Three-way match
What is Three-way match? Before paying a supplier bill, checking it against the purchase order and the goods receipt, to catch differences in price or quantity.
In plain words
Before you pay a supplier bill, you compare three documents: what you ordered (purchase order), what actually arrived (goods receipt) and what the supplier billed. If all three agree, the bill is safe to pay. If not, someone looks first.
Example
Purchase order PO-1042: 100 units at ₹250, which is ₹25,000. The store accepts 90 units; 10 were damaged. The supplier bills 100 units at ₹255, which is ₹25,500. The bill is 10 units more than were received, and the price is 2% above the order. Both are flagged. The correct bill is 90 units at ₹250, which is ₹22,500. The numbers are made up.
Why it matters
- Cost. You do not pay for goods that did not arrive, or at a price nobody agreed.
- Double billing. Units already billed on an earlier bill cannot be billed again.
- Evidence. When an auditor asks why a bill was paid, the order, receipt and bill are on one screen.
How Kinnow handles it
In Buy, the 3-way match agent compares each bill line with its order line and its receipt. It flags a bill for more units than received and not yet billed, a receipt larger than the order, and a bill price more than 1% above the order price. A flagged bill is held until a person resolves it. The check runs again when the bill is approved, so an earlier match that has gone stale does not pass a double bill.
The limits: the full match applies to bills above a limit. It starts with a floor of ₹50,000 and you can change it in Buy settings; bills below it can go through without the full match. Kinnow does not pay suppliers.
Send us three real purchase orders, receipts and bills. We will show what gets flagged.
In Kinnow
Ask for a walkthrough of Buy from purchase order to approved bill.
Questions
What is the difference between two-way and three-way match?
A two-way match compares the bill with the purchase order. A three-way match adds the goods receipt, so you also know the goods arrived.
What if goods arrive in parts?
Each receipt can be billed only once. Kinnow tracks the quantity already billed against each order line, so the same received units cannot appear on two bills.
Who decides when something is flagged?
A person. The agent holds the bill and shows the reason; the accounts team resolves it, and nothing is posted or paid until they do.