How to match delivery dockets to invoices
Paying an invoice you haven't checked against the deliveries behind it is how businesses quietly pay for goods that never arrived. The matching itself is easy — it's getting both sides into the same shape that takes the time.
Convert your dockets freeEncrypted files
Protected in transit and at rest
Private to your account
Never used to train AI models
Payments by Stripe
We never store your card number
Test before you buy
Check accuracy on your own docket
Get both sides into rows
Matching only works when dockets and invoices are both in a form you can filter and total. Invoice data usually already lives in your accounts system; the dockets are the missing half, sitting in a folder as photos and PDFs. Convert them into line items with the same fields and the comparison becomes a formula.
- One row per line item, not one row per docket
- Product code, description, quantity, unit price, line total
- Supplier and delivery date on every row so you can filter by period
- Consistent headings across suppliers so sheets stack together
Match on code and quantity
Product code plus quantity is the pairing that holds up. Descriptions get reworded between the docket and the invoice, and docket numbers often don't appear on a consolidated monthly invoice at all. Where a supplier uses their own code and you use yours, keep a small mapping sheet and match through it.
Total by period when invoices are consolidated
If one invoice covers a month of deliveries, don't try to match line for line. Pivot the docket rows by supplier and product code for the invoice period, then compare those totals against the invoice. Differences point straight at the docket that caused them.
- Pivot dockets by supplier, product code and period
- Compare quantity totals first, then value
- Drill into the individual docket behind any variance
- Check the supplier statement against the same totals
What to look for
The recurring findings are short deliveries invoiced in full, price increases applied before the agreed date, the same docket billed twice, and credits for returns that never materialise. Each one is small on its own and meaningful across a year of trading.
Keep the evidence attached
When you raise a query, the supplier will ask which docket. Keeping the original scan alongside the extracted rows means the answer takes seconds. Every file you upload stays stored privately against your account and can be re-downloaded whenever a query comes back.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a three-way match?
- Comparing the purchase order, the delivery docket or goods received note, and the supplier invoice. When all three agree the invoice is safe to pay; when they don't, you've found a query before the money leaves.
- What should I match on?
- Product code plus quantity is the most reliable pair. Descriptions vary in wording between documents, and docket numbers are often absent from a consolidated invoice.
- Our invoices cover a whole month of dockets — can that still be matched?
- Yes. Total the docket rows by supplier and product code for the invoice period, then compare the totals rather than trying to match line to line.
- What are the most common discrepancies?
- Short deliveries invoiced in full, price rises applied earlier than agreed, duplicated docket lines, and credits for returns that never appear.
- Do I need special software to do the matching?
- No. Once both sides are in Excel, XLOOKUP or a pivot table does the work. The hard part is getting the dockets into rows in the first place.
Stop re-typing paperwork
Check accuracy on your own test document free within 7 days. No card needed, no automatic charge.
Get started