01Guide · Check the vendor master
AICTIONBOT™ · Guide
Check your vendor master: duplicates, gaps and bank data, before the next payment goes out.
Over the years the vendor master collects what nobody cleans up: the same supplier created three times, bank data without a valid check digit, vendors that have not delivered anything for years, and one IBAN that sits with two companies. The Vendor Master X-ray reads your export, finds duplicates, gaps and risk signals and turns them into a clean-up list.
Free, no account, no AI and no daily limit. Your vendor master stays in your browser, not a single row is uploaded or stored.
02X-ray now · vendor master, columns, findings
AICTIONBOT™ Workbench · no AI · in the browser
Vendor Master X-ray
Result: the X-ray picture with one box per vendor, duplicate groups, risk signals, format errors and gaps, dormant vendors and a clean-up list, to copy or as CSV. With “Load sample data” you see the result straight away, without your own file.
1 · Vendor master CSV or Excel export, one row per vendor, column headers in the first row
Excel files are read with SheetJS. CSV also works with semicolons and in Windows encoding. Large masters with a few thousand rows are fine, and the check stays local.
2 · Columns
X-ray image each square is one vendor, coloured by its most serious finding
Duplicates marked green: proposed master record (most complete data, most recent activity)
Risk signals not automatically fraud, but every signal needs an explanation before the next payment
Format errors and gaps
| Vendor | Name | Field | Value | Finding |
|---|
Clean-up list one row per action, for the master data owner
03What the X-ray finds
What it checks for every vendor.
Fixed rules, check digits and similarity measures, every hit with a reason. A risk signal is no proof of fraud, but it needs an explanation before the next payment.
- DuplicatesSimilar names, the same IBAN, the same tax number, the same phone number or the same email domain. For every group a proposal which record leads: the most complete one with the latest activity.
- One IBAN, two suppliersThe same account with two different vendors. Not an error in itself, but a classic entry point for bank data fraud: block payments until a call-back on a known number.
- One tax number, two namesThe same tax ID under different names: change of name, typo or wrong assignment. Check against the commercial register.
- Bank account in another countryAccount in a different country than the registered office, or BIC and IBAN belong to different countries. Usually a data entry error, rarely intent.
- IBAN and VAT ID with a wrong check digitIBAN according to ISO 13616 with the length per country, German VAT ID according to ISO 7064, plus BIC and postcode format. A transposed digit shows up here before the bank returns the payment.
- GapsNeither VAT ID nor tax number, a PO box instead of a street, missing contact data. Ask the supplier for the field.
- Dormant vendorsNo activity for a number of months you set. Block for posting and payment and archive after another twelve months.
04In the chain · inputs
Four checkers, one chain.
The Vendor Master X-ray stands at the start of the chain: only when a supplier exists once and with correct bank data do the match, approval and payment behind it work. Whether a VAT ID is actually issued and whether a supplier is on a sanctions list is checked by the Workbench supplier check.
- HereVendor Master X-rayWhich supplier is duplicated, incomplete or suspicious?
- Delivers query sheet per documentDocument MatchDo requisition, order, confirmation, goods receipt and invoice fit together?
- Delivers rerouting listApproval Matrix CheckerWho may approve, and are they still here?
- Delivers payment run and follow-upDiscount RadarWhich discount expires, and who saves it?
| Input | Required | Columns |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor master | required | vendor, name, street, postcode, city, country, VAT ID or tax number, IBAN, BIC, email, phone, last activity |
CSV with semicolon, comma or tab, or Excel. Common alternative column names are recognised, in English and German.
From the archive, anonymised: 25 findings concern master and vendor data, from duplicates and gaps to parallel systems after carve-outs.
05Questions and answers
What businesses ask us most.
Which export do I need?
The vendor master from your ERP or accounting software as CSV or Excel, one row per vendor, column headers in the first row. You assign the columns in the second step. A few thousand rows are no problem.
Is my vendor master uploaded?
No. The X-ray calculates entirely in your browser. Not a single row is sent to a server or stored. You do not need an account.
Does the X-ray check whether a VAT ID is valid?
It checks format and check digit. Whether the number is actually issued is queried by the Workbench supplier check in VIES, together with sanctions lists and the LEI register.
Is a risk signal a suspicion of fraud?
No. It is a pattern that needs an explanation before money flows. Usually there is a data entry error behind it.
What does the X-ray cost?
Nothing. The Vendor Master X-ray is free, with no account and no daily limit, because it calculates without AI.
Check now
Check first, then let it run.
Free, no account, no AI and no daily limit. Your vendor master stays in your browser, not a single row is uploaded or stored.
X-ray the vendor master nowPart of the AICTIONBOT™ Workbench
More tools for your purchasing.
Check price increases against official figures, match invoices against order and delivery note, check contracts for clauses and deadlines, screen suppliers against sanctions lists. Free in the browser, as a Windows app, as a Mac app and on the iPhone.
Guide by Dario Kulić, KULIC Advisory, Cologne. Twenty years of purchasing in large companies. Not legal or tax advice. Last updated: October 2026.