Procure to pay
Approve supply commitments, accept actual deliveries and pay reconciled supplier obligations.
9 stages · 4 approvals
Roles and responsibilities
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Step 3Prepare order
Purchase Order NumberSupplierOrder DateCurrent Total
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Step 4Approve purchase
Purchase Order NumberSupplierOrder DateCurrent Total
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Step 5Receive
Receipt NumberPurchase OrderWarehouseArrived At
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Step 6Match bill
Bill NumberSupplierBill DateTotal Amount
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Step 7Review exception
Bill NumberSupplierBill DateTotal Amount
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Step 8Release payment
Run NumberPayment DatePrepared BySnapshot
Process steps
Follow the process from start to finish. Select a step to see who acts and what changes.
Request supply
Purchasing Manager prepares the requisition with product units, receiving entity, warehouse and required date. Retain the dealer-order source when relevant, and check remaining demand before conversion. A generated purchase line consumes the approved request once rather than creating duplicate supply.
Approval required
Approve request
An independent Purchasing Manager reviews the exact request within finite configured authority; Finance Manager handles required escalation. The requester or material editor cannot supply this approval. Confirm quantity, purpose, cost and eligibility before conversion.
Prepare order
Purchasing Manager records supplier terms, currency, net prices, tax treatment and receiving scope. Preserve the approved request and product conversion. Supplier eligibility and protected beneficiary governance remain separate checks; ordinary commercial editing cannot change a released payment destination.
Approval required
Approve purchase
Another eligible Purchasing Manager approves within policy, or Finance Manager reviews the higher authority. Amendments use the full proposed total and cumulative gross increases, preserving fulfilled commitments. Send only the approved revision; actual successful dispatch establishes that the order was sent.
Receive
Warehouse Operator records immutable physical arrival independently of the buyer and commercial approver. Confirm bounded accepted or rejected tranches while pending goods retain their custody evidence. Accepted stock posts only with reviewed standard and receipt valuation. Later acceptance never duplicates the arrival.
Match bill
Accountant allocates supplier lines to unused posted receipt acceptances and their original accrual. An eligible match may post under approved policy. Genuine nonstock charges use their expense basis; missing goods or tax evidence cannot be replaced by a fabricated receipt or zero rate.
Approval required
Review exception
Independent Finance Manager decides the exact discrepancy and financial treatment. A required commercial amendment still needs purchasing approval. Clear original GRNI and the actual additional difference without debiting inventory for the entire bill again.
Approval required
Release payment
Independent Finance Manager authorizes the current run, protected beneficiary and reserved bill allocations. Exclude preparers, material editors and required separate bill-exception approvers. Existing supplier prepayments clear their eligible asset into AP without another bank payment.
Settle
Accountant reconciles authenticated bank outcomes. Actual settlement posts cash and allocations once. Pre-settlement rejection releases reservations after reconciliation; uncertainty retains them. A post-settlement return requires the approved compensating cash and debt effects, preserving the original payment rather than replaying it.
Approvals and exception handling
4 approvals required in this process
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Approve request
Purchasing Manager or Finance Manager signs · prepare order waits
Requisitions, ApprovalDecisions, DistributionPolicies -
Approve purchase
Purchasing Manager or Finance Manager signs · receive waits
PurchaseOrders, ApprovalDecisions, DocumentRevisions -
Review exception
Finance Manager signs for a matching or non-PO exception · release payment waits
Bills, BillMatches, ApprovalDecisions, JournalEntries -
Release payment
Finance Manager signs · settle waits
PaymentRuns, Payments, PaymentAllocations, CreditApplications - Independent means a different actual personNot another role or account for the preparer.
- Accepted, rejectedPending quantities reconcile to immutable physical arrivals.
- Receipt, matchingReturn and payment reservations prevent concurrent reuse of the same source.
- Supplier returns distinguish billedUnbilled scope; commercial credit and current stock value remain separate.
- Material changes invalidate stale approvalsTechnical retries preserve the original economic identity.
When the process needs attention
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duplicate
Request supply
A generated purchase line consumes the approved request once rather than creating duplicate supply.
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reject
Receive
Confirm bounded accepted or rejected tranches while pending goods retain their custody evidence.
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exception
Release payment
Exclude preparers, material editors and required separate bill-exception approvers.
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reject
Settle
Pre-settlement rejection releases reservations after reconciliation; uncertainty retains them.
Records and postings
Process reports
All reportsSupplier Receipt Performance
Actual accepted GoodsReceiptLines against original PurchaseOrderLines promise and approved quantity; distinguish arrival timeliness, rejected/pending quality quantities, supplier return and incomplete supply rather than treating all arrivals as usable.
Order Fulfillment
Accepted SalesOrderLines by dealer/order/line: original quantity and promise, net actual dispatch, title transfer, delivery, billing, approved cancellation and remaining commitments from SalesAllocations and shipment/return lineage; returns do not erase the original dispatch history.
Inventory and Valuation
As-of owned quantity/value by entity, product, warehouse, location and lot from net posted StockMovements and remaining StockLayers; show held, picked, production and away transit separately and reconcile once to Inventory/WIP controls.
Cash and Bank Reconciliation
Actual bank balances, statement matches, unapplied customer/supplier balances, reserved unsettled/uncertain instructions and returned payments by entity/currency; pending transport responses are not cash settlements.
Run by an agent
Agent support
The assistant cannot supply a required independent human approval or replace actual receiving, dispatch, delivery, production acceptance or bank evidence. It cannot turn an acknowledgment into settlement, a credit into warehouse stock, or a planned route into a completed delivery. Materially changed content must follow the appropriate renewed review.
# Example after configuration
$ curl -fsSL https://www.erp.ai/skill.md | paste into your agent
› procure to pay · request supply on Requisitions, RequisitionLines, ProductUnits
✓ Purchasing Manager prepares the requisition with product units, receiving entity, warehouse and required date.
› procure to pay · approve request on Requisitions, ApprovalDecisions, DistributionPolicies
⏸ approval · waiting for the purchasing manager or finance manager
# 7 more stages after approval: prepare order, approve purchase, receive, match bill, review exception, release payment, settle
Other processes
5 moreOrder to cash
Carry the dealer's accepted terms through fulfilment, reviewed invoicing and cash application.
5 stages · 2 approvals
Plan and deliver
Release a practical route, record actual delivery results and reconcile the remaining goods.
6 stages · 1 approval
Assemble and kit
Release defined assembly work, accept actual output and reconcile its standard value with WIP cost.
7 stages · 3 approvals
Count and adjust
Count a controlled stock population and review the exact quantity and value before correction.
7 stages · 2 approvals
Period close
Reconcile each entity's operational balances, review currency adjustments and close the books.
7 stages · 2 approvals