What is Three-Way Matching?

Three-Way Matching

Three-way matching is a procedure used in accounts payable to authenticate and verify the disbursal of payment to a creditor. This type of match involves matching Purchase Order (PO), Goods Receipt Note (GRN) & Invoice. Various departments work together to check things like price billed, quantity billed, quality & quantity of goods received etc.

Three-way matching is an important & common technique for firms since it mitigates credit risk by avoiding fraud invoices, underpaying, overpaying etc.

Purchase Order (PO) – After a supplier has been finalized an official document is issued by a company to a supplier to buy specific goods or services. It usually contains the date, quantity, pricing, shipping terms, T&C etc.

Goods Receipt Note (GRN) – It is a document which is usually signed by the buyer at the time of delivery thus acting as evidence that the quantity delivered is exactly as desired by the buyer in its purchase order.

Invoice – Also known as a bill, it is a statement of all items purchased by a buyer in an order with price & quantity along with the total sum due on a particular date.

To avoid payment delays for a minor difference buyers would usually have a small currency amount set as a tolerance limit so any mismatch within the prescribed threshold is ignored and the invoice is paid after successful three-way matching.

Short Quiz for Self-Evaluation

Read> Days Payable Outstanding (DPO)