Procurement
Part of Procurement management software
Testing purchase order matching
Use PO, receipt and invoice cases to check partial delivery, tolerances, exceptions and invoice holds.
Test purchase order (PO) matching with a PO, receipt and invoice whose differences you can identify line by line. Record whether the software shows a variance, holds the invoice, requests approval or lets it proceed. The cases below are a proposed demonstration; no product test has been performed.
Prepare the cases
Use fictional records for two items. Receive one in full and the other in part, then invoice both. Keep quantities, unit prices, tax and delivery charges visible. Agree on the expected outcome before the demonstration.
- Invoice and receipt quantities agree with the PO.
- The invoice quantity exceeds the quantity received.
- A unit price differs from the PO.
- The invoice adds an item absent from the PO.
- A later receipt completes a partial delivery.
For each case, record the variance shown, document status, person responsible and way to resolve or bypass the exception. Include credits or service receipts if your process uses them.
Check the product rules
Procurify documents automated matching across POs, invoices and receipts, with alerts for unit-cost and received-quantity differences. Its accounts payable form has a setting that prevents submission of bills for unreceived PO items when enabled. With it off, bills for unreceived items can be submitted. An alert and a submission block are different controls: ask to see both in the proposed account.
Precoro documents invoice-to-PO matching by default and an optional receipt-to-PO comparison. A configured tolerance can prevent an item-total difference from triggering matching. A new invoice item normally triggers matching, but another setting can permit it within the tolerance.
The Precoro matching article has a section titled 'What Does Not Activate the Matching Process', but the supplied excerpt does not set out its contents; ask the vendor to confirm which differences do not trigger matching. Its separate three-way match setting can prevent invoice confirmation pending receipt; the receipt check does not apply to prepayment invoices. Test the payment terms and settings your organisation would use.
Procurify vs Precoro: Purchase Order Matching Rules
- Matching Scope
- PO, invoice, receipt (automated)
- Receipt-to-PO Comparison
- Optional in Precoro
- Unit Price Variance Alert
- Yes – Procurify alerts on differences
- Tolerance Settings
- Configurable in Precoro to avoid matching triggers
- Invoice Submission for Unreceived Items
- Blocked if setting enabled (Procurify); allowed if off
- Prepayment Invoice Receipt Check
- Does not apply (Precoro)
Follow the resolution
For an invoice above the PO amount, ask to correct the invoice, amend the PO and reject the charge as separate responses. Check what each action records and whether an amended amount needs approval. Give the resulting records to a finance colleague who did not create them. They should be able to identify what was ordered, received and billed, and why the invoice can proceed or remains held.
