How to Create and Review a 3-Way Match

Give it a few moments to process. Once it's done, you can start reviewing.

Some suppliers send a separate invoice for each shipment on the same PO. Instead of creating a new PO for each shipment, add every invoice to the same match (up to 5 per PO). Ply compares all of them against the PO and the receipt, so you can review everything in one place.

Adding invoices to an existing match

To upload several invoice files at once, click Replace Documents and add them in the modal.

How totals work
Each invoice keeps its own header details (invoice number, date, supplier). The match totals in the Price Summary are calculated by adding up all the invoices on the match.

💡 Invoices received by email are added to an existing match automatically if they reference a PO that’s already matched.

⚠️ When you add an invoice to an existing match, the match items are recalculated with the combined data from all invoices. Any manual changes you made to match items (like Update match item edits) will be overwritten, so add all your invoices before you start reviewing.
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If you have the auto-approval process set up with tolerance thresholds, matches that fall within those tolerances are approved automatically. Only matches that exceed your thresholds get flagged for review.

💡 Without auto-approval configured, you'll need to manually review every 3-Way Match.

Each flagged match shows you:

Clicking the dropdown gives you a quick preview of the warning.

In the preview, each line item shows the PO quantity and price against the invoice quantity and price, plus the receipt quantity, so you can see at a glance whether the issue is pricing, quantity, or both.

Click the green Review button to open the full view. You'll get:

For a line item where the invoice price is higher than the PO price:

The line item is now marked as an exception.

💡 You can flag multiple exception types on the same line item if needed.

If the PO and invoice match but the receipt quantity is off, that's usually worth a quick check with your warehouse.

Once you've confirmed the correct quantity:

The line item will now show as a match.

When you click Accept match, choose a Bulk Action:

If you've confirmed with your supplier that a price increase is legitimate, toggle on Update material prices. This updates the price for that line item in your catalog, so the new price is logged for future orders.

Once you're happy with everything, click Accept match.

If Update purchase order items is turned on in the Accept Match window, accepting the match also updates the purchase order to match the invoice. Ply keeps a copy of the original PO on the match. Before you confirm, you’ll see exactly what will change:

💡 If nothing is selected, only existing lines that differ from the invoice get updated. Ply never adds or removes lines unless you select them.

Review the changes and click Accept match to apply them.

The setting is your default, but you can change it on any single match when you accept it. Lines that were already received can’t be removed from the PO. The original discrepancies stay visible on the match after you accept it.

To turn this on, go to Settings → Automations → Three-Way Match and enable Update purchase order items from invoice on accept.

See How to Use 3-Way Match in Ply for details.

The match is now accepted. You can click into the Activity log to see every action taken and drill into the individual transactions.

Back on the main 3-Way Match screen, the match will show as accepted.

✅ Don’t create a new PO for each partial shipment. If the same PO gets invoiced in parts, add each invoice to the existing match (up to 5). This keeps your POs, receipts, and supplier scorecard accurate.

✅ Add all invoices before you start reviewing. Adding a new invoice to an existing match overwrites any edits you made to the match items, so finish uploading first and then review.

✅ Choose "Accept with current statuses" instead of "Mark all as approved" if you plan to bring this up with the supplier.

Once a match is fully approved, it can read as though you've accepted the discrepancy without pushback. Keeping the exception flag preserves the record and still counts toward that supplier's performance scorecard — see Understanding Supplier Performance Analytics in 3-Way Match.

✅ Only toggle "Update material prices" once you've actually confirmed the increase with your supplier.

This updates your catalog cost for future orders — don't apply it just because you're closing out this one match if the price change hasn't actually been verified as legitimate.

✅ Check the Documents tab before flagging an exception, especially if the AI summary's numbers look off — a low-quality scan or fax can occasionally be misread, and it's faster to fix a misread than to open a dispute with a supplier over a data entry issue.

✅ Make sure the PO you're matching against still exists in your account.

If an invoice can't find its PO to match against, you'll hit a "Purchase order not found" error rather than getting to the review screen at all, recreate the PO first if it was deleted.

✅ Review the Update / Add / Remove list before accepting.

Once accepted, the PO reflects the invoice, so make sure any added or removed lines are correct and not a misread from the document.

"I can't even get to a review screen, I'm getting an error before that."

If the error mentions the purchase order not being found, this usually means the PO referenced on the invoice was deleted from your account at some point. Recreate the PO so it exists again, then start the match over. See How to Use Three-Way Match in Ply for more on this.

"My match is stuck instead of showing a review screen."

Give it a few moments after uploading, processing isn't always instant, especially for larger or lower-quality documents. If it's been a while and nothing's showing, double-check all three documents were successfully attached under the Documents tab.

"The AI summary's suggested numbers don't match what I see on the actual invoice."

AI extraction is very accurate but not perfect, especially on low-quality scans or faxed documents. Use the Edit option on the affected line item to correct the misread data rather than flagging it as a supplier discrepancy.

"I flagged an exception, but I'm not sure if I should also correct the quantity."

These are two different situations. A pricing exception (invoice price ≠ PO price) is flagged and kept on record. A receipt discrepancy (the physical count is different from what was invoiced) is corrected directly via "Update match item" once you've confirmed the real quantity, it's not something you flag as an exception, since it's a data correction rather than a supplier dispute.

"My invoice/PO/receipt is a multi-page document and I only have photos, not a single file."

Each document field (PO, Invoice, Receipt) currently accepts only one file. If you have multiple photos of a multi-page document, combine them into a single PDF before uploading, most phones can do this natively (iPhone: Notes app → Scan Documents; Android: Google Drive → Scan), or with a free app like Adobe Scan. We've filed this as an improvement request, you can follow it here.

“I accepted the match with the PO update on, but a missing item wasn’t added.”
Lines under Add are only applied if their checkbox was selected before accepting. If the match is already accepted, add the item to the PO manually, or contact Support to ask about reverting the match.

“I checked a line under Add but can’t accept.”
Each added line needs a Catalog material selected so Ply knows which item to add to the PO. Search for the material in that field, or create it in your catalog first.

Can I flag more than one type of exception on the same line item?

Yes, price, quantity, and other exception types can all be applied to the same line if needed.

Does updating material prices during a match affect past POs too?

No, it updates the catalog cost going forward for future orders. It doesn't retroactively change anything on POs that already exist.

Can I upload multiple files for the same document (PO, invoice, or receipt)?
Not currently, each document field accepts a single file. If your invoice, PO, or packing slip spans multiple pages and you only have photos, combine them into one PDF first (most phone scanning apps, like the iPhone Notes app or Google Drive's scanner, do this automatically). This is a known limitation and we've filed a request to support multiple file uploads per match, you can track it here.

What’s the difference between “Update material prices” and “Update purchase order items from invoice on accept”?
Update material prices changes the cost in your catalog for future orders. Update purchase order items from invoice on accept changes the lines on this PO so they match the invoice. You can use one, both or neither.