3-Way Matching

3-way matching is the automated check that a purchase order, a goods receipt note, and a supplier invoice all agree — same quantity, same price, same terms — before an invoice is approved for payment.

Where the three documents don't reconcile (a short delivery, a price discrepancy, a duplicate invoice), the mismatch is typically routed to an exceptions dashboard for manual review, rather than blocking payment silently or paying an invoice that doesn't match what was actually ordered and received.

The three documents are the purchase order, the goods receipt note, and the supplier invoice. They are compared on item, quantity, and price, usually within a defined tolerance.

When they agree, the invoice can be approved for payment. When they do not, the exception is routed for review rather than paid or rejected silently. See the full guide for how the process works.