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Understanding the Billing Matchup System

Learn how FilePile's billing matchup system automates recurring product detection, payment tracking, and billing verification.

Understanding the Billing Matchup System

What this guide covers

This guide is for business owners, accountants, and finance managers who want to automate their accounts payable workflow. You will learn how the billing matchup system identifies recurring products, tracks payment due dates, and verifies invoice details against your company profile to ensure accuracy.

Why FilePile

FilePile takes the manual labor out of invoice management. Instead of manually entering data or setting up complex vendor records, our system learns your spending patterns automatically. The billing matchup system connects your uploaded invoices with your payment schedules and company records, providing a clear financial picture without the administrative overhead.

Getting started with FilePile

Ready to streamline your billing process? Sign up today to start using the billing matchup system and take control of your vendor payments.

Before you begin

To use the full features of the billing matchup system, specifically the Billing Details Verification, you need a Business plan. The Free and Pro plans support recurring product detection and payment tracking. Ensure you have the following ready:

  • Your monthly vendor invoices in PDF format (scanned PDFs are supported).
  • Your official company legal name and address for verification setup.
  • Access to the email address associated with your FilePile account.

How the billing matchup system works

The billing matchup system operates on three core pillars: automatic recurring product detection, payment command center tracking, and billing details verification. This system eliminates the need for manual vendor setup by analyzing your upload history and matching it against your defined company parameters.

Step-by-step instructions

Follow these steps to utilize the billing matchup system effectively.

1. Upload your invoices

First, you must provide the system with data to analyze.

  1. Log in at filepile.co/login.
  2. Open Dashboard from the left sidebar.
  3. Click the Process tab.
  4. Drag PDF files into the upload area or click to choose files from your computer.
  5. Wait for the processing queue to finish sorting the files.

2. Set up recurring product detection

You do not need to manually register recurring vendors. The system handles this automatically after you establish a history.

  1. Upload invoices for the same vendor and product for at least two consecutive months.
  2. FilePile AUTO-DETECTS this as a recurring product.
  3. Navigate to the Recurring tab on the Dashboard to view detected products.
  4. Look for the checkmark in the Recurring products section indicating the current month has been received.

Note: Uploading the invoice each month serves as your confirmation of payment. Do not click Mark paid for these auto-detected recurring items.

3. Configure Company Details for verification

To enable the Billing Details Verification feature, you must define your official business identity.

  1. Click Company details in the left sidebar to go to /account/company.
  2. Enter your legal name, address, and contact information exactly as it appears on your contracts.
  3. Click the Save button to store these settings.

4. Monitor the Payment Command Center

Track your overall financial obligations using the Business HQ.

  1. Click Business HQ in the left sidebar to go to /account/business.
  2. Locate the Vendor Payment Command Center panel.
  3. Review the Open bills and Total due amounts.
  4. Check the Next-30-day outlook to see upcoming liabilities based on uploaded invoice due dates.

5. Review Upcoming vendor payments

For a granular view of specific invoices, use the Dashboard card.

  1. Open Dashboard from the left sidebar.
  2. Find the card titled Upcoming vendor payments.
  3. Review the list of individual invoices due in the next 30 days.
  4. Scroll down to the subsection for Recurring products to see which are received and which are awaiting upload.

6. Handle Billing Details Verification mismatches

If the system detects a discrepancy between an invoice and your Company details, it creates a task for review.

  1. Open Dashboard from the left sidebar.
  2. Click the Tasks tab.
  3. Look for review tasks flagged for billing mismatches.
  4. Click on a specific task to open the review interface.
  5. View the PDF invoice displayed on the right side of the screen.

7. Resolve verification tasks

You have two options when addressing a mismatch in the Tasks tab.

Option A: Remove the invoice

  1. If the invoice is incorrect or irrelevant, click the Remove invoice button.

Option B: Generate an expense justification document

  1. If the invoice is valid but the details differ (for example, a subsidiary name), type an explanation in the text box provided.
  2. Click the option to attach proof images.
  3. Upload the necessary images and add a caption for each image.
  4. Click the Generate document button.

8. Locate generated documents

FilePile files the justification document alongside the original invoice.

  1. Open Dashboard from the left sidebar.
  2. Click the Browse tab.
  3. Navigate through the folder path: sorting/{vendor}/Invoices/{month}/{invoice_reference}/.
  4. Locate the file named expense-justification.pdf next to your original invoice.pdf.

9. Trigger automatic rechecks

If you update your company profile, you can force the system to re-evaluate previously flagged invoices.

  1. Go to Company details at /account/company.
  2. Update any fields as necessary.
  3. Click Save.
  4. The system automatically performs a recheck of all flagged invoices associated with your profile.

What you should see

After completing the setup and upload process, you should see the Recurring tab populate with vendors after the second monthly upload. In the Vendor Payment Command Center, you should see an accurate total of open bills and a visual outlook for the next 30 days. If verification mismatches occur, the Tasks tab will display a list of items requiring attention, with the invoice PDF visible on the right side of the interface for easy comparison. Upon resolving a mismatch with a generated document, the Browse tab will contain both the original invoice and the new expense-justification.pdf in the correct vendor and month folder.

Tips and common issues

  • Use the Mark Paid button sparingly: The Mark paid button on the Dashboard is optional and intended only for one-off vendor bills in the Upcoming vendor payments list that you wish to clear manually. Never use this for auto-detected recurring products, as the upload itself acts as confirmation.
  • Watch for Recurring Gap emails: If you are on the Pro or Business plan, FilePile sends emails when an expected recurring product invoice is missing. Ensure you upload these PDFs promptly to keep your matchup data accurate.
  • Ensure high quality scans: While scanned PDFs are supported, blurry images can prevent the system from correctly reading the Bill-to name and address, leading to false mismatches in the verification process.
  • Keep Company details current: If your business moves or changes its legal name, update Company details immediately to trigger an automatic recheck and prevent unnecessary verification tasks.

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