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Matching Invoices to POs and Receipts

Matching is the process of linking an invoice to its corresponding purchase order (PO) and/or receipt. It verifies that purchases were authorized and that goods or services were actually received before payment.

Why Matching Matters​

Without matching, your organization is exposed to risk:

  • Unauthorized purchases -- An invoice arrives for something nobody ordered.
  • Price discrepancies -- A vendor charges more than the agreed PO amount.
  • Quantity mismatches -- A vendor bills for 100 units but only 80 were received.

Matching catches these issues before payment, protecting your organization from overpayment and fraud.

Types of Matching​

Mod AI supports two types of matching:

Two-Way Matching (Invoice to PO)​

Two-way matching links an invoice to a purchase order. It verifies:

  • The invoice vendor matches the PO vendor.
  • The invoice amounts align with the PO amounts.
  • The line items on the invoice correspond to items on the PO.

This confirms that the purchase was authorized.

Three-Way Matching (Invoice to PO to Receipt)​

Three-way matching adds a receipt to the equation. In addition to the PO checks, it verifies:

  • Goods or services were received.
  • Received quantities match invoiced quantities.

This confirms that the purchase was authorized and that you actually got what you are being billed for.

Match Scores​

Mod AI calculates a confidence score for each potential match. The score is based on:

  • Vendor match -- Does the invoice vendor match the PO vendor?
  • Amount alignment -- Do the invoice totals align with the PO totals?
  • Line item correspondence -- Do the line item descriptions, quantities, and amounts match?
  • PO number reference -- Does the invoice reference a specific PO number?

Higher scores indicate stronger matches. The AI presents suggested matches ranked by score so you can quickly identify the best match.

The Matching Panel​

On the invoice detail page, the matching panel shows:

  • Suggested matches -- POs and receipts that the AI thinks match this invoice, ranked by confidence score.
  • Matched POs -- POs that have been linked to this invoice (either automatically or manually).
  • Matched receipts -- Receipts that have been linked to this invoice.
  • Match status -- Whether the invoice is fully matched, partially matched, or unmatched.

Automatic Matching​

When an invoice is processed, the AI automatically searches for matching POs and receipts. If a high-confidence match is found, it may be linked automatically. Lower-confidence suggestions are presented for your review.

tip

Including PO numbers on invoices dramatically improves automatic matching accuracy. If your vendors do not include PO numbers, ask them to add them -- it saves time for everyone.

Manual Matching​

If the AI does not find the right match, or if you need to link an invoice to a specific PO or receipt, you can match manually:

  1. Open the invoice detail page.
  2. Go to the matching panel.
  3. Search for the PO or receipt by number, vendor, or amount.
  4. Click Match to link it to the invoice.

Unmatching​

If an invoice was matched to the wrong PO or receipt, you can remove the match:

  1. Open the invoice detail page.
  2. Go to the matching panel.
  3. Click Unmatch next to the incorrectly linked PO or receipt.

The invoice returns to an unmatched state, and you can match it to the correct document.

When No Match Is Found​

If the AI cannot find a matching PO for an invoice, a Missing Purchase Order notice is created. This notice alerts you that the invoice does not have an associated PO, so you can decide how to proceed -- whether to create a PO, waive the match requirement, or investigate further.

Feature Toggle​

Matching can be enabled or disabled per entity in your organization settings. If your organization does not use purchase orders, you can turn matching off entirely.

To configure this, go to Settings --> Entities --> select your entity --> Features. See Entity Features for details.

Learn More​

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