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Catch duplicate bills in QuickBooks Online (Make)

Scan the last 90 days of QuickBooks bills for the same vendor and amount within 30 days, and get a draft email listing the possible duplicates.

Steps

1. Add QuickBooks Online → 'Search for Bills' for the last 90 days (e.g. TxnDate >= {{formatDate(addDays(now; -90); "YYYY-MM-DD")}}) with the limit set to 1000.
2. Add an Array aggregator with Group by set to vendor + amount (e.g. {{VendorRef.value}}-{{TotalAmt}}), collecting vendor name, bill number, date, and amount.
3. Add a filter that only passes groups with 2 or more bills whose dates are within 30 days of each other.
4. Add a Text aggregator that writes one line per flagged bill: vendor, bill number, {{formatDate(TxnDate; "MM/DD/YYYY")}}, and amount.
5. Add a filter so the scenario continues only if the text is not empty.
6. Add Microsoft 365 Email → 'Create a Draft Email' addressed to yourself with the list in the body. Keep it as a draft.

Tips

• Format dates with formatDate(). The raw output is long ISO timestamps that are hard to read.
• Format amounts carefully. A number-format error can come up in the text step, so test with formatNumber(TotalAmt; 2) and check the output before relying on it.
• It doesn't check for the same bill number reused across different vendors. Add a second grouping on bill number if you want that.
• Run it weekly or right before each bill pay run.
• Test it in a QuickBooks sandbox first by planting a duplicate pair, then confirm only that group is flagged.

Tested: Tested against a QuickBooks Online sandbox company: among 17 bills, an exact duplicate pair and a near-duplicate (same vendor and amount, different bill number, 15 days earlier) were flagged as one group, and nothing else was flagged; a draft was created, not sent.

Keep a human check here: Low risk

Steps are based on the vendor docs as of Oct 2026; verify module names in your account. Apps rename triggers and actions sometimes. Try it with test data or a sandbox company first.

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