The "three-way match" is the standard procedure used to post procurement transactions.
The procedure involves the following three steps:
- Creation of a purchase order
This step is carried out exclusively in MM. No postings are made in FI.
- Goods receipt
In the goods receipt step, you create a material document in MM to update the stock (if an inventory transaction). At the same time, a document is created in Fl within the SAP S/4HANA application. This FI document describes the valuated goods that can be posted to the material stock account, or in the case of a consumable item, consumption expense account (debit) and to a goods or invoice receipt clearing account (credit). A common abbreviation for the clearing account is the GR/IR account.
- Invoice receipt
When a vendor invoice is posted in MM, a document is also created in Fl. This document posts the invoice amount to the goods or invoice receipt account (debit) and the vendor account (credit).
Depending on the order in which you receive the goods and the invoice, you can change the order of the goods receipt and invoice receipt steps. The goods or invoice receipt clearing account is kept as an open item account. It is used to ensure that goods have been received for every invoice and that an invoice is issued for all goods received. Document types for FI documents can be defined during configuration.
Three-Way Match and Down Payments
If down payments are posted in the company through special G/L transactions, this must be taken into account in connection with MM.
The accounting procedure involves the following steps:
The purchase order is posted. The vendor prefers a down payment from the customer for the purchase order. Enter the down payment information on the purchase order.
The down payment is posted using the Down Payment Monitor (ME2DP).
The goods are received and posted as usual with the reference to the purchase order number.
The vendor sends the invoice. It is posted through Logistics Invoice Verification with the reference to the purchase order number. A message appears that there is a down payment for this order.
If these steps are completed prior to posting, you can perform down payment clearing in this transaction.