Workflow
Three-way PO matching
Matching invoice lines to purchase order lines and goods receipt lines when the descriptions never quite agree.
Part of Accounts Payable
The problem
Three-way matching is a control everyone agrees with and few perform properly at line level, because the documents disagree by design. The purchase order describes what was ordered in procurement's words, the goods receipt records what arrived in the warehouse's words, and the invoice describes what is being billed in the supplier's words. Matching them by hand at header level is quick and catches almost nothing; matching them at line level is where overbilling shows up, and it is slow.
How VapusFin handles it
- 01
Each invoice line is compared against purchase order lines and goods receipt lines, matching loosely on description and exactly on quantity, unit price and extended amount.
- 02
One invoice can be matched against several goods receipts, and one receipt across several invoices, so partial deliveries and consolidated billing match rather than fail.
- 03
Quantity billed is checked against quantity actually received rather than quantity ordered, so a short delivery invoiced in full is caught.
- 04
Lines that match cleanly proceed. Lines that do not become exceptions naming the specific difference, with the three documents shown together.
Describe the workflow that costs you most
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