Procure to pay
Bring ingredients and packaging from reviewed purchase through supplier settlement.
8 stages · 3 approvals
Roles and responsibilities
-
Step 1Prepare purchase
Purchase Order NumberSupplierCurrent TotalApproval Basis
-
Step 2Approve order
Purchase Order NumberSupplierCurrent TotalApproval Basis
-
Step 3Record arrival
Portion NumberLotStatusCurrent Stock QuantityHeld
-
Step 4Accept receipt
Acceptance NumberReceipt LinePortionDispositionAccept
-
Step 5Match the bill
Acceptance NumberReceipt LinePortionDispositionAccept
-
Step 8Reconcile the order
Purchase Order NumberSupplierCurrent TotalApproval Basis
Process steps
Follow the process from start to finish. Select a step to see who acts and what changes.
Prepare purchase
Purchasing Manager prepares the requirement and supplier order with current product, unit, specification and terms. Active supplier scope, buying conversions and actual need are checked before submission. Financial beneficiary changes follow their separate protected review.
Approval required
Approve order
Another actual Purchasing Manager approves within finite reviewed authority; Finance Manager approves the required higher-value or financial route. Neither approves their own preparation. Amendments consider proposed total and cumulative positive line increases while preserving fulfilled obligations.
Record arrival
Warehouse Operator independently records actual delivered quantities, source lot, dates and condition. The immutable arrival distinguishes pending goods from accepted and rejected portions. Blocked-supplier arrivals retain their actual held custody and require the specified review.
Approval required
Accept receipt
Independent receiving acceptance confirms an exact remaining tranche after its physical and reviewed cost prerequisites. The tranche posts owned inventory and the goods-received effect once. Accepted stock may remain held for independent Quality Manager release against required results, dates and every applicable restriction.
Match the bill
Accountant matches the bill to accepted, unreturned and unmatched scope. Quantity, commercial price, tax and receipt value remain separate. Required exceptions receive Finance Manager approval before posting; the bill clears the relevant goods-received balance and creates the payable.
Approval required
Approve payment
Finance Manager independently approves the exact remaining obligation, beneficiary, currency and payment instruction. Prepayment or credit sources retain their own eligibility and active claims; a submitted request cannot be treated as actual bank settlement.
Record settlement
Accountant reconciles actual settlement evidence with the approved instruction. Current cash and payable carrying are relieved once, with any exchange difference separately explained. Uncertain outcomes retain claims until resolved rather than authorizing another spend.
Reconcile the order
Purchasing Manager follows remaining delivery and return obligations with Accountant. Close requires accepted, returned and outstanding quantities, bills, credits and goods-received balances to reconcile. A supplier return removes actual current descendant carrying and leaves commercial settlement differences for separate review.
Approvals and exception handling
3 approvals required in this process
-
Approve order
Purchasing Manager or Finance Manager signs · record arrival waits
PurchaseOrders, PurchaseOrderLines, ApprovalDecisions, DocumentRevisions -
Accept receipt
Warehouse Operator signs · match the bill waits
ReceiptAcceptances, GoodsReceiptLines, StockEvents, StockLayers, QualityHolds -
Approve payment
Finance Manager signs · record settlement waits
PaymentRuns, Payments, PaymentAllocations, ApprovalDecisions - Arrival and acceptance are different records; later tranches cannot exceed remaining actual delivery.
- Quality release changes eligibility without posting another receipt or value.
- Materially changed instructions require renewed approval; payment uncertainty is not a retry instruction.
- Consumed receipt descendants require a traced correction route, not reversal at a depleted stock position.
When the process needs attention
-
reject
Record arrival
The immutable arrival distinguishes pending goods from accepted and rejected portions.
-
exception
Match the bill
Required exceptions receive Finance Manager approval before posting; the bill clears the relevant goods-received balance and creates the payable.
Records and postings
| Stage | Records | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Prepare purchase | RequisitionsRequisitionLinesPurchaseOrdersPurchaseOrderLinesSuppliers | Submitted purchase basis |
| 2 Approve order | PurchaseOrdersPurchaseOrderLinesApprovalDecisionsDocumentRevisions | Approved current commitment |
| 3 Record arrival | GoodsReceiptsGoodsReceiptLinesLotsLotPortionsStorageObservations | Actual arrival and pending disposition |
| 4 Accept receipt | ReceiptAcceptancesGoodsReceiptLinesStockEventsStockLayersQualityHolds | Bounded accepted stock and receipt accounting |
| 5 Match the bill | BillsBillLinesBillMatchesReceiptAcceptancesJournalEntries | Matched payable and reviewed differences |
| 6 Approve payment | PaymentRunsPaymentsPaymentAllocationsApprovalDecisions | Authorized supplier payment scope |
| 7 Record settlement | PaymentsPaymentAllocationsBankStatementLinesIntegrationEventsJournalEntries | Confirmed payment or explicit unresolved outcome |
| 8 Reconcile the order | PurchaseOrdersPurchaseOrderLinesReturnLinesBillMatches | Remaining supply and finance obligations reconciled |
Process reports
All reportsRecipe and Standard Cost
Compare the effective approved BOMs/BOMLines, ProductUnits and StandardCosts at the selected company/date and recipe reference-output basis; preserve each ingredient or packaging line's own unit, frozen conversion and rounding, show unresolved cost separately from known zero and apply the selected yield/loss convention once, with no implicit density or mixed-dimension total.
Lot Availability and Shelf Life
Show InventoryPositions and LotPortions with Lots, InventoryReservations, QualityHolds and the effective ShelfLifePolicies/LotDateEvents: owned quantity, disjoint restricted or claimed scope and currently eligible quantity in each product's base unit, with explicit unknown dates and evaluation time; apply customer remaining-life and expected-delivery requirements only for the identified order scenario and do not add parent portions to their children.
Receivables and Payables Aging
Age open Invoices and Bills by their own agreed due dates and reporting cutoff after source-bound credits and actual CashApplications/PaymentAllocations, preserving partial settlement, remaining reservations and unresolved payments; show document/source and functional carrying separately, reconcile prior FX and never sum unrelated transaction currencies as a single balance or count unapplied cash as settled AR/AP.
Local Financial Statements
Reconcile each legal company's posted JournalEntries/JournalLines, selected period and functional currency with local accounts and approved opening balances; distinguish stock, exclusive WIP, recognized production/receipt variances, current-carrying dispositions, accruals, receivables/payables, cash and FX, preserve controlled corrections and do not repeat subledger or trace-detail amounts as additional general-ledger value.
Quality and Release Position
Follow QualityInspections, InspectionResults, NonConformanceReports and QualityDispositions against the applicable controlled specification and exact lot population, showing missing/unknown evidence, independent decisions and unresolved restrictions; retain overlapping hold reasons without counting the same held quantity twice, and distinguish valued physical output from quality eligibility without creating another inventory balance.
Order and Supply Position
Compare remaining SalesOrderLines with reviewed purchasing, ReceiptAcceptances, SalesAllocations and actual ShipmentLines at compatible company/product/unit cutoffs; preserve accepted, reserved, performed, cancelled and returned history as distinct populations, show quality/date eligibility in the selected delivery scenario and do not treat held receipts, expected production or a financial credit as immediately available supply.
Run by an agent
Agent support
An assistant cannot provide required independent human approval, establish food fitness or invent an actual inspection, production event, delivery or payment. It cannot clear unresolved holds through a summary, extend a lot's life without the required evidence or treat an imported result as a release decision.
# Example after configuration
$ curl -fsSL https://www.erp.ai/skill.md | paste into your agent
› procure to pay · prepare purchase on Requisitions, RequisitionLines, PurchaseOrders, PurchaseOrderLines, Suppliers
✓ Purchasing Manager prepares the requirement and supplier order with current product, unit, specification and terms.
› procure to pay · approve order on PurchaseOrders, PurchaseOrderLines, ApprovalDecisions, DocumentRevisions
⏸ approval · waiting for the purchasing manager or finance manager
# 6 more stages after approval: record arrival, accept receipt, match the bill, approve payment, record settlement, reconcile the order
Other processes
5 moreOrder to cash
Carry the customer promise from a reviewed offer to actual payment.
5 stages · 2 approvals
Review and release
Bring evidence and remaining restrictions together before releasing a population.
7 stages · 1 approval
Allocate and dispatch
Choose suitable lots and carry their claims through actual customer handover.
7 stages · 1 approval
Trace and withdraw
Find affected goods and coordinate a reviewed response with clear follow-through.
8 stages · 3 approvals