If you are in finance or accounting, then you are more than likely familiar with the process of 3 way match – the process of matching invoices to purchase orders (PO) and goods received notes (GRN).
What is 3 way match?
As the name refers, “three–way match” involves three components – the purchase order, goods receipt, and invoice. The Purchasing and Accounts Payable (AP) team matches the quantities, prices, and terms to what was ordered (with PO), to the goods received (via GRN) to what is being charged (Invoice). This is usually done before submitting the invoice for approvals.
It is a method of ensuring accurate payment and validating various parts of the supply chain. The current process that has evolved over the years is very manual, paper-based and leads to delays and human errors.
3 way match automation
With Robotic Process Automation (RPA), this three-way matching can be automated removing this tedious work for the Accounts payable (AP) and Purchasing professionals. Here is a quick demo.
This demo of automation at a manufacturer uses Automation Anywhere RPA tool. The tool automates the three-way matching using the QAD ERP – a cloud ERP for manufacturers.
How automation helps
3-way matching is an immensely helpful process to eliminate any discrepancies in the purchasing process. This process ensures that any payment problem like over payment is identified and flagged before approvals.
As you would have gathered by now, the 3-way matching can be a very labor-intensive process that could be hampered by human errors. Going through these three documents is tedious enough and then you have the task of ensuring that the numbers match.
With the Automation of 3-way matching, you can reduce this monotonous work, while saving time and money. Moving to an automated matching ensures accuracy and improves supplier and customer satisfaction.
