---
id: KB-DI-016
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/documents-and-ai/the-same-value-appearing-twice-differently
idioma: en
categoria: documentos-ia
subcategoria: lectura
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-DI-005, KB-IC-012]
citadoPor: [KB-GL-016, KB-DI-018, KB-DI-020]
---

# The same value appearing twice differently

_The invoice says one thing and the delivery note another. Which wins and what to do with the gap._

**Responde a:** invoice and delivery note do not match · conflicting data between documents · which document wins when they differ · reconciling quantities across documents

When two documents about the same matter say different things, the problem is not reading: both were read correctly and they disagree with each other. It is a real discrepancy, and the only change is that you now see it the same day instead of at month end.

## Why they differ, by frequency

| Cause | How to recognise it | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What was delivered differs from what was ordered | The delivery note matches what arrived, not the order | Accept or claim, but decide |
| A handwritten correction on the paper | A crossed-out figure with another beside it | The corrected one stands, and gets typed |
| Documents from different dates | One partial delivery and a later one | Not a discrepancy: two separate facts |
| An error by the issuer | The other values do not fit either | Ask for a corrected document |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The third row generates false alarms and wastes the most time. Before claiming anything, check the dates: two documents that disagree because they describe different moments are not an error, they are the normal story of a split delivery.

## Which document wins

1. **For what was delivered, the signed delivery note** — It records what actually arrived and who received it.
2. **For what was ordered, the order** — The gap between the two is exactly what needs clarifying.
3. **For what is charged, the invoice** — And it should match the delivery note, not the order.
4. **And if there is a contract, the contract wins** — Prices, terms and agreed tolerances live there, not in delivery notes.

> [!WARNING]
> The nuance you only learn by living it: **the extracted value does not replace the document**. If you are going to claim over a difference, the claim rests on the image of the delivery note with its number and signature, not on the figure in a listing. The listing is for spotting the difference in the moment; the evidence is still the document.

## How to catch it before paying

**En corto**

- By cross-checking what was extracted from delivery note and invoice against the same order.
- With a decided tolerance: not every mismatch deserves a phone call.
- And by asking whoever receives, not whoever pays: the person at the unloading knows what arrived.

That last point saves more arguments than any tool: accounts sees paper and the warehouse saw the goods. When the doubt is settled by asking whoever unloaded, it closes in a minute.

> [!NOTE]
> Cross-checking values between two documents is an AI action and consumes, like any other. It pays where there is money or risk — goods-in, large invoices, critical batches — rather than across the whole flow as a matter of course.

**Can I correct the extracted value by hand?**

Yes, and it helps: there is then a record that someone reviewed it.

**What if the supplier does not accept the difference?**

That is where the signed delivery note earns its keep.

**Can it alert automatically when they disagree?**

Yes, and it is among the highest-yield rules if you give it a sensible tolerance.

## Ejemplos

**Accounts finds at month end that three invoices do not match their delivery notes.**

- Cross-checks note and invoice on receipt, with an agreed tolerance
- Asks whoever unloaded before claiming

→ Differences get resolved the same day and stop turning up at closing.

**The same figure appears with two values in two documents.**

- Checks which document each came from

→ You know what backs each value.

**One of the two is chosen with no record.**

- Records which is taken and why

→ The decision is explicable.

**One document is more recent than the other.**

- Compares both dates

→ The criterion stops being a hunch.

**The misread value is corrected in the wrong place.**

- Corrects it in the document it came from

→ Source and figure match again.

**A report uses the wrong value.**

- Checks where it takes the figure from

→ The report rests on the right one.