Automated 3‑Way Matching for AP

3‑Way Match Automation - without manual checks

3‑way matching is essential for AP control, but it’s still painful in reality: invoices arrive as PDFs or emails, POs live in your ERP, receipts are inconsistent, and exceptions turn into long email threads.

Cloudsquid automates 3‑way match end-to-end:

Extract invoice data from PDFs, email bodies, scans, Excel/CSV

Structure it into tables (header + line items)

Match invoices to POs and goods receipts / GRNs using an AI agent

Flag exceptions with a reasoning trail (what matched, what didn’t, why)

Route items into review mode and trigger workflows for approvals and follow-ups

What 3‑way match should catch (the real exceptions)

Cloudsquid helps identify and route:

• Price variance (unit price differs vs PO)
• Quantity variance (billed > received, or billed > PO)
• Partial receipts / partial invoices
• Over‑billing and duplicate lines
• Missing receipt (GRN not posted yet)
• Missing PO / incorrect PO references
• Tax, freight, and fee differences
• Mismatched UOM or item descriptions
• Invoice date vs receiving cut‑off issues

Every exception can be explained, reviewed, and actioned.

How Cloudsquid works

1) Invoices → structured tables (even when messy)

Invoices arrive in many formats and layouts. Cloudsquid extracts consistent fields such as:

• Vendor, invoice number, invoice date, currency
• Total, tax, freight/fees (if present)
• Line items: item/service description, quantity, unit price, line total
• PO reference(s) when included

2) Bring your PO + receipt data (uploaded or connected)

POs and receipts can be imported as ERP exports (CSV/Excel) or supplied via workflows/integrations.
Cloudsquid treats them as “uploaded tables” used for matching.

3) Reconciliation tables perform the 3‑way match

A reconciliation table uses an AI agent to match across Invoice lines ↔ PO lines, Invoice lines ↔ Receipt/GRN lines and Header-level validation (vendor, totals, dates, references)

When data is incomplete, the agent can still make a qualified suggestion and show reasoning.

4) Review mode with audit trail (built for AP controls)

AP teams can Approve match, Reject match, Mark as exception/dispute and add comments and keep an audit history

This turns tribal knowledge into a repeatable, reviewable process.

5) Take action with workflows and table actions

When something fails 3‑way match, you shouldn’t manually coordinate across inboxes.

Use table actions to trigger workflows such as:

• Route to approver based on cost center/vendor/category
• Request receiving confirmation or missing GRN
• Request corrected invoice from vendor
• Create a case/ticket and assign ownership
• Re-run match automatically after new data arrives

Why finance teams choose this approach

Faster cycle times: fewer approvals stuck in exceptions
Stronger controls: consistent enforcement of PO/receipt policy
Fewer overpayments: catch duplicates and over-billing early
Less manual effort: remove spreadsheet reconciliation loops
More confidence: AI suggestions + human review + reasoning trail