Paying the Piper in Epicor E10, Kinetic & Prophet 21

Best Practices for Paying Supplier Invoices in Epicor ERP

There are many challenges when it comes to paying supplier invoices in Epicor E10, Epicor Kinetic (E11), or in Epicor Prophet 21. In simple terms, a company purchases goods from a supplier according to pre-established and carefully-specified terms. In most cases, a company needs to pay them within the specified terms, waiting as long as possible, as to keep the cash flow within the confines of the company’s banking system for as long as possible.

But the payment must not be so late as to incur the wrath of the supplier and avoid the inconveniences that credit hold will place on subsequent purchases. And the company may elect to take advantage of an early payment discount, if one exists.

Sounds simple enough. But a company also must ensure that invoices are accurate. The amount invoiced must correspond to the quantities that were actually delivered. Some many-to-one complexities muddle the water a bit, given that a supplier invoice may cover several purchase orders and that each PO could be dozens or even hundreds of lines in length.

Automating the Three-Way Matching Process

At this point, we haven’t even begun to validate the amount that was on the original purchase order. Such is the magic of the three-way match: cross-referencing the information that was on the PO with the information on the receipt and matching both of these with the invoice from the supplier.

The matching process differs by company, as many companies have different rules and tolerances that govern the matching process. This can make the process laborious and time consuming for accounts payable staff, and it’s not uncommon for many accounting departments to spend inordinate amounts of time matching invoices and cutting checks for routine purchases.

Given that the three-way matching process is largely mechanical in nature, one would think that it could be automated. But what would it look like for a system to perform some of the heavy lifting, allowing your AP staff to focus on the critical few problems, without having to grind thought the invoices that went through without a hitch?

• Firstly, the system would need to read the invoice. It would need to read and digitize supplier invoices, whether they’re sent as PDFs Word documents, or in some other format.
• Secondly, it would need to validate the invoice. It would need to review the past POs and match the invoice lines with the corresponding PO lines, whether they come from multiple Purchase Orders or a single PO.
• Thirdly, they’d need to perform the three-way match. Using the rules that your company has configured, the system would need to compare line items from the purchase order, the invoice, and the actual receipt of goods.
• Finally, the system would need to generate payment vouchers with the click of a button.

What Invoice Automation Looks Like

A well-designed system would need to:

• Read the invoice – Digitize supplier invoices regardless of format (PDF, Word, EDI, etc.).
• Validate the invoice – Review past POs and match invoice lines with corresponding PO lines, whether from multiple POs or a single order.
• Perform the three-way match – Use company-configured rules to compare PO, invoice, and receipt line items.
• Generate payment vouchers – Enable one-click processing of approved vouchers.

Why Automation Matters

The benefits of automation are clear: it secures supplier relationships while minimizing manual effort. Moreover, this kind of repetitive, data-driven analytical work is what computers do best:

• Processing matched invoices

• Flagging exceptions

• Allowing skilled staff to focus on strategic tasks

Automation allows your AP team to focus on value-added work instead of routine matching, while also reducing cycle times and improving data accuracy.

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Bringing Efficiency to Epicor Accounts Payable

EstesGroup helps companies implement and optimize Epicor ERP solutions that streamline supplier invoice management, improve cash flow, and enhance financial control. Whether you’re a small business or a global manufacturer or distributor, our ERP consulting team can help you move from paper-based systems of the past to cloud-based applications of the future.