What is PO matching?
PO matching is the step where an incoming invoice is tied to its purchase order and checked line by line. The invoice's PO number finds the order, then price and quantity are compared before the invoice is approved for payment.
Example
An invoice arrives from a packaging supplier for $1,320. It quotes PO 5120. PO 5120 lists 600 mailers at $2.20, which is $1,320. The line, price and quantity agree, so it matches and goes to payment.
A second invoice from the same supplier quotes no PO and bills $1,320. It can't be matched on the supplier name, because that supplier has three open orders that total the same amount. A person has to decide which one it belongs to.
In Atta
A received invoice links to a purchase by the PO it names, the purchase order reference (BT-13) first and then BT-10, and never by supplier alone. When it links, it becomes that request's invoice row. When it doesn't, it waits for a person.
An invoice webhook is a hint only. Atta fetches the document with its own credentials before reading it. The document is stored once, exactly as it arrived, before anything else happens, and its status is the fold of its events, never a column someone can edit.
Two ways it goes wrong
A supplier reuses one PO number across several shipments, so the invoice matches the order but double-bills a line. Or a PO is revised after the invoice was written, and the price no longer agrees. Both need a person to review them.
Questions
What if the supplier does not quote the PO?
The invoice can't be linked automatically. Ask the supplier to include the PO number on future invoices.
Related
- What is a three-way match?Three-way match checks that the purchase order, the goods receipt and the supplier invoice agree before payment. Definition with a worked example.
- What is EN 16931?EN 16931 is the European standard for the data model of an electronic invoice. Definition, what it contains and a worked example.
- E-invoicing for purchases: Peppol, XRechnung and Factur-XAtta sends purchase orders over Peppol, receives e-invoices in EN 16931 formats like XRechnung and Factur-X, and links each one to the purchase it names.