Start with your accountant’s specific question
Your accountant already has the invoice, but comes back to ask what the purchase was for and whether the supplier delivered anything. The answer may be in an order confirmation, a message from a colleague or a delivery document. Another attachment without an explanation would simply send your accountant searching again.
Prepare the documents for one specific purchase and add a short overview of how they relate. First ask your accountant which information needs checking. That question determines what is worth finding.
Choose documents to answer the question
If it is unclear what you ordered, find the order or its confirmation. If the link to delivery is missing, look for a document or message you actually received when accepting the goods. Trace the relevant payment transaction separately.
Label every document according to what it really is. Do not present an order confirmation as an invoice or a dispatch notice as confirmation that you received the goods. Your accountant needs to know what you are handing over and which question the document answers.
Someone else may have arranged the purchase. In that case, ask your colleague about the specific order and the missing document. Their message can explain how the item is used without copying out the entire invoice again. The article A colleague bought something. What do you need from them besides the receipt? develops this next step.
A colleague bought something. What do you need from them besides the receipt? →
Check that the documents belong together
Compare the supplier, order number or another available shared identifier. For repeated purchases, also check the date and items. It is not enough that the files come from the same company.
Keep the documents in their original form and save them in one agreed folder or attach them to one message. In the overview, say which files belong to which purchase. You do not need to merge them into a new PDF: that could blur the distinction between separate originals and your working compilation.
Choose relevant documents for the handover. A long email thread containing other orders will not help your accountant understand this particular purchase more quickly.
Example of a handover with one missing document
In a fictional example, the company Alfa bought a monitor. You have the invoice and order confirmation, but have not found the document confirming receipt. You can write to your accountant:
‘I am adding the order confirmation for Alfa’s monitor purchase. It is connected to the invoice by the same order number. You received the invoice in Monday’s handover; this is not another purchase. I do not yet have the receipt-of-goods document and have asked the colleague who arranged the purchase for it.’
The message gives the known connection and an unresolved point. Your accountant does not have to guess whether the second attachment is a new invoice or whether more is still to come. For a broader handover, you can use the cover-message templates for your accountant.
cover-message templates for your accountant →
If the numbers or items differ between documents, add a precise question to the supplier as part of the handover. Do not conceal the discrepancy by renaming files. Once you have the answer, pass it on as a clearly identified addition to the same purchase.