<p>about your learning experience to help us improve.</p>

You've completed

cleanFiles/bookmap_Invoice_Reconciliation_en-US_learning-sap-com_lsc-prod.zip (MMCP-DROPZONE) - 2024-07-01T18:46:18.000Z

Explaining the Invoice Reconciliation Process

<div id="content"><p tabindex="0">After the SAP Ariba invoicing solution receives an invoice from SAP Business Network, or a user manually creates an invoice in the SAP Ariba invoicing application, the next step is to reconcile the data on the invoice with the matching purchase order, receipt, or contract data to make sure the invoice is correct. The matching of the related documents can be done automatically by the system, or, if that is not possible, by an exception handler. The system allows for setting up different levels of matching.</p><p tabindex="0">Customers have the option to choose between a 2-way or 3-way invoice match. This choice determines whether it is sufficient to match the invoice with the corresponding order (2-way match), or if an additional record, such as a goods receipt or an approved service entry sheet, is necessary (3-way match).</p><p tabindex="0">Many companies prefer a 3-way match to gain an adequate understanding of their spending. Others adopt a 2-way match to simplify the process for low value purchases. For example, a 2-way match might be sufficient for low value purchases, such as office supplies. However, if the invoice is for a core purchase, for example, IT items, a 3-way match is recommended.</p><ZoomableImage><img tabindex="0" src="/service/media/topic/a14120ef-6175-43eb-9ce6-b56b490c8a69/ARP201_2402_en-US_media/ARP201_2402_en-US_images/InvoiceMatch.png" alt="This chart refers to the matching that is done between the invoice and its respective order, contract, receipt, and/or approval. " title="This chart refers to the matching that is done between the invoice and its respective order, contract, receipt, and/or approval. " class="image 1_1_landscape" style="max-width:900px;max-height:none" /><div class="imageCaption"></div></ZoomableImage></div>

Invoice Match Types

<div id="content"><p tabindex="0">The invoice reconciliation process is triggered as soon as an invoice reaches the SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing system, or if approval is required for the invoice, as soon as it is approved. The invoice reconciliation process determines whether to:</p><ul style="list-style-type:disc"><li tabindex="0">Accept the invoice.</li><li tabindex="0">Accept line items on the invoice based on the details specified on the associated orders, contracts, or receipts, and override the invoice data.</li><li tabindex="0">Accept line items on the invoice based on the details specified on the invoice.</li><li tabindex="0">Reject the invoice (return it to the supplier and request a corrected invoice).</li></ul><p tabindex="0">In order to determine the appropriate course of action for each situation, the invoice reconciliation (IR) document goes through a specific set of steps:</p><ol><li tabindex="0">Match the IR to the corresponding documents.</li><li tabindex="0">Validate the IR or skip validation.</li><li tabindex="0">Auto-accept or auto-reject the IR.</li><li tabindex="0">Notify the exception handlers or IR approvers that discrepancies have been found.</li></ol><div class="note"><div class="noteTitle"><span class="noteIcon"><img src="/icons/note.svg" title="Note" /></span><span class="noteTitleText">Note</span></div><div class="noteBody">Your SAP Ariba invoicing solution updates the status of invoice and invoice reconciliation documents, and associated payment requests, at different stages of the invoice and invoice reconciliation workflow. For a complete list of the IR statuses please review the <a href="https://help.sap.com/docs/buying-invoicing/reconciling-invoices/invoice-and-invoice-reconciliation-status-flow?q=automatic" target="_blank">Reconciling Invoices</a> guide.</div></div><p tabindex="0">Please play the video to learn about the invoice reconciliation process within SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing.</p><div class="kalturaVideoLessonWrapper"><div id="1_om5ck8vy" data-testid="video" class="kalturaVideoLessonContainer" aria-label=""></div></div></div>

Invoice Reconciliation Lifecycle

Introducing SAP Ariba Procurement Functionality

<div><div>Learn about the SAP Ariba invoicing solution and the process of invoice reconciliation. Understand how to resolve discrepancies and approve invoice reconciliation documents.<br><br># This description was auto-generated #</div></div>

Overviewing the IR Lifecycle.mp4

The SAP Ariba invoicing solution creates three approvable documents when an invoice is loaded or manually entered, the invoice document, the invoice reconciliation or IR document, and the payment request document. After your invoicing solution receives an invoice from SAP Business Network or a user manually creates an invoice, the next step is to reconcile the data on the invoice with matching purchase order, receipt, or contract data to make sure the invoice is correct. The invoice reconciliation is the process of identifying and managing discrepancies between invoices and related documents so that they can be paid. The IR document is a record of the reconciliation process. It records any discrepancies or exceptions between invoices and purchase orders, receipts, or contracts, and is the document you use to resolve those exceptions. Invoices can be reconciled with a combination of automatic and manual processing. The automatic reconciliation phase matches invoices to orders or contracts with intolerances defined in your configuration. Depending on the configuration, there can be a two-way match, invoice to PO or contract, or a three-way match, invoice to PO or contract and receipt. Unresolved issues are referred to users for manual reconciliation. Through this process you can accept the invoice, accept line items on the invoice based on the details specified on the reference documents, accept line items on the invoice based on the details specified on the invoice. Alternatively, you can reject the invoice which will return it to the supplier and request a corrected invoice. If no exceptions exist and manual intervention is not required, the automatic reconciliation process still creates the invoice reconciliation document, which must be approved according to the IR approval rules defined for your site. Approval rules determine who in your organization can resolve exceptions and who approves manual or automatic reconciliation. For example, if the automatic reconciliation phase raises an exception, the approvers first act as exception handlers, suggesting ways to resolve the exception and then submitting the manual reconciliation for approval. Typically, first reconcilers are purchasing agents or other administrators who are able to handle exceptions. If you are a reconciler and do not take action within a period of time defined by your company, the IR document is escalated to your supervisor, who must then reconcile the exception. The reconciliation process ends when the IR document is approved. This will generate the OK2PAY file, which contains reconciled data about the invoices that need to be paid by the back-end system.