There are several ways your company’s accounting department could handle invoices and purchase orders. Companies choosing to use a 3-way match process are comparing three documents – the vendor’s invoice, the purchase order, and the proof of delivery report – to identify any discrepancies or incorrect information. While this match process could be handled manually, organizations that choose to automate the process can achieve greater efficiencies, better financial risk control and cost savings.
Why Consider a 3-Way Match Process?
The 3-way match process is designed to help accounting personnel identify any discrepancies between the invoice, the purchase order and the order receipt/proof of delivery. Taking this approach should eliminate or limit scenarios where the company pays for something it didn’t actually receive or overpays for items it did receive.
Using a 3-way match can benefit organizations in several ways. First, the process demonstrates professionalism to your vendors and third-party providers. When your organization matches invoices, purchase orders, and proof of delivery documents, you’re demonstrating to the businesses you partner with that you have solid, dependable processes in place. This can make vendors more comfortable about working with your organization.
The 3-way match process helps companies stay on top of costs, identify and head off costly errors and uncover fraudulent business practices. You’ll have a solid handle at any given time on how much money has been paid to vendors and what expenses are still outstanding. When you’re armed with this knowledge, you can make more efficient long-term and short-term business decisions.
When your company uses a 3-way match for accounts payable, you can be confident that you’re ready for your next scheduled or surprise audit. If there are discrepancies to be identified, you will likely have identified them during the match process and won’t be surprised by an auditor’s findings.
Automate Your Process Using Treeno’s Electronic Document Management Solution
For all of its potential benefits to your organization, trying to manage a 3-way match process manually can be an exercise in frustration for your accounting staff.
When you choose to automate the process using Treeno Software’s Electronic Document Management solution, there is no need to spend hours searching for the right documents; they are available at the reviewer’s fingertips. This can streamline the entire process, making it much faster which, in turn, can help bolster your company’s relationship with its vendors and providers even more. When you are able to verify and pay invoices faster, you may also be able to take advantage of “early payment” discounts or other vendor-specific incentives.
Leveraging the document management system’s workflow capabilities can also foster greater collaboration and can aid the process of handling discrepancies or incorrect information so your team can resolve those issues faster. Workflows can route potential issues to a next-line reviewer for analysis, as necessary, documenting each step in the process and providing a complete audit trail.
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