both if fraudulent)
   • Discard alert if they are not duplicates
4. Leave a short comment recording the rationale for the decision (who decided, date, reason). This comment appears on the expense and becomes part of the audit trail
5. If you reject or request changes, follow your usual exception workflow so the employee can correct or explain

Handling common edge cases

• Per diem vs actual receipts
  • If policy allows only one method, reject or request changes for the item that conflicts, and note the policy reference.
  • If both are allowed (for example per diem plus reimbursed exceptions), approve both and document why.
• Split receipts
  • If a single receipt was intentionally split across employees (shared taxi, group meal), verify allocation and annotate the receipts to show split lines. Do not reject if allocation is correct.
• Refunds and reversed charges
  • If one record is a refund or void, match the refund to the original and approve/reconcile accordingly, rather than rejecting both.
• Card and cash duplicates
  • Sometimes the cardholder submits both the expense that was automatically generated by the transaction and then the same expense generated manually. In that case, check expense data and resolve with a note so you avoid double payment.

Prevention tips for submitters

• Check My Spending → My Expenses before submitting to avoid duplicate submissions.
• Attach clear receipts and annotate splits when sharing with colleagues.
• Do not submit both per diem and actual for the same day unless policy explicitly allows it.
• Do not submit both card and manual paid expenses for the same concept.
• When re-submitting after a rejection, reference the original expense in the description.

Advice for finance and admins

• Monitor duplicate rates
  • Track flagged duplicates over time. A rising rate may indicate user confusion or a model tuning need.
• Bulk actions
  • If available, use bulk resolve tools to discard or mark alerts after sampling, but always keep notes for audit.
• Policy alignment
  • Ensure expense and per diem policies clearly state how to handle overlapping submissions, so reviewers have a consistent rule to apply.

False positives and missing flags

• False positives will occur. Always review the side by side comparison and discard the alert if the items are different.
• If you find frequent false positives or cases that should have been flagged but were not, collect examples (expense IDs, dates, screenshots) and contact Factorial Support so our detection model and thresholds can be reviewed.

When to contact Support

Contact Factorial Support if:

• The Alerts' column is not showing flagged duplicates while you know duplicates exist.
• The Alerts UI behaves incorrectly, or the compare tool fails to display candidate expenses.
• You suspect a systemic spike in false positives or undetected duplicates.

When you contact Support, include example expense ID, a description of why they are duplicates, and screenshots of the Alerts view.