This page explains how you can configure the 3-way purchase order matching

Introduction

When processing a vendor bill from a purchase order the Scan & Capture SuiteApp automatically loads all the item lines from the connected purchase order(s) that are available to bill. There could be discrepancies between the vendor bill, purchase order, and item receipt. The 3-Way Match feature provides the ability to choose how the lines from the inbound invoice (in PDF) should be matched to lines on a purchase order and will automatically highlight lines that aren’t matching your criteria. These lines will be colored so the user can easily spot lines that do need additional attention. The matching also provides the option to take over the quantity and rate that is listed on the inbound invoice. The 3-way match currently only works for PDF documents that are scanned with the Abbyy integration, we have plans to extend this to e-invoices in a future release.

To understand how Scan & Capture’s 3-Way Match works, please study the below description and flowchart.

First 3-Way Match tries to match lines captured from the inbound invoice to lines on the Purchase Order. There are multiple ways to define how lines should be matched. For companies that purchase goods by item code, the purchase order may use the same item codes as the vendor puts on the PDF invoice. In this case, we can match the captured item code from the PDF with the Item Name/Number or Vendor Name on the item record. When the item codes are not equal, it might be an option to compare quantities and rates. If both the quantity and rate match, we might regard a line as matched. The way that the PO line and the supplier invoice line are matched is defined by a rule, configurable per vendor. There are 6 different rules available, they are explained at the bottom of this page.

After lines are matched, Fast Four 3-Way Match will modify the lines to the values found on the PDF. For example, if for a line a quantity of 50 was ordered and received, but only 25 are invoiced, the quantity will be adjusted to 25.

When ‘Bill in advance of receipt’ is not enabled, only PO lines that have been received are compared. In other words, only PO lines that are ready to bill will be considered.

Settings

The 3-way will be disabled by default for all accounts. It will only be enable if a purchase order validation rule is selected in the Scan & Capture Main Configuration page or on a vendor. How to set the rules is explained in the section “General Settings” and “Vendor Settings”. The logic the system follows to decide which rule to apply is visible in the flowchart below. By leaving the fallback value empty in the general settings you could activate the 3-way match for specific vendors only.

General settings

Before you start using this functionality please remember to customize your vendor bill form and show the following sublist fields to see the correct behavior after applying the matching rule:

S&C Purchase order matching status code
S&C Purchase Order matching Status
S&C PO #
S&C PO Line

The 3-way purchase order matching allows the user to set one general rule for the algorithm that will be used by the system as a fallback value. By default, the Scan & Capture Suite App will always first check if the vendor related to the incoming transaction is holding a setting and if this isn’t the situation the system will be using the system default. The system default can be found by navigating to SETUP > Scan & Capture Setup > Scan & Capture Main Configuration. In this configuration section navigate to the "Purchase Orders" section. In this section, there is a dropdown field labeled “PURCHASE ORDER VALIDATION RULE”. In this dropdown, you can select the default fallback algorithm. Select the default you would like to use and press the blue button labeled “Save” to store the configuration.

Vendor settings

On the vendor record users can set a Purchase Order Validation Rule that will be leading for the matching. This configuration option can be found under the subtab “Scan & Capture” and then the subtab “General Settings”. If these tabs aren’t visible in your system then most likely you are using a custom form that must be extended to show these options. To still see the configuration options you could switch temporarily to the default form from NetSuite. On the “General Settings” subtab there is a field labeled “S&C PURCHASE ORDER VALIDATION RULE” where you can select the rule that is applicable to the vendor.

Coloring explanation

The 3-way purchase order matching uses 3 colors to highlight the item lines on the vendor bill so that the user has a quick overview and can quickly identify which item lines do not meet the set purchase order validation rule. The colors that are used:

Green: When a line is green it does mean that it meets the criteria from the purchase order validation rule. The line status will be set to “Matched”.
Yellow: The line does meet partially the criteria from the purchase order validation rule. The line status will be set to “Validation”.
Red: The line doesn’t meet the criteria from the purchase order validation rule. The line status will be set to “Unclear” and the quantity and rate will be set to zero.

On each item line, the user can find 3 additional columns at the end of the line that provides information regarding the matching status, connection purchaser transaction and the line number from the purchase transaction that the system compared the information against.

Rules explanation

This section of the documentation will explain each rule that can be set individually. Scan & Capture provides 6 rules from which you can choose. Some rules are matching on header level, some on line item level. The rules are as follows.

Header-level rules

Rule #1: Total bill amount should match the PO

With this rule, 3-Way Match will compare the total value from the linked purchase transaction(s) and compare this value against the total value captured from the inbound invoice . In NetSuite, the system takes the combined values from the field “total” (value including tax). When both values are 100% equal the system will set all the lines to the green color and the status will be “Matched”. When the values aren’t equal the lines will all turn red with the status “Unclear”.

This rule is useful when a PO does not have line-level data suitable for matching, and also the number of lines on the PO are not relevant.

Rule #2: Check invoice line items count against order items count

With this rule, the Scan & Capture SuiteApp will compare the total number of lines of the inbound invoice and compares this against the total amount of item lines purchased on the purchase order in NetSuite that are billable. If the outcome is equal then all lines will be set to green and the status will be “Matched”. When the values aren’t equal the lines will all turn red with the status “Unclear”

This rule is useful when the PO lines cannot be matched individually (by rules 3-6) while the line count is relevant.

Line-level rules

Rule #3: Invoice line article number should match PO line item code

With this rule, the captured item code (from the inbound invoice) will be compared with the Item Name/Number, Display Name and the Vendor Name (in the Vendors sublist) on the item record. This is the most accurate rule, but it is required to have the item codes on the item record as well as on the inbound invoice.

Rule #4: Invoice line quantity and amount should match PO line quantity and amount

When rule #3 is not possible because the item codes cannot be matched, it might be possible to match lines on quantity and amount. For example, if a PO line is for a quantity of 360 and the amount is 5235, a line on the inbound invoice with the same quantity and amount would probably be the same line. The field “Amount” is being compared in this case (value without tax).

Rule #5: Invoice line amount should match PO line amount

This rule matches each line by amount only. If the amount on the PO line matches the amount on the inbound invoice, it will be matched. The field “Amount” is being compared in this case (value without tax).

Rule #6: Invoice line rate should match PO line rate

This rule matches by the rate on the line level. This may be useful for a PO for consultancy, where the PO specifies different hourly rates. The inbound invoice line that has an equal rate will be matched.

Before you start using this functionality please remember to customize your vendor bill form and show the following sublist fields to see the correct behavior after applying the matching rule:

S&C Purchase order matching status code
S&C Purchase Order matching Status
S&C PO #
S&C PO Line