How 3-Way Matching Works in Accounts Payable

3-way matching is an accounts payable control that compares three documents before an invoice is paid: the supplier's invoice, your purchase order (PO) and the goods receipt note (GRN) or service entry. If they agree, the invoice is safe to pay.

What gets compared

• Quantity: what was invoiced against what was ordered and what was actually received.
• Price: the invoiced unit price against the agreed PO price.
• Items and vendor: the right goods from the right supplier, with correct tax treatment.

Why it matters

It stops you paying for goods never delivered, paying more than agreed, or paying the same invoice twice. It is the standard control for purchase-order spend.

Common exceptions

• The goods receipt has not been posted yet, so the invoice has nothing to match.
• Quantity or price differs from the PO, often within an acceptable tolerance.
• The PO was partly delivered and the invoice covers only part of it.
• The invoice references a missing or incorrect PO number.

Doing it manually vs automatically

Manually, an analyst opens each document and compares line by line, which is slow and inconsistent. Automated matching does the comparison instantly, applies your tolerance rules, and lets clean matches flow straight to approval. Only genuine exceptions reach a person, with the mismatch already identified.

That is how Evyqor AP works: smart 3-way matching that flags only real exceptions, so your team reviews the invoices that need judgement and nothing else.