You have paid the deposit. The supplier sends another invoice and says the payment has not arrived, or asks you to use a new account because the old one has a problem. Production is waiting, and paying again looks like the quickest way forward. It can also leave you with two payments for one obligation. Pause the new instruction until you can explain the first payment and the second request.
The situations below are fictional, generalised examples, not customer transactions. This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Verification does not guarantee recovery or supplier performance.
Find out what the second invoice changes
Ask whether the new document replaces the first invoice, requests the next instalment, adds an agreed charge or duplicates the original demand. Compare the order reference, goods, quantities, currency, total, beneficiary and deposit credit. A new invoice number alone does not establish a new amount due.
Request a written reconciliation showing the approved order total, payments credited and remaining balance. If the supplier has corrected an invoice, retain both versions and its explanation of which one now applies. The proforma and commercial invoice guide helps organise that record without treating either document as proof of receipt.
Separate sent, received and credited
Gather the original payment instruction, provider reference, amount, currency, beneficiary and current status. Ask the bank or provider handling the payment to confirm what its status actually means and what evidence or investigation is available. Do not turn a screenshot marked “sent” into a claim that the supplier has received the money.
If you funded a provider with stablecoins for a bank payout, keep both legs visible. A wallet transaction confirms neither the supplier's bank credit nor its allocation to your invoice. The payment-proof checklist separates funding evidence, payout evidence and supplier acknowledgement.
Ask the supplier's finance contact to search for the expected receipt using the amount, currency, date and sender information available from your provider. The payout sender may differ from the buyer, so share the relevant reference privately through an established channel. Request confirmation of any receipt still waiting to be allocated to the order.
Verify a new recipient outside the new message
Contact a known supplier representative using contact details already held in your purchase file. Do not rely only on the phone number or reply address supplied with the replacement invoice. Ask who authorised the change and why the original recipient is no longer being used.
Follow the changed-payment-details checklist before approving a different beneficiary. A familiar logo, urgent production deadline or message in the existing chat does not resolve a mismatch. If the seller asks you to pay another company, obtain its collection authority and ask your provider whether that recipient can be accepted.
Choose the next step from the evidence
| What you can establish | What to do before another payment |
|---|---|
| Supplier received the money but has not credited the order | Obtain the invoice allocation and corrected outstanding balance |
| Payment is still being investigated | Keep the second payment on hold while the handling provider clarifies the first payment's status |
| Provider confirms a rejection or return | Confirm where the returned funds are, any deductions and the corrected instructions before approving a replacement |
| New invoice adds goods or charges | Approve the commercial change separately and deduct the deposit already credited |
| Supplier cannot explain the request or beneficiary change | Stop additional funding and preserve the correspondence |
A promise that the first payment will come back is not evidence that it has returned. If your business nevertheless considers paying while the first transfer remains unresolved, make the possible double exposure explicit to the authorised decision-maker. Do not hide it inside an ordinary balance approval.
Keep a single payment history for the order
Record every invoice version, transfer reference, supplier acknowledgement and approval in one chronology. Keep a disputed or unallocated payment visible rather than deleting it from the balance calculation. The partial-payment guide helps track instalments without paying the same stage twice.
If the supplier stops responding or asks for an unexplained release fee, use the unresponsive-supplier guide to preserve the record. Ask the relevant bank, provider or marketplace about its own process and deadlines; do not assume an investigation promises a refund.
Use pay an invoice to ask A2vanta about a proposed invoice payment before funding. For an existing A2vanta payment, use your established support channel with the original reference and second invoice. A fresh payment enquiry is not a substitute for resolving the earlier payment's status.