What is three way matching in accounts payable?

It is the process of checking an invoice against its purchase order and its receiving record before payment goes out, confirming that what was ordered, what was received, and what is being billed all agree.

Does every invoice need AP review?

No. The match itself runs as deterministic logic on every invoice. An AP clerk only sees the invoice when the match fails or the amount crosses your configured threshold.

What happens if the purchase order is missing?

A missing PO counts as a mismatch, so the invoice routes to AP review instead of paying out without one.

Can I change the match tolerance?

Yes. The tolerance that decides auto payment versus AP review is configurable, so you can tighten or loosen it without touching the matching logic itself.

Invoice Processing Automation

Three things have to agree before an invoice gets paid. Most of the time, they already do.

Unmeshed runs invoice processing automation end to end, including the full three way match. The invoice, the purchase order, and the receiving record get checked against each other automatically. A clean match pays out on its own. A mismatch or an invoice over your threshold holds for an AP clerk instead of paying blind.

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Three way match runs automaticallyAP clerk only sees real mismatchesFree tier available

Built By

The team behind Netflix Conductor.

Now orchestrating workflows for teams across

SGSingapore
CACanada
UKUnited Kingdom
USUnited States

What Changes

Every invoice gets matched the same way. Only a real mismatch needs a person.

Before

An AP clerk pulls up the invoice, the purchase order, and the receiving record in three different systems

Every invoice gets the same manual review, whether it matches cleanly or not

A mismatch gets caught late, sometimes after the invoice is already paid

Mismatches get chased down over email with no record of what was checked

After

The workflow pulls all three records automatically the moment the invoice arrives

A clean three way match pays out on its own, no review needed

A mismatch or an invoice over your threshold holds before payment, not after

AP clerks see exactly what did not match, already pulled and attached

Ingest

An invoice arrives, parsed before anything else

The invoice gets parsed into a structured record the moment it arrives, whether it comes in by email or through an API, no manual data entry.

RULE
Parse the incoming invoice into a structured format
RULE
No AI call needed, this step is pure logic
RULE
Every invoice gets logged before matching begins

Ingest Path

Invoice Received

# receive_invoice

Parse Invoice

# parse_invoice

Log Invoice

# log_invoice

Parallel Fetch

Parsed Invoice

# parse_invoice

parallel

Fetch PO

# fetch_po

Fetch Receiving Record

# fetch_receiving_record

Fetch

The PO and receiving record pulled in parallel

Before anything gets matched, the workflow pulls the purchase order and the receiving record at the same time, instead of one after the other.

RULE
Fetch the matching purchase order
RULE
Fetch the receiving record for the same order
RULE
Both run in parallel, zero model cost

Match

The three way match decides the path

The invoice, the purchase order, and the receiving record get checked against each other. A clean match inside your tolerance moves straight to payment. Anything else branches to review.

RULE
Check the invoice against the PO and the receiving record
RULE
A clean match inside tolerance branches to auto payment
HUMAN
A mismatch or an invoice over threshold branches to AP review

Decision Path

Three Way Match

# three_way_match

matchmismatch

Auto Payment

# auto_payment

AP Review

# ap_review

Review Path

AP Clerk Decision

# wait_for_ap_clerk

approve

Schedule Payment

# schedule_payment

Log Decision

# log_decision

Review or Pay

A held invoice waits for a real decision

An invoice held for review sits with an AP clerk, with the invoice, the PO, and the receiving record already pulled and compared. Once they decide, the workflow resumes and schedules payment or holds it.

HUMAN
AP clerk approves, adjusts, or rejects the invoice
RULE
An approval resumes the workflow and schedules payment
RULE
Every decision gets logged with the invoice record

What this workflow is built to do

Three things have to agree before an invoice gets paid. The match runs on every invoice, free. The review only runs on the ones that do not agree.

Matched automatically

Zero model cost, every invoice

Threshold based routing

Not a blanket review policy

Full trace

Invoice to payment in one record

Integrations

Works with the ERP and AP tools you already run.

SAPNetSuiteQuickBooksAny ERP via APISlack

Parse for free

Structuring an invoice does not need a model, and does not cost one either.

Fetch in parallel

The PO and receiving record pull at the same time, zero model cost.

Match automatically

The three way match runs on every invoice, only a real mismatch reaches a person.

Full trace

Every fetch, match, and decision is logged in one record.

Why It Holds Up in Production

Built so an invoice never pays out blind.

Threshold based

Routing depends on the size of the mismatch, not a guess.

Context attached

AP clerks see exactly what did not match, already pulled.

Full run history

Every fetch, match, and decision is logged and readable.

Resumable waits

Held invoices wait on a real decision, no custom polling code.

Frequently asked questions

Still have questions? Talk to us.

See which invoices actually need AP's attention.

Connect your ERP and your AP tools, and this workflow handles the parse, the match, and the routing automatically.

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