Data Cleansing of Duplicate Vendor Records in ERP Systems

Abstract

Data cleansing of duplicate vendor records is an important activity in ERP systems where supplier information must remain accurate, consistent, and reliable for purchasing, payments, taxation, and reporting. In enterprise environments, duplicate vendor records can occur due to inconsistent naming, different address formats, manual entry errors, missing tax identifiers, multiple branch records, and weak master data controls. These duplicates can lead to duplicate payments, incorrect purchase history, vendor reconciliation problems, compliance issues, and unreliable procurement reports. This article discusses how structured vendor data cleansing helps identify, validate, merge, deactivate, and prevent duplicate vendor records in ERP databases. It explains the role of matching rules, tax ID comparison, address standardization, bank account validation, duplicate detection reports, approval workflows, and audit trails in improving vendor master quality. The article also highlights common challenges such as incomplete legacy data, similar vendor names, regional naming variations, inactive suppliers, and poor coordination between procurement, finance, and master data teams. A structured cleansing approach is presented to improve data accuracy, reduce payment risk, support compliance, and strengthen ERP data governance. The study concludes that effective cleansing of duplicate vendor records improves vendor master reliability and supports efficient enterprise procurement and financial operations.