Good morning, and welcome to Backbone IT! I'm Amara Osei, the head of Finance. 80 people work here, and we look after the computers of about 200 doctors' practices, law firms and tax offices in Ohm City.
In Finance, we decide when money leaves the company. About 180 invoices arrive every month, and this morning our team talked about a tool that could pay them on its own. I could really use your help to check a few invoices and look at that tool with me.
Let's start: download your workbook, then go to Step 1. Everything you write goes into your workbook, in the part for Day 1.
Open your workbook for Finance and go to Day 1. Keep this page open next to it.
Download your workbook for FinanceThis file is for your internship in Finance, with one part for Day 1 and one part for Day 2. Download it once and use it on both days. The file lands in your Downloads folder.
The team meeting
Read M1: the minutes of this morning's Finance team meeting. Minutes (Protokoll) are short notes of who said what. Amara wants to try a new tool. Find out why, and what Heike and Lukas are worried about. The word bank explains the words you need in Finance.
- invoice
- Rechnung: a document that says how much a customer has to pay
- order
- Bestellung: what a company asked a supplier to deliver
- delivery note
- Lieferschein: a list of what really arrived
- bank details
- Bankverbindung: the account the money goes to
- four-eyes principle
- Vier-Augen-Prinzip: two people check before money goes out
- payment limit
- Zahlungsgrenze: the highest amount that can be paid without an extra check
- fraud
- Betrug: tricking someone to get their money
- liable
- haftbar: responsible for paying for a damage
The Finance meeting
Minutes of the team meetingBackbone IT · Finance team meeting
Minutes of today's team meeting
Present: Amara Osei (head of Finance), Samuel Mensah (Office & Dispatch), Heike Brandt (HR), Lukas (apprentice)
- Amara: Last month we got 180 invoices from suppliers. We check each one by hand against the order and the delivery note. That takes a lot of time at the end of the month.
- Amara: Offer from PayFlow: an AI tool that checks invoices and pays them on its own if the amount is below €5,000. Price: €99 a month.
- Samuel: Good idea. Last week, two suppliers called because we paid them late.
- Heike: Remember the email from “TechSupply” with new bank details? It asked us to send €18,400. It was fake. Only Amara's phone call to the real TechSupply stopped the payment.
- Lukas: I'm the apprentice in Finance. If PayFlow pays a fake invoice, who is responsible? The tool, the person who set it up, or me?
- Write two sentences. Sentence 1: Why does Amara want to try PayFlow? Use a number from the minutes. Sentence 2: What are Heike and Lukas worried about?Help: “Amara wants to try PayFlow because ... Heike remembers ..., and Lukas asks ...”
A strong answer: Amara wants to try PayFlow because Finance checks 180 invoices a month by hand, and that takes a lot of time; two suppliers were even paid late. Heike remembers the fake email from “TechSupply” with new bank details, and Lukas asks who is responsible if PayFlow pays a fake invoice.
Check your answer: Did you use a number from the minutes?
Check the invoices
Four invoices are on Amara's desk. Read M2 first: how Finance checks an invoice. Then check each invoice in M3 the way M2 describes it. Invoice A belongs to the order and the delivery note on the desk. Invoice B is the office rent.
How Finance checks an invoice
Three documents, four eyesFinance checks every euro that goes out. Before Backbone pays an invoice, Finance compares it with the order (what did we order?) and the delivery note (what did we really get?). Rent is compared with the rental contract. Finance pays only when everything matches. For new bank details and payments above €5,000, a second person checks too: the four-eyes principle.
Amara's desk
One order, one delivery note, four invoicesDocument 1 · Order
Order O-2231 to NetParts
| Item | Quantity | Price each | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Network switch | 20 | €145 | €2,900 |
| Network cable | 40 | €6 | €240 |
| Order total | €3,140 |
Document 2 · Delivery note
Delivery note from NetParts, order O-2231
| Item | Delivered |
|---|---|
| Network switch | 20 |
| Network cable | 36 |
Signed by Karim Haddad, technician: “Received. Box torn, but all cables inside are OK.”
NetParts
- For
- order O-2231: 20 switches, 40 cables
- Amount
- €3,140
- Bank
- same as always
OfficeRent Ohm City
- For
- rent for the office, next month
- Amount
- €6,500, as in the rental contract
- Bank
- same as always
CloudCore
- For
- backup storage, last month, invoice no. CC-889
- Amount
- €1,190
- Note
- Finance already paid invoice no. CC-889 last week.
TechSupply
- For
- 10 laptop docks
- Amount
- €2,480
- Note
- A new invoice from “TechSupply”, arrived this week: “Please note our new bank details.” There is no order for laptop docks in the system.
All amounts on these pages are without VAT (Umsatzsteuer).
- Check each invoice the way M2 describes it. Tick “Pay” if the invoice is correct and can be paid after the checks in M2. Tick “Do not pay” if something is wrong. Tick exactly one box for each invoice.
- Invoice ATick one box: Pay · Do not pay
- Invoice BTick one box: Pay · Do not pay
- Invoice CTick one box: Pay · Do not pay
- Invoice DTick one box: Pay · Do not pay
- a) Invoice A: compare it with the order and the delivery note. Write down the mistake and calculate the correct amount.
- b) Invoice C: explain in one or two sentences why Finance must not pay it.
- c) Invoice D: name the two warning signs. Then write what Finance should do next, in one or two sentences.Help for c): “The first warning sign is ... The second is ... Finance should call TechSupply on the number from earlier invoices, and ...”
A: do not pay it like this. The invoice charges 40 cables, but only 36 arrived. Correct: 20 × €145 + 36 × €6 = €3,116 (€24 less). Ask NetParts for a corrected invoice, or pay only €3,116.
B: pay it. It matches the rental contract, and the bank is the same as always.
C: do not pay it. Invoice no. CC-889 was already paid last week, so this is the same invoice a second time.
D: do not pay it. The two warning signs: there is no order for laptop docks in the system, and the invoice asks for new bank details. Next: call TechSupply on the old phone number you already know (not the one in the email), and a second person checks (four-eyes principle).
PayFlow and a real case
Amara wants to try PayFlow. Read M4: how an AI invoice tool works. Then read the real case of the company Arup in M5.
How an AI invoice tool works
What PayFlow doesAn AI invoice tool reads invoices from emails and PDFs. It finds the supplier, amount and order number and compares them with the orders. If they match and the amount is below a payment limit, it pays on its own. It checks 180 invoices in minutes, but it ignores delivery notes and only checks what it was built for. Criminals learn its rules fast.
A real case: Arup
A video call full of fakesIn early 2024, an employee in the Hong Kong office of the engineering company Arup joined a video call with the finance director and other colleagues. They were all deepfakes: fake videos made with AI. The employee made 15 transfers, about 25 million US dollars in total, to the criminals. Nobody noticed the fraud until the employee checked with the head office.
Sources: CNN and The Guardian, May 2024; Hong Kong police, February 2024
- a) Use M1, M3 and M4. For each invoice A to D, write “PayFlow pays” or “PayFlow stops”, with one short reason each. For invoice C, M4 does not tell you everything: write what you think PayFlow does, and why.Help for a): “A: PayFlow ..., because ... B: PayFlow ..., because the amount ...”
- b) Use M2 and M5. Which rule from M2 could have stopped the fraud at Arup? Explain in two sentences.
- Samuel writes: “A machine can't be fooled by a video call. So with PayFlow, we are safe from fraud.”
- c) Use M4 and M5. Give two reasons why Samuel is wrong. One or two sentences each.Help for c): “First, criminals learn ... Second, PayFlow only checks ...”
a) A: PayFlow pays, because order and invoice match, and PayFlow does not check the delivery note (M4). B: PayFlow stops, because €6,500 is above the limit of €5,000 (M1), so a person checks. C: PayFlow probably pays it again if it was not built to find invoices that were already paid (M4: it only checks what it was built for); “stops” with a good reason is also right. D: PayFlow stops, because there is no order.
b) The four-eyes principle with a call back on a known way: a second person would have had to confirm the payments and ask the head office in a different way, for example by phone.
c) First, criminals learn the rules of the tool and build invoices that match exactly (M4). Second, PayFlow only checks what it should check, so a fake invoice with a real order number looks correct to the tool. Also right: people set up the tool, and people can be fooled themselves (M5).
What I learned today
Write three sentences, one for each important thing you learned today, in your own words. For example: how Finance checks an invoice, and why criminals look for the rules of a tool.
Check your workbook
- Save your workbook.
- Choose the file here.
- Does the page name a step? Then an answer is still missing or very short. Fill in that box, save the file and choose it here again.
- When all answers are there, Amara answers you and the solutions appear under every step.
- Compare the solutions with your answers. Is a number or a fact in your answer wrong? Write “Correction:” and the right answer in the same box, under your answer.
- Is the answer your own opinion or your own rule? Then more than one answer can be good. Write “Also:” and one idea from the solution that you did not have.
- Save your workbook again.
Thank you! Invoice D would have been an expensive mistake, and the call to the real TechSupply is on my list for tomorrow morning.
See you next time in Finance!