Overview
The General 3 Way Match calculator validates three-way matching across any process by comparing quantity and value data from three different activities. This powerful compliance tool identifies discrepancies and mismatches between expected and actual quantities or values, helping you detect control failures, errors, and potential fraud.
While commonly used in Accounts Payable processes (comparing Purchase Orders, Goods Receipts, and Invoices), this calculator is flexible enough to support any process requiring three-way validation.
Common Uses
- Validate Purchase-to-Pay three-way matching compliance (PO, Receipt, Invoice)
- Identify cases where ordered, received, and invoiced quantities don't match
- Detect value discrepancies that may indicate pricing errors or fraud
- Monitor compliance with organizational matching policies
- Analyze patterns of matching failures by type (which document is typically wrong)
- Support audit requirements for procurement and payment processes
Settings
First Activity Name: Select the first activity in your three-way comparison (e.g., "Create Purchase Order" or "PO"). The calculator will sum all quantity and value data from events with this activity name.
Second Activity Name: Select the second activity in your three-way comparison (e.g., "Goods Receipt" or "Receipt"). This typically represents the physical receipt of goods where actual quantities are recorded.
Third Activity Name: Select the third activity in your three-way comparison (e.g., "Invoice Received" or "Invoice"). This typically represents the vendor invoice with final billing amounts.
Quantity Column Name: Select the column containing quantity data to compare across the three activities. Must be a numeric field. The calculator sums all quantity values within each activity per case.
Value Column Name: Select the column containing monetary value data to compare across the three activities. Must be a numeric field. The calculator sums all values within each activity per case.
Value Threshold: Specify the acceptable tolerance for differences (default: 0). If set to 0, any difference greater than 0.01 is flagged as a mismatch. If set to a percentage (e.g., 0.01 for 1%), differences must exceed this percentage to be flagged. This allows for minor rounding differences or acceptable variance.
Examples
Example 1: Purchase-to-Pay Three-Way Match Validation
Scenario: Your organization requires that Purchase Orders, Goods Receipts, and Invoices match within acceptable tolerances. You need to identify cases where these documents don't align, categorized by which document contains the discrepancy.
Settings:
- First Activity Name: Create Purchase Order
- Second Activity Name: Goods Receipt
- Third Activity Name: Invoice Received
- Quantity Column Name: Quantity
- Value Column Name: Amount
- Value Threshold: 0.02 (allow 2% variance)
Output:
The calculator provides four key views accessible from the dropdown in the top right corner:
Value Summary (default):
- Shows aggregate statistics for value mismatches
- Rows represent different mismatch types:
- "Activity Wrong 1": Cases where the PO value differs while Receipt and Invoice match
- "Activity Wrong 2": Cases where the Receipt value differs while PO and Invoice match
- "Activity Wrong 3": Cases where the Invoice value differs while PO and Receipt match
- "All Wrong": Cases where no two activities have matching values
- Columns show the count of cases, total difference amount, and sum of absolute values from each activity
- Click on any row to drill down into the specific cases with that mismatch type
Quantity Summary:
- Same structure as Value Summary but for quantity mismatches
- Identifies cases where ordered, received, and invoiced quantities don't align
- Shows which stage in the process typically has quantity discrepancies
Value Details:
- Lists individual cases with value mismatches
- Shows the specific values from each activity (PO amount, Receipt amount, Invoice amount)
- Displays the calculated difference value
- Ordered by highest differences first to prioritize investigation
- Click on case identifiers to explore the full case timeline
Quantity Details:
- Lists individual cases with quantity mismatches
- Shows specific quantities from each activity
- Enables investigation of individual problematic cases
Insights:
This analysis reveals several actionable insights:
Control Effectiveness: If most mismatches show "Activity Wrong 3" (Invoice), it suggests vendors frequently bill incorrectly, requiring better invoice validation controls.
Process Quality: High counts in "All Wrong" indicate systemic process issues where basic data entry or system integration is failing.
Fraud Detection: Large value differences in the "Value Details" view may indicate fraudulent manipulation of amounts between documents.
Root Cause Patterns: By analyzing which activity is typically wrong, you can focus improvement efforts on specific process stages (purchasing, receiving, or invoice processing).
Audit Support: The detailed case lists provide audit trails showing exactly which cases violated three-way matching requirements.
Example 2: Manufacturing Quality Control Validation
Scenario: In a manufacturing process, you need to validate that production orders, actual production output, and quality inspection results all align on quantities and defect counts.
Settings:
- First Activity Name: Production Order Created
- Second Activity Name: Production Completed
- Third Activity Name: Quality Inspection
- Quantity Column Name: Units
- Value Column Name: DefectCount
- Value Threshold: 0 (zero tolerance for discrepancies)
Output:
The Quantity Summary shows:
- Cases where ordered production quantity doesn't match completed quantity (rework or waste)
- Cases where completed quantity doesn't match inspected quantity (missing inspections)
The Value Summary shows:
- Cases where defect counts vary across activities, indicating data quality issues
Insights:
- Identifies production batches with unexplained quantity variances
- Highlights quality control gaps where defect counts aren't consistently recorded
- Supports traceability requirements by flagging incomplete documentation
- Enables investigation of specific batches with quality or quantity issues
Output
The calculator provides four views, selectable from the dropdown menu:
Value Summary: Aggregate statistics showing counts and totals for each type of value mismatch. Provides a high-level overview of matching compliance.
Quantity Summary: Aggregate statistics showing counts and totals for each type of quantity mismatch. Helps identify whether quantity or value issues are more prevalent.
Value Details: Detailed list of individual cases with value mismatches, showing specific amounts from each activity and the calculated difference. Sorted by highest discrepancies first.
Quantity Details: Detailed list of individual cases with quantity mismatches, showing specific quantities from each activity and the calculated difference. Enables case-by-case investigation.
All views support interactive filtering and drill-down capabilities. Click on summary rows to filter to specific mismatch types, or click on case identifiers in detail views to explore the full case timeline.
Note: Only cases containing all three specified activities are included in the analysis. Cases missing any activity are automatically excluded.
This documentation is part of the mindzie Studio process mining platform.