Procure to pay
Purchase needed supply, accept the goods received and settle the right supplier balance.
7 stages · 3 approvals
Roles and responsibilities
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Step 1Prepare purchase
Purchase Order NumberSupplierCurrent TotalApproval Basis
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Step 2Approve purchase
Purchase Order NumberSupplierCurrent TotalApproval Basis
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Step 4Accept receipt
Acceptance NumberReceipt LineDispositionBase QuantityAccept
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Step 5Match bill
Acceptance NumberReceipt LineDispositionBase QuantityAccept
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 requisition and supplier order from reviewed replenishment or assembly requirements. Retain specification, units, quantity, price, entity and currency. A generated draft preserves its source request but does not grant spending authority. Missing supplier or cost evidence remains unresolved.
Approval required
Approve purchase
Another eligible Purchasing Manager approves within reviewed finite authority; Finance Manager reviews above that limit. Neither approves their own preparation or edits. Amendments review the proposed commitment and cumulative positive line increases, preserving fulfilled quantities. A reduction elsewhere cannot conceal an increase or new scope.
Record arrival
Warehouse Operator independent of the buyer and commercial approver records actual arrived quantities, lots, serials and supporting evidence. Arrival history remains immutable while pending, rejected and accepted portions develop separately. Suspended suppliers need reviewed handling of existing commitments; blocked arrivals remain held or returnable, never silently usable.
Approval required
Accept receipt
Independent Warehouse Operator confirms only the remaining eligible arrival tranche, after required condition and cost decisions. Accepted owned goods post inventory, receipt accrual and applicable purchase variance once. A later partial acceptance does not repeat the arrival. Over-receipt first needs an approved purchase amendment.
Match bill
Accountant allocates the supplier bill to unused posted acceptance tranches and their original accrual. Fully matched within-policy bills can post through the protected rules. Finance Manager independently reviews quantity, price or non-PO exceptions, with any necessary purchase amendment. Matching cannot add inventory a second time or treat missing tax as zero.
Approval required
Release payment
Independent Finance Manager reviews the exact payment run, beneficiary version, allocations and required underlying exception decisions. Exclude the preparer and material editors, retaining any additional required separation from earlier financial approval. Submission or acknowledgment reserves the intended balance but does not establish that the supplier was paid.
Confirm settlement
Accountant reconciles authoritative bank settlement before the guarded bank and payable effects. A supplier prepayment remains a separate asset until applied without another cash transfer. Authoritative pre-settlement rejection releases claims after reconciliation; uncertainty retains them. Later bank returns require linked reviewed compensation, not an untracked retry.
Approvals and exception handling
3 approvals required in this process
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Approve purchase
Purchasing Manager or Finance Manager signs · record arrival waits
PurchaseOrders, DocumentRevisions, ApprovalDecisions -
Accept receipt
Warehouse Operator signs · match bill waits
ReceiptAcceptances, StockEvents, StockLayers, JournalEntries -
Release payment
Finance Manager signs · confirm settlement waits
PaymentRuns, Payments, PaymentAllocations, ApprovalDecisions - Condition evidencePhysical acceptance and financial valuation retain their separate purposes.
- LC-funded supplier settlement follows its reviewed bank-obligation route; later reimbursement moves company cash without paying the supplier again.
- Supplier returns trace accepted quantitiesCurrent descendant carrying value; commercial credits remain separate.
- Closed purchasing work must reconcile receiptsReturns, matches, credits and remaining commitments.
- Conflicting repeats require review; uncertain payment outcomes keep claims until execution is known.
When the process needs attention
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reject
Record arrival
Arrival history remains immutable while pending, rejected and accepted portions develop separately.
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variance
Accept receipt
Accepted owned goods post inventory, receipt accrual and applicable purchase variance once.
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exception
Match bill
Finance Manager independently reviews quantity, price or non-PO exceptions, with any necessary purchase amendment.
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exception
Release payment
Independent Finance Manager reviews the exact payment run, beneficiary version, allocations and required underlying exception decisions.
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reject
Confirm settlement
Authoritative pre-settlement rejection releases claims after reconciliation; uncertainty retains them.
Records and postings
| Stage | Records | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Prepare purchase | RequisitionsRequisitionLinesPurchaseOrdersPurchaseOrderLines | Prepare bounded supplier commitments |
| 2 Approve purchase | PurchaseOrdersDocumentRevisionsApprovalDecisions | Independently authorize the current purchase scope |
| 3 Record arrival | GoodsReceiptsGoodsReceiptLinesLotsSerials | Preserve actual arrived quantity and identity |
| 4 Accept receipt | ReceiptAcceptancesStockEventsStockLayersJournalEntries | Accept eligible goods and accrue their value once |
| 5 Match bill | BillsBillLinesBillMatchesReceiptAcceptances | Clear the allocated receipt accrual into payables |
| 6 Release payment | PaymentRunsPaymentsPaymentAllocationsApprovalDecisions | Independently authorize the frozen payment instruction |
| 7 Confirm settlement | PaymentsBankStatementLinesCreditApplicationsIntegrationEvents | Reconcile actual settlement and remaining obligations |
Process reports
All reportsSupplier Receipt and Matching
Compares ordered, arrived, independently accepted/rejected tranches, returned quantity, GRNI and matched bill/credit scope using exact base units and document currencies; posted acceptance history is immutable and pending/unknown value remains visible.
Documentary Exceptions
Lists missing/conflicting documents, unresolved amendment/confirmation coverage, discrepancies, waiver requests, actual bank responses and unverified/unclassified events at cutoff; local approval never counts as bank acceptance or proof of goods.
Run by an agent
Agent support
An assistant cannot provide a required independent human approval, decide bank compliance or invent bank issuance, customer acceptance or actual payment. It cannot reuse already claimed supply, create finished output from intermediate work or release an uncertain drawing merely because a request timed out.
# 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
✓ Purchasing Manager prepares the requisition and supplier order from reviewed replenishment or assembly requirements.
› procure to pay · approve purchase on PurchaseOrders, DocumentRevisions, ApprovalDecisions
⏸ approval · waiting for the purchasing manager or finance manager
# 5 more stages after approval: record arrival, accept receipt, match bill, release payment, confirm settlement
Other processes
5 moreOrder to cash
Carry the accepted order through shipment, invoice approval and cash application.
5 stages · 2 approvals
Manage a letter of credit
Coordinate credit terms, presentation evidence and the financial work that follows.
12 stages · 6 approvals
Assemble to stock
Turn released recipes and actual assembly work into accepted finished stock.
8 stages · 5 approvals
Return and credit
Connect returned goods, customer credit and the actual refund without losing the original purchase.
9 stages · 4 approvals
Count and adjust
Count a controlled stock population and review the exact quantity and value before correction.
7 stages · 2 approvals