What is three-way matching? Meaning and explanation

In three-way matching, three documents are compared: the purchase order (what was ordered and at what price), the goods receipt or delivery note (what was delivered) and the invoice (what the supplier charges). If quantities and prices agree within the tolerances the organisation has set, the invoice can be booked and paid without further approval. Two-way matching only compares the invoice with the order, for example for services without a physical delivery.

Three-way matching is mainly found at clients with a purchasing process in an ERP or procurement system, such as wholesalers and manufacturers. It prevents overpayment and duplicate payment and replaces manual approval for matched invoices. For most SME clients of a bookkeeping firm there is no formal purchase order, and the check is usually set up through approval by the business owner or a budget holder.

Three-way matching with purchase orders and goods receipts is not in Autoboeker's feature matrix. With approval workflows you can, however, set steps and rules per administration, for example that invoices above a certain amount always go to the management. Autoboeker also recalculates subtotal, VAT and total, flags duplicate invoices and high amounts, and matches payments to invoices in Exact Online, Twinfield and SnelStart.