A three way match checks every supplier invoice against two things before you pay it: what you ordered and what actually came through the back door. If all three agree, you pay. If they don't, someone looks first.
Three-way matching catches the short delivery, the price that crept up and the item that never turned up, before you pay for them.
What are the three documents?
Every delivery leaves three versions of the truth.
- The order (PO): what the site asked for.
- The goods received note (GRN): what was checked in at the back door.
- The invoice: what the supplier says you owe.
Line them up, item by item. Product, quantity, price. Anything that doesn't match gets a second look.
Why do restaurants need a three way match?
Because deliveries are messy. Not careless. Just fast.
- The drop lands mid-prep or mid-service.
- Two cases ordered, one arrives. A short drop.
- A 5kg bag becomes two 2.5kg bags.
- The price on the invoice isn't the price you ordered at.
- The salmon gets sent back at the door.
Each one is small. Across a week of deliveries and every site, they add up. If nobody checks, you pay for stock that never reached the walk-in. And your GP takes the hit.
How is it different from two-way matching?
Two-way matching checks the invoice against the order. It tells you whether you were charged for what you asked for.
It doesn't tell you whether it turned up.
Three way matching in accounts payable adds the GRN. That's where most restaurant problems sit: shorts, swaps and refusals.
Where does it go wrong?
Usually in the handover.
The GM sees the delivery. They know a case was short. Finance sees the invoice days later, with no context.
The short gets noted on a delivery note, in a WhatsApp, or not at all. The invoice looks normal. It gets paid. The credit never gets tracked.
Add sites and it gets harder. More suppliers. More delivery days. Every site checks deliveries in its own way. Spot checks replace proper checks because nobody has the time.
What does a good process look like?
- GRNs done at the door. Not at the end of the week from memory.
- Shorts and refusals written down. Every time, at every site.
- Orders, GRNs and invoices kept together. Not one on paper, one in a system and one in an inbox.
- Mismatches only. People review the exceptions, not every line.
- Someone owns the credits. Flagged issues get followed up with the supplier.
Start small. Pick your busiest suppliers. Make sure every site checks deliveries against the order. Then match one week of invoices and see what falls out.
Where does Edify fit?
Edify keeps orders, deliveries and invoices together across your sites, so ops and finance work from the same records.
FAQ
What is a three way match?
Checking a supplier invoice against the order and the goods received note before you pay. If product, quantity and price agree, you pay. If not, you check.
What is a goods received note?
Your record of what actually arrived, including shorts, swaps and anything refused at the door.
What's the difference between two-way and three-way matching?
Two-way checks the invoice against the order. Three-way also checks it against what was delivered, so it catches stock you were billed for but never got.
