Large retailers usually hire a contingency recovery audit firm, such as PRGX, apexanalytix or Cotiviti, to review past payments and supplier terms and claim back overpayments, missed allowances and unapplied credits. The firm keeps a share of what it recovers.
Two other options sit alongside those firms. Software such as Xelix and StatementSYNC reconciles supplier statements and catches duplicate payments continuously, with your AP team working the claims. Duvo runs the audit and supplier follow-up inside your own systems, with AP approving each claim. Some providers, such as FISCAL Technologies, sell software and a managed recovery service.
The options differ in what the provider audits, how it is paid, and who handles the supplier claim until the credit is in your ledger. Duvo is one of the options on this page. For how a recovery audit works step by step, read the accounts payable recovery audit guide.
AP recovery audit firms and tools compared
| Provider | What it is | Retail work it publishes | How it charges | Scale it publishes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRGX | Recovery audit service with analytics | Promotions audits covering purchase allowances, rebates, DSD promotions, damages and scan programs. Retail was its largest source of revenue in its last public annual report (2019) | Contingency: you pay once recoveries are received | Says clients in more than 30 countries recover $1.8 billion in annual cash flow |
| apexanalytix | Contingency recovery audit, plus prevention software and a supplier portal | Retail merchandise audits including markdowns, vendor allowances and scan. Says its apexRetail.AI tool was vetted at one of the largest retailers in the world | Contingency: a percentage of the money recovered, paid after it is received | Says clients prevent or recover about $9 billion in overpayments a year |
| Cotiviti Retail (formerly Connolly) | Recovery audit and contract compliance, with alert software launched in September 2026 | Pricing, promotions, allowances and AP errors. Says 7 of the top 10 US retailers choose it | Not published on its site. Its 2016 annual report said it receives a percentage of the savings it helps clients achieve (company-wide) | Says over $1 billion is recovered a year |
| Discover Dollar | AP, retail merchandise and contract compliance audits, plus Discover Dollar Shield software | Names Target and Metro Cash & Carry among its clients | Success fee, no upfront cost | Says it has recovered over $1 billion |
| SpendLab | Contingency AP recovery audit, plus SpendProof monitoring software | Cites a European retailer with more than 720 stores | 100% contingency: "no cure, no pay" | Says it returns more than €200 million to clients a year |
| Strategic Audit Solutions | Recovery audit firm founded in 2009, plus AuditSUITE360 software including StatementSYNC | Retail and direct store delivery (DSD) audits | Audits on contingency; software for predictable fees | Not published |
| Xelix | AP software for statement reconciliation, duplicate and fraud prevention, and supplier queries | Marks & Spencer among its customer logos, and a retailer case study | Not published | Says it has more than 200 enterprise customers |
| FISCAL Technologies | Procure-to-pay risk software, plus a managed recovery audit service in which its consultant contacts suppliers | Says its clients range "from national retail chains to international currency providers" | Not published | Not published |
| Duvo | Payables audit and supplier recovery run across your existing systems, with AP approving each claim | Invoice reconciliation at Rohlik Group and supplier bonus reconciliation at Notino (related processes, not recovery audits) | Price agreed before work starts, with no token or seat charges. Contracted 5x ROI guarantee: if the measured result is below five times the total contract price for the agreed scope, the whole contract is free (terms) | Customer-approved results below |
Which option fits depends on who you want working the claims:
- An outside firm audits past periods and is paid from recoveries: PRGX, apexanalytix, Cotiviti, Discover Dollar, SpendLab or Strategic Audit Solutions. Ask which audit position you would give the firm and how it treats your supplier relationships.
- Software finds errors continuously and your AP team works the claims: Xelix or StatementSYNC. FISCAL Technologies sells software too, and its managed service contacts suppliers for you. Ask who reconciles the credits the software finds.
- The checks and supplier follow-up run inside your own process, with AP approving each claim: Duvo.
What retail recovery audits look for
Retail recovery audits look beyond AP errors to the merchandise terms agreed with suppliers: promotions, allowances and rebates. PRGX's audits cover purchase allowances, rebates, warehouse and DSD promotional activity, damages and scan programs. Cotiviti's 2016 annual report described its retail work as helping clients "realize their negotiated allowances, concessions, rebates and other incentives associated with merchandise procurement, logistics and other service transactions".
These entitlements are easy to miss because an invoice can match its purchase order and goods receipt while a promotional allowance or volume rebate stays unclaimed. The entitlement is calculated across many invoices, or becomes due after payment, so routine invoice matching does not see it.
Classic AP errors still matter. apexanalytix's 2026 overpayment report, based on spend at large companies, attributes 18% of the lost profit it identified to duplicate payments, 14% to cancelled invoices or contracts, 13% each to pricing and returned goods, and 10% to unclaimed rebates.
How recovery audit firms charge
Most recovery audit firms work on contingency: they take a percentage of what they recover, and you pay nothing if nothing is recovered.
- The rate is negotiated. A 2011 review for the City of San Diego found that the outside auditor "typically receives between 20% and 30% of each recovery depending on the cumulative recovery for the client". PRGX's guide to AP recovery audit services gives a range of 10% to 40% of recovered amounts.
- Large retailers often use two firms. PRGX's annual report describes it as typical in retail "for large firms to engage a primary audit firm at one contingency fee rate and a secondary firm to audit behind the primary at a higher rate."
- When a recovery counts is a contract term. PRGX's filings say a recovery becomes billable once the client has received the economic benefit, generally as credits taken against amounts owed to the supplier or as refund checks, and that clients may ask for fees back if suppliers later reject the claims. The San Diego review advises the client "to specify what constitutes a recovery".
- Contingency pay rewards volume. The UK's Groceries Code Adjudicator found that the large grocers it regulates "almost universally" pay their audit consultants on contingency, a model "which encourages the maximisation of volumes and values of claims, perhaps without regard to whether the claims are valid". Its best practice statement asks those grocers to reconsider that model every year.
Duvo prices the agreed scope before the work starts, with no token or seat charges. The contracted 5x ROI guarantee applies to the scope and measurement agreed in the proposal: the proposal defines the baseline, measurement window and sign-off, and if the measured result is below five times the total contract price for the agreed scope, the whole contract is free. See pricing and guarantee terms.
What to compare before choosing
Put these questions to each provider before you sign:
| What to compare | What to ask each provider |
|---|---|
| Scope | Merchandise terms (allowances, promotions, rebates, scan and DSD), AP transactions and supplier statements, and which entities, ledgers and ERPs are covered |
| Lookback | Which periods are in scope. In the UK, the Limitation Act allows claims up to six years back, but the large grocers agreed to audit their direct suppliers over no more than the current and previous two financial years, on a reciprocal basis with those suppliers |
| Audit position | Primary or secondary auditor, and how findings are split if you use both |
| What counts as recovered | Whether fees are charged on amounts identified, claims accepted, or credits and refunds received |
| Decision rights | Who approves a claim before it reaches the supplier. The Groceries Code Adjudicator recommends that finance teams, not buying teams, decide on claims |
| Supplier contact | Who prepares and sends claims, what goes in the claim pack and who can settle a dispute. The adjudicator expects "all relevant documents" in the claim pack, and matters concluded within 60 days when both sides are actively engaged |
| Prevention | Whether findings change your checks so the same error is not paid again |
| Visibility | Whether AP sees each finding with its evidence and status during the audit, or a report at the end |
Ask each provider to work through a sample of your own records, including a legitimate repeat invoice that should not become a claim and a supplier statement with a credit that was never applied.
Where Duvo fits
Duvo is not a contingency recovery firm. It runs the payables audit and the approved recovery work inside your own AP process. Duvo collects the paid invoices, payment history, agreements, receipts and supplier statements, runs the agreed checks and prepares each finding with its evidence. Your AP reviewer confirms or rejects it. Approved claims go to the supplier through the agreed channel, Duvo follows the replies, and a claim closes only when the credit or refund has been received, matched to the claim and reconciled in your records.
What changes compared with a periodic outside audit:
- When errors are caught. The checks can run on paid and in-flight invoices across entities and ledgers, so an approved correction can stop an overpayment before the payment run.
- Who sees the work. Findings, supplier replies and outcomes can be followed by AP and finance leadership in Operating Insights views built on the same records, rather than arriving as a report at the end of an audit.
- How you pay. A price agreed before the work starts, backed by the contracted guarantee above, instead of a share of each recovery.
Duvo's retail finance work includes invoice reconciliation at Rohlik Group, which protected €2.1M in revenue and €1.4M in margin in a year across five markets by finding invoice, purchase order and inbound mismatches, and supplier bonus reconciliation at Notino, where the cycle fell from 70 days to 15. These are customer-approved results from related processes, not a forecast of what a payables audit will recover.
An outside firm can still be the better choice. If your AP team cannot review findings or contact suppliers, or you want a review of past years by a firm that audits many retailers, a contingency audit matches that need.
The free payables audit starts with an extract of paid invoices, the supporting records for the checks you choose and one AP reviewer. It runs on files, with no live ERP access, and returns an invoice-level report with the evidence, the difference and its value where supported, the validation status and the decision for AP. Supplier contact and changes to AP or ERP records are a separately agreed scope. Carrier invoices need different evidence: see freight audit software and providers compared.
How we compared
We included recovery audit firms that publish retail recovery work or name retail clients, and the statement and duplicate-payment software that AP teams use alongside or instead of them. Each description comes from the provider's own website or its filings with the SEC, checked on 28 September 2026. PRGX has been private since 2021, so its most recent public filings are older. We left out STAT Recovery Services, which audits suppliers' transactions with retailers such as Walmart, Target and Amazon on the suppliers' behalf. "Not published" means we could not find the fact on the provider's own pages; it may be available on request. Duvo's row describes Duvo's own offer. Providers change their services and terms, so confirm the details with each one.
Frequently asked questions
Which accounts payable recovery audit firms work with large retailers?
PRGX, apexanalytix and Cotiviti (formerly Connolly) publish retail recovery audit work, Discover Dollar names Target among its clients, and SpendLab cites a European retailer with more than 720 stores. Most are paid on contingency. The main alternatives are statement and duplicate-payment software such as Xelix and StatementSYNC, with your AP team handling the claims, and Duvo, which runs the audit and supplier follow-up inside your own systems at a price agreed before the work starts.
How much do recovery audit firms charge?
Most take a percentage of the money they recover and charge nothing if nothing is recovered. PRGX's guide gives 10% to 40% of recovered amounts, and a 2011 review for the City of San Diego found 20% to 30% typical. Define in the contract when a recovery counts, for example only once the credit or refund has been received.
What is the difference between a primary and a secondary recovery auditor?
A primary auditor reviews your transactions first. A secondary auditor reviews behind it, usually at a higher contingency rate, looking for what the first audit missed. PRGX describes this arrangement as typical for large retailers.
How far back can an AP recovery audit go?
It depends on the contract and the law. In the UK, the Limitation Act 1980 allows claims going back up to six years, but the large grocers have agreed to audit their direct suppliers over no more than the current and previous two financial years, on a reciprocal basis with those suppliers. Agree the lookback period, entities and ledgers in the audit contract.
How does Duvo charge for payables recovery?
Duvo prices the agreed scope before the work starts, with no token or seat charges. The contracted 5x ROI guarantee applies to the scope and measurement agreed in the proposal: if the measured result is below five times the total contract price for the agreed scope, the whole contract is free. See Duvo's pricing and guarantee terms.
Can we use a recovery audit firm and Duvo together?
You can split the work: an external firm reviews past periods on contingency while Duvo runs the checks and supplier follow-up in the current process. Agree which periods and claim types each one covers, so a supplier is not contacted twice about the same amount.