Duplicate records

What are duplicate records?

Duplicate records occur when two or more entries in a system, or across multiple systems, represent the same real-world entity, such as a supplier, customer, or product, but are stored as separate records. In vendor master data, duplicates commonly arise from spelling variations, abbreviation differences, outdated addresses, or multiple departments onboarding the same supplier independently.

For procurement and supplier data teams, duplicate records fragment spend visibility and can lead to payment errors, since the same supplier may be paid under two different vendor IDs. Surfacing and flagging duplicates across systems, rather than relying on one-time cleanup projects, helps maintain a single accurate view of each supplier and supports more reliable reporting and risk management.