The fastener invoice is in cases, but the plant counts pieces. The bill lists 10 cases. The plant recorded 96 pieces on the first delivery and 24 on the second. If the approved pack size is 12, those receipts cover the 120 pieces billed. But if AP already paid for two cases against the first receipt, only eight cases remain billable, and this invoice is two cases over.
That’s manufacturing AP in one example. Reading the invoice is the easy part. The hard part is working out which delivery a line refers to, in which unit, at which plant, and how much of it has already been billed.
What makes manufacturing AP different
Three-way matching compares the bill, the purchase order, and the receipt. In a plant, each of those has complications that an office-supplies bill doesn’t:
- Receipts are split. One PO, several deliveries, sometimes to different plants.
- Units differ. Suppliers bill in cases, rolls, or pounds; plants count pieces or feet.
- Blanket orders. The PO sets terms; releases authorize each delivery.
- Inspection. Quality may accept fewer units than receiving counted.
- MRO and emergency spend. Maintenance buys parts and services fast, often without a PO.
- Freight on separate bills. Carrier invoices with no item quantity at all.
Automation helps when it puts the right question in front of the person who can answer it. It doesn’t help when it clears a mismatch by guessing.
Match against the delivery the plant recorded
Check the receiving location. A supplier may deliver the same part to two plants under one order. Show AP the receipt IDs and quantities at each site before assigning the bill. A packing slip helps receiving find a delivery that hasn’t been entered yet.
Convert units together. Use the item master or approved order terms for the conversion. If the PO price is per piece and the supplier charges per case, convert price and quantity together. Keep the supplier’s original values on the bill so the buyer can see how AP got the comparison. Route an unknown pack size to the buyer. A guess that clears the bill this month can repeat on every shipment after it.
Check releases on blanket orders. Find the release that authorized the delivery and track prior bills against it. See ERS, consignment, and scheduled releases.
Check returns and inspection. Did receiving reverse a receipt? Does AP expect a supplier credit? If the plant inspects, ask quality which quantity was accepted and how rejected units appear in the receiving system.
Illustrative example: the fastener bill, worked
| Item | Pieces | Cases (12 per case) |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt 1 | 96 | 8 |
| Receipt 2 | 24 | 2 |
| Total received | 120 | 10 |
| Already billed and paid against Receipt 1 | 24 | 2 |
| Remaining billable | 96 | 8 |
| Current invoice | 120 | 10 |
| Over-billed | 24 | 2 |
The invoice should go to AP with the two-case excess visible and the earlier bill linked, not to the buyer as a price question. For the matching rules themselves, see three-way matching.
Put the right question in each plant’s queue
| What AP sees | Who can answer it | What to include |
|---|---|---|
| Goods on the dock, no receipt | Receiving lead | PO line, plant, packing slip, delivery date |
| Supplier bills in an unfamiliar pack size | Buyer | Invoice unit, approved purchase unit, item record |
| Freight on a separate bill | Buyer or cost accountant | Carrier bill, shipment reference, freight allocation policy |
| Receipt reversed after the bill arrived | Receiving and AP | Original receipt, reversal, bill status, expected credit |
| Invoice has no PO | Budget owner | Supplier invoice and proposed coding for the non-PO path |
| Unit price above the PO | Buyer | Approved price, effective date, invoice line |
For each hold, show who can act and when the last update arrived. Otherwise the warehouse enters a receipt and the invoice keeps sitting in the same queue. Recheck the original line after each update and record who approved any exception. Price questions are covered in purchase price variance, and carrier bills in freight invoice audit.
MRO and emergency purchases
A line goes down and maintenance orders a replacement part immediately. The purchase may be authorized under an emergency policy, but AP still needs to know what arrived, who approved it, and which plant carries the charge. Give routine and emergency purchases their own paths.
| Case | Evidence AP needs |
|---|---|
| Stocked spare part with a PO | PO, warehouse receipt, bill |
| Part delivered directly to the plant | Delivery record, part number, and who accepted it |
| Repair service billed by the hour | Work order, technician’s report, and the rate agreement |
| Emergency purchase with no PO | Incident or work order reference, buyer’s authorization, proof of delivery or service |
| Invoice following an emergency card purchase | Card transaction and supplier invoice, to check whether it’s already paid |
The last row is a common source of duplicate payments: the card was charged on the day, and the supplier sends an invoice a week later. Check the card record before creating a payable.
Microsoft documents how three-way matching in Dynamics 365 Finance checks invoice quantities against product receipts. That comparison applies when the purchase has a receipt; an emergency purchase with no PO needs the non-PO approval path instead. Microsoft’s invoice matching overview
Mixed bills: parts and service on one invoice
A maintenance supplier sends one bill for stocked parts and an emergency service call. Identify which lines have a PO and which need separate approval. The person who can confirm a part arrived may not be the person who authorized the service call.
In NetSuite, Oracle’s three-way approval documentation lists an exception criterion for standalone bills created without a PO. Confirm that your workflow uses it. For a PO-backed line, review the receipt and order; for a standalone bill, provide the work order, plant, and evidence the expense owner needs. Oracle’s vendor bill exception criteria
Consolidated monthly parts bills
One monthly bill may cover deliveries to several maintenance sites. Confirm vendor and company before choosing receipts, then check each delivery is represented once. Sage 300 Purchase Orders can show receipt details from a single receipt or several, including item details and additional costs. Sage’s invoice processing documentation
- A delivery you can’t find: give receiving the supplier reference, part, and site.
- A service with no receipt: ask the maintenance owner to confirm completion and route it under your approval policy.
- Freight or packaging added: check the agreed charge and its allocation before posting.
Track bills returned for missing evidence separately from bills AP had to recode. The two problems need different fixes.
Sage 100 versus Sage 300 for receipt-heavy AP
Your warehouse receives the first shipment on Thursday. The supplier bills the whole order Friday. The second shipment arrives Monday. What AP sees on Friday, and what changes on Monday, depends on the receipt and invoice records the system uses.
Sage 100. Receipt of Goods Entry can capture invoice information when the invoice arrives with the merchandise. Test a delivery that arrives without the bill and one that arrives with it. Sage 100 receipt of goods instructions
Sage 300. A Purchase Orders screen lets users create an invoice from selected receipts, including multiple receipts. Give AP two receipts for the same order and an earlier bill that used part of one. Sage 300 Create Invoice from Receipts
| Case | What to inspect in each system |
|---|---|
| Bill arrives before the last delivery | Quantity ordered, received, previously billed, and disputed |
| Supplier bills in cases, warehouse counts pieces | Approved conversion and the unit price after conversion |
| Receiving reverses a receipt | Effect on the open invoice and who gets the exception |
| Corrected invoice after posting | Link to the earlier bill or credit and the resulting vendor balance |
If the buyer and warehouse already record the right facts but AP gathers them by hand, test an intake and review change in the existing system before considering a migration.
Receipts at month-end
Take a receipt dated before close and a bill posted after close. Trace both and ask the controller which account should reflect the timing difference. In NetSuite, receiving and billing a PO affect inventory and accounting records, and quantity, price, or exchange-rate differences can require variance treatment. Check the entries in your setup before adding a manual accrual for a receipt the ERP already accounts for. Oracle’s guide to accounting for received purchase orders Test the reverse too: a bill that arrives before the delivery is received. The full method is in GR/IR and receipt accrual reconciliation.
Run the pilot at one plant
Choose a supplier with regular split deliveries and a plant with someone who can explain its receipt records. Test:
- The fastener case: unit conversion plus a prior partial bill.
- A reversed receipt after the bill arrived.
- A freight bill with no item quantity.
- A mixed parts-and-service MRO bill.
- The same invoice sent twice, to confirm the second copy stops before posting.
Record which invoices advanced, where they waited, and what each reviewer had to look up. Compare time spent handling invoices with time spent waiting for receiving or purchasing. If most of the wait is at the dock, fix the receipt handoff before pushing more bills through. The AP automation implementation plan and the AP transformation roadmap template give you a way to record that decision.
Plant readiness checklist
- Receipts are entered by location within an agreed time after delivery
- Item records carry approved purchase units and pack sizes
- Blanket orders have identifiable releases that suppliers reference on invoices
- Inspection results show accepted and rejected quantities in the receiving system
- Non-PO and emergency purchases have a named approval path and evidence list
- Card purchases are checked before a matching invoice becomes payable
- Freight bills have an allocation owner and policy
- Each hold shows an owner and last update