Resolve validation issues

Understand validation issues, correct the cause, and recheck the current invoice state.

What to do

Read the issue. Open the invoice’s exception or warning indicator to see the affected area, explanation, and available action. Checks can differ by company and by the point in invoice processing.
Open the affected context. Use the available field link or action to find the field, line, match, or document detail that produced the result. In a line-items section, a validation icon opens the affected field. Some issues include extra details or a guided decision, such as comparing possible duplicates.
Correct the cause. Update a wrong invoice value, coding choice, vendor, match, or other supported input. Complete a required review when the data itself is correct.
Wait for the new result. Saving a change can run the applicable checks again. Confirm the issue clears, changes to a warning, or leaves the intended review task.
Use the available action. At an intermediate validation step, select Submit for Review. At the final validation step, a blocking issue uses Fix exception for one displayed exception or Fix N exceptions when N is the displayed count. Select it to reach the affected field, correct it, and wait for the save before submitting again. At the first AP review, before anyone has recorded a decision, make corrections here and select Submit for Review or Submit for Approval instead. Return to AP is the one action that sends an invoice back, in validation (after review has progressed) and in approval alike; it requires a reason and restarts AP validation without requiring a field edit. Returning preserves saved facts and history, retires the current review cycle, and requires fresh approvals. Clerked checks the current workflow when you submit; after the blocking issue clears, Submit for Approval returns. Review findings and warnings remain actionable.
Escalate an unavailable resolution. Contact support with the invoice identifier and exact issue text when the required action is missing. Do not repeatedly edit an unrelated field just to trigger another check.

Dismiss a warning

A warning shows an issue without holding the invoice. When your company has set a check to Warning and the issue is acceptable on this invoice, you can dismiss it instead of changing the data.

Find the warning. Open the invoice’s warning indicator and read the warning.
Select Dismiss. It appears beside a warning you are allowed to dismiss.
Give a reason. Enter why the warning is acceptable, then select Dismiss. A reason is required and is kept with the invoice.

A dismissed warning stays dismissed while the invoice stays the same. If the invoice changes and the check still finds the issue, the warning returns and needs a new decision.

Dismiss is available only for warnings. It does not appear for:

Exceptions. A check your company set to anything other than Warning must be resolved by correcting the cause. An administrator can change a check to Warning in Settings > Company > Invoice validation when your company accepts that issue.
Processing, password-protected PDF, and paused intake problems. Resolve these with their own action, such as Continue processing or an unlocked PDF.
Possible duplicates. Resolve them from the duplicate comparison instead.

If Dismiss says the check is set to review or block for your company, the check’s setting changed after the invoice loaded. Resolve the issue instead.

Read ERP export notes

An export can finish with a note from your accounting system, such as a date or posting period the ERP changed, or an attachment it didn’t accept. These notes appear as information on the invoice’s export status next to its title, not as warnings or tasks. They don’t need to be dismissed.

Resolve a possible duplicate

A duplicate warning says how many invoices may be the same document and links each of the others that you can open. Select Reconcile Duplicates to compare them side by side. Each side shows where that invoice stands, for example In review, Approved, not exported or Exported to your accounting system with the export date. When the warning names several matches, use the arrows to move between them; each match is resolved on its own.

Keep this one keeps that invoice and cancels the other one. The warning closes once the cancellation is done, and a confirmation appears only then. If the cancellation is still finishing, Clerked says so and the warning closes when it completes. Both invoices record the decision in Activity, each with a link to the other one.
Keep this one is unavailable, with the reason shown above the button, when the other invoice can’t be cancelled: it is already in your accounting system, an export of it is in progress, or an export was already sent. If the other invoice is already exported, keep that one instead; the reason offers it in one click.
Not a duplicate records that the two are different invoices. Clerked won’t flag that pair again.
When both invoices are already in your accounting system, neither can be cancelled here. Resolve the duplicate in your accounting system, then select Handled in the ERP and enter the reason.

Duplicate warnings can’t be dismissed; they close only through one of these choices, when the other invoice is deleted or cancelled, or when the invoices no longer match after a change.

Continue after a processing error

If Continue processing appears, review and resolve the processing problem, then select it to resume the same invoice. The invoice continues through its remaining processing, validation, and approval steps.

Recheck export readiness

Some integrations also check that the invoice and its attachments are ready to export before final submission or approval. A missing PDF or an attachment over the size limit can stop that action even when the invoice fields are valid. Some checks run before export and stop an invoice that your connected accounting system would reject.

If export readiness is the remaining issue, Submit for Approval or Approve can stay available so you can run the check again. The invoice cannot finish validation or approval while the issue remains. After the PDF or another external requirement is repaired, retry the available action. You do not need to edit an unrelated field or reload the page. Saving a field change alone does not clear an unresolved export-readiness message. A review vote that still leaves other reviewers to act does not clear it either.

Failed ERP exports appear in the Export Failed disclosure. When AP can act, a Resolve Task directs the export owner to the available recovery actions.

If submission reports that accounting information changed during review, inspect the refreshed values before submitting again. Clerked may return the invoice to AP when a selected accounting reference changes after review.

Quantity units from purchase orders

When your company’s setup copies units from purchase orders, choose a PO line on an ordinary invoice before reviewing its unit. A new match or a change to the matched PO line copies that line’s unit and locks it when the PO line has one. Keeping the same match leaves the locked unit unchanged on unrelated edits. Quantities and amounts stay unchanged, so review them together when the invoice and PO use different wording.

If the newly selected PO line has no unit, Clerked clears the previous unit and leaves the dropdown editable. Correct the source PO information, or choose the unit the invoice states. Removing the PO-line match keeps the last unit and makes the dropdown editable; selecting another PO line copies and locks its unit again.

On a line without a matched PO line, choose a supported unit from the dropdown. The invoice agent uses the unit the invoice prints; when none is printed, it chooses the unit that names what the quantity counts, such as hours for labor or Each for a count of items or a lump sum. Selecting a PO header alone does not exempt the line from this unit check; picking a receipt fills in the line’s PO line. On every invoice type, credit memos included, a unit that anyone chooses must be one of the dropdown’s choices or left empty. A unit copied from a matched PO line, or already stored on the line, stays until someone changes it. Credit memos keep their amount-only processing and do not need a unit to pass this check.

Announced in Clearer invoice review, validation, and Return to AP.