PO Matching
Use PO Matching to match one invoice to one approved purchase order. Matching mode is two-way. The purchase order must be Open or Partially Billed, the vendor and currency must match, and the invoice amount must fit the remaining balance unless a tolerance is allowed.
Purchase Orders and PO Matching are separate pages on the same navigation line. They are available when purchase orders are turned on for the company.
Three-way matching and receipts are not included in this release. Automatic Readiness can skip Confirm Match for a high-confidence match and mark the invoice ready for submission. It does not submit the invoice for approval. You still select Submit for Approval.
Access
In Emburse Spend, select Accounts Payable in the left navigation, then select PO Matching.
When purchase orders are turned on, the PO Matching page is available to users with Submit Invoices, Approve Invoices, Manage AP Settings, or View All Invoice Activity. Users with Submit Invoices see the invoices they uploaded. Users with Approve Invoices also see invoices for their direct reports. Users with Manage AP Settings or View All Invoice Activity see the company list. See Get Started with Accounts Payable.
Purchase Orders and Matching Settings
Users with Manage AP Settings set these controls before matching starts. Select the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner, then select Accounts Payable > Purchase Orders & Matching. Changes apply to new matches.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Matching mode | Two-way compares one invoice with one purchase order. Three-way matching is not in this release. |
| Automatic readiness (skip Confirm Match for eligible auto-matches) | When it is on, a high-confidence match moves to Ready for Submission without Confirm Match. The invoice is not submitted for approval. Select Submit for Approval to send it to the Approval Queue. |
| Allow No PO Required | When this is on, an uploaded invoice can wait in Invoice Intake while the purchase order is created and approved. A missing purchase order does not block that invoice. |
| Block matching for inactive vendors | Invoices from inactive vendors are not matched automatically, and Confirm Match stays unavailable. |
| Maximum percentage over remaining balance | The percentage an invoice can exceed the remaining purchase order balance. This control is under Overbilling. |
| Absolute tolerance | The dollar amount an invoice can exceed the remaining balance. This applies only when tolerance is turned on. When both this amount and the percentage are set, the lower limit applies. Zero means no tolerance. |
| Allow overbilling override | When it is on, an invoice inside those limits can continue. The invoice shows a tolerance warning. The full invoice amount still commits when it is submitted. |
| Block currency mismatches | Block currency mismatches is the default. An invoice in one currency cannot match a purchase order in another. For example, a GBP invoice does not match a USD purchase order. This release does not convert currency. |
Upload an Invoice from a Purchase Order
Upload the invoice from an Open or Partially Billed purchase order, or upload it from Invoice Intake. Either path uses the same optical character recognition (OCR) and intake review. During OCR, the invoice is checked for a purchase order number.
- On an Open or Partially Billed purchase order, select Upload Invoice, or upload the invoice from Invoice Intake.
- Wait for OCR to finish, then review the invoice in Invoice Intake.
- Select Submit for Approval. If the purchase order still needs to be matched, the invoice moves to PO Matching. Open it there.
A suggested match is high confidence when the purchase order number on the invoice matches one purchase order, or when the invoice was uploaded from that purchase order. The vendor, currency, amount, and line checks are separate. They do not set the confidence.
Match Checks
PO Matching runs these checks before you can submit the invoice. Select Change PO when the suggested purchase order is wrong.
| Check | What must be true |
|---|---|
| Purchase order | The purchase order is Open or Partially Billed. |
| Vendor matches | The invoice vendor and the purchase order vendor are the same. |
| Currency matches | The invoice currency and the purchase order currency are the same. This release does not convert currency. |
| Invoice is within the available PO balance | The invoice amount fits the remaining balance. One purchase order can be billed by more than one invoice until that balance is used. The check lists the PO total, the amount already billed, the remaining balance before this invoice, the invoice amount, and the projected balance after submission. |
| Line items match | The invoice lines are compared with the purchase order lines. A mismatch is a warning. You can still confirm the match and submit for approval. |
Do not confirm the match when the vendor does not match, the currency does not match, the purchase order is not Open or Partially Billed, or the invoice is over the remaining balance and no tolerance is allowed. For a vendor mismatch, select Change PO and choose an Open or Partially Billed purchase order for the same vendor, or correct the invoice vendor. Change PO asks for a reason of 10 to 200 characters.
Submit for Approval stays unavailable until the match is confirmed, or until Automatic Readiness has marked the invoice ready for submission. The page shows Cannot submit until then. The words under it say why. "Confirm the PO match before submitting for approval" means the checks passed and you still need to confirm. The other messages name the check that failed.
One approved purchase order can be billed by more than one invoice until the remaining balance is used. A purchase order for $500 can match two invoices of $250. After both invoices, the purchase order is Fully Billed.
A purchase order approves $200. The first invoice uses $100, so $100 remains. A second invoice for $105 is over that remaining balance by $5. That $5 is allowed only when tolerance is turned on and the limit covers $5. The invoice shows a warning, and the full invoice amount still commits when it is submitted. When tolerance is off, or the limit is zero, any amount over the remaining balance is blocked.
Confirm the Match and Submit
When Automatic Readiness is off, confirm the match yourself. When Automatic Readiness is on, a high-confidence match is already marked ready for submission, and you skip Confirm Match.
- Review the checks on Details.
- Select Confirm Match.
- Select Submit for Approval.
Only the uploader can submit this invoice.
Confirm Match locks the invoice to that purchase order and sets the status to Ready for Submission. Select Submit for Approval to send it to the assigned approver. The invoice is not submitted for approval automatically. You may not be the invoice approver when you approved the purchase order. The invoice waits for the approver named in the invoice route.
The approver reviews the invoice in Approval Queue. The Details tab shows the linked purchase order and the match status from submission.
After the Invoice Is Approved
The purchase order moves to Partially Billed while balance remains, and to Fully Billed when the invoices have used the full amount. Select Audit History on the invoice and on the purchase order. Entries are listed in time order. They include the invoice upload, sending the invoice to PO matching, confirming the match, and, after the payment is released, the payment handoff. Processed invoices are listed in Invoice History.