What is three-way match?

Three-way match checks a supplier invoice against the purchase order and the goods receipt. The invoice is paid when quantities and prices agree across all three documents, within the tolerance the company sets.

What is the difference between two-way and three-way match?

Two-way match compares the invoice with the purchase order. Three-way match adds the goods receipt, so it also catches an invoice that bills for more than was delivered.

What is four-way match?

Four-way match adds a fourth check to the three-way match: an inspection or acceptance sign-off that the goods or work meet the order. Vic.ai is the one AP vendor in this set that names it.

Which AP vendors support three-way match?

17 of 22 AP vendors name three-way matching on a product, pricing or feature page: Airbase, AvidXchange, BILL, Corpay, Coupa, Emburse, Medius, Nanonets, Ramp, Rillion, Routable, Stampli, Tipalti, Vic.ai, Yooz, Basware and Esker. MineralTree and Quadient AP name it on a blog post. Brex names two-way only. Melio and Paystand name no match type.

What is a matching tolerance?

A tolerance is the gap between documents that still passes the match, set as a dollar amount or a percentage of the order. A 3% tolerance on a $5,000 order passes a gap of up to $150.

Three-way match explained, and which AP vendors support it

Three-way match checks a supplier invoice against two other documents before it is paid: the purchase order and the goods receipt. Two-way match checks the invoice against the purchase order alone, and four-way match adds an inspection or acceptance sign-off. Of 22 AP vendors, 17 name three-way matching on a product, pricing or feature page, 15 name two-way, and 1 names four-way: Vic.ai. A match passes when quantities and prices agree within a tolerance. An invoice for 100 units at $50 each against 98 units received is a $100 gap, which passes a 3% tolerance on a $5,000 order and fails a 1% tolerance.

What each match checks

Match	Documents compared	What it catches
Two-way	Invoice and purchase order	A price or quantity on the invoice that differs from what was ordered
Three-way	Invoice, purchase order and goods receipt	Billing for more than was delivered, and invoices for goods that never arrived
Four-way	Invoice, purchase order, goods receipt and inspection report	Goods or work that arrived but failed the acceptance check

Two-way match fits services and recurring bills, where no goods receipt exists. Three-way match is the control for physical goods. Four-way match fits regulated or high-value purchases that need a quality sign-off before payment.

Tolerance example: 100 units ordered, 98 received

A purchase order covers 100 units at $50 each, so the order is worth $5,000. The warehouse receives 98 units, and the supplier invoices for 100 units, $5,000.

Two-way match compares $5,000 on the invoice with $5,000 on the order. It passes.
Three-way match compares the 100 units invoiced with the 98 received. The 2 extra units cost $100.
A 1% tolerance on the order allows $50 (1% of $5,000), so the $100 gap fails and the invoice goes to a person.
A 3% tolerance allows $150 (3% of $5,000), so the $100 gap passes and the invoice moves on.

Looser tolerances send fewer invoices to review and let more small overbilling through. The invoice approval workflow sets who reviews an invoice that fails.

Which AP vendors name each match type

Figures as of 4 November 2026.

Vendor	Two-way	Three-way	Four-way	Detail	Source
Airbase	Named	Named	Not named	Automated 2-way and 3-way PO matching	airbase.com/pricing
AvidXchange	Named	Named	Not named	Configurable tolerance policies by supplier	avidxchange.com/solutions/purchase-order-automation-software
Basware	Not named	Named	Not named	Flexible matching beyond 3-way matching	basware.com/en/solutions/ap-automation/touchless-invoice-processing
BILL	Named	Named	Not named	2-way matching with tolerance rules on Corporate; 2 and 3-way matching on Enterprise	bill.com/product/pricing
Corpay	Named	Named	Not named	2- and 3-way matching	corpay.com/ap-automation/invoice-automation
Coupa	Named	Named	Not named	Automated two-way and three-way matching	coupa.com/products/ap-automation
Esker	Not named	Named	Not named	Three-way matching of purchase orders, receipts and invoices	esker.com/solutions/accounts-payable
Medius	Named	Named	Not named	Two-way and three-way matching	medius.com/ap-automation
Nanonets	Named	Named	Not named	AP agent runs a 2- or 3-way match against POs and goods receipt notes	nanonets.com/agent/accounts-payable
Ramp	Named	Named	Not named	2-way and 3-way matching with Ramp purchase orders; three-way match is in the Procurement add-on to Plus or Enterprise	ramp.com/procurement
Rillion	Named	Named	Not named	Both are add-ons in all three packages	rillion.com/pricing
Routable	Named	Named	Not named	PO matching is listed under the Scale plan	routable.com/features/po-matching
Stampli	Named	Named	Not named	Semi-automated 2-3 way matching included	stampli.com/pricing
Tipalti	Named	Named	Not named	Tolerance ranges by amount or percentage	tipalti.com/ap-automation/po-matching
Vic.ai	Named	Named	Named	Supports 2-, 3- and 4-way matching	vic.ai/accounts-payable/po-matching
Yooz	Not named	Named	Not named	Yooz uses 3-way checking	getyooz.com/accounts-payable-automation
MineralTree	Blog only	Blog only	Not named	Blog post (April 2024) says both are supported	mineraltree.com/blog/netsuite-invoice-approval
Quadient AP	Blog only	Blog only	Not named	Blog post names 2-way and 3-way PO matching; the Purchase orders plan includes automated invoice-PO match	quadient.com/en-us/blog/quadient-ap-vs-avidxchange
Brex	Named	Not named	Not named	Brex two-way matches incoming bills to a PO	brex.com/product/bill-pay
Emburse	Named	Named	Not named	Automatically matching deliveries to invoices; Invoice Enterprise adds invoice-to-PO matching with goods receipt	emburse.com/solutions/ap-automation
Melio	Not named	Not named	Not named	No match type named	meliopayments.com/accounts-payable
Paystand	Not named	Not named	Not named	No match type named on AP automation page	paystand.com/ap-automation

Of the 22 vendors, 17 name three-way matching, 15 name two-way and 1 names four-way. MineralTree and Quadient AP name both on a blog post only. Brex names two-way only. Emburse names both two-way and three-way. Melio and Paystand name no match type.

Plan gating changes what a buyer gets. BILL names automatic 2 and 3-way matching on Enterprise and 2-way matching with tolerance rules from Corporate. Ramp names two-way and three-way match with purchase orders and sells three-way match in its Procurement add-on to Plus or Enterprise. Rillion sells both types as add-ons in all three packages, and Routable lists PO matching under its Scale plan. Stampli includes semi-automated 2-3 way matching and offers full automation through its Billy agent. The AP plan finder shows which plan carries your matching level and your ERP.

Four-way match

Vic.ai is the one vendor that names four-way matching. It says it supports 2-, 3- and 4-way matching across purchase orders, invoices, receipts and delivery notes.

Where matching sits in AP

Matching follows invoice capture and comes before approval. OCR invoice capture reads the document into fields, and matching decides whether those fields agree with the order. The invoice automation software ranking separates capture from matching and compares vendors on both.

Teams that issue purchase orders and receipts inside the same tool can match without importing them from an ERP. The procure-to-pay guide shows which of the 22 vendors create requisitions, orders and receipts, and the procure-to-pay software list ranks tools that cover all three.

Rillion, Medius and MineralTree matching depends on how the ERP holds the order, which the cost records note for each vendor, and the pricing methodology states how plan gating is handled.