Manufacturers face challenges with inefficient manual processes for matching supplier orders, invoices, and receipts. This makes supplier payments late and inconsistent, reducing supplier satisfaction. Automating three-way matching and payment processing on a cloud-based platform allows orders and invoices to be reconciled automatically across all supply chain partners. Invoices can be paid on time through exception-based processing. Automation improves supplier relationships, optimizes working capital, and reduces costs and inefficiencies in the financial supply chain.

1. © GT Nexus, Inc.
A STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE FOR MANUFACTURERS
Drive Supplier Payment Automation
How to Optimize the Management of Supplier Orders and Invoices
with Processes that Automate Three-Way Match and Payment

2. The Challenge
As manufacturers deal with a greater amount of suppliers
from regions around the globe, it becomes more diffi cult to
pay supplier invoices by manual processes. The traditional
three-way match of invoice, order, and receipt of goods
becomes tedious and ineffi cient when supply chains involve
a large network of suppliers. Relying on external parties to
manage document fl ow often results in low supplier satisfac-tion
levels due to late and inconsistent payments.
Companies fi nd it diffi cult to optimize working capital in this
situation. If they attempt to extend payment terms to increase
days payable, suppliers suffer from liquidity constraints —
often leading to strained relationships and inability to ship
goods on time. Manufacturers need a way to automate sup-plier
payment and use exception-based management to catch
discrepancies in the fi nancial supply chain.
Ack
Ack
Invoice
Invoice
Order
Receipt
Order
Buyer
Out of Sequence
Manual Matching
Approval Delays
Consignee
Payment
Order
Bank
Seller
Receipt
Impact of Poor Supply Chain Finance
When payments are not made on time or in the right amount,
suppliers are left unhappy and possibly unable to meet the
demands of the next purchase order. Companies that are still
using traditional systems to manage payments in a complex,
global commerce environment will experience signifi cant
problems:
Invoices and shipment documents that do not reconcile
to orders
Incorrect shipments delaying payment to suppliers
High volume of support calls due to limited invoice status
visibility
Lack of effi cient ways to provide a three-way match
between order, invoice, and receipt
Overall supplier dissatisfaction due to delayed payments
The Root of the Problem
Supply chains today involve many global participants, with
most data lying outside the four walls of a single enterprise.
Manufacturers are struggling to reconcile payments with out-of-
date systems and many partners.
1. Frequently changing orders
When demand for products changes frequently and sup-plier
order tracking is a manual process, manufacturers
encounter:
Unreliable information
Lack of audit trail on changes
Reactive and hectic approach to gathering data
2. Complicated and outdated three-way match process
When paperwork is often late and incomplete, documents
are not compliant with orders, and managers must go
through a manual receipts matching process, several things
can happen:
Supplier dissatisfaction
Overpayment for items not shipped
Inability to accurately predict cash fl ow for all parties
© GT Nexus, Inc.
2
Companies struggle to effectively collaborate with suppliers on orders, shipments, and
invoices. This creates complex and ineffi cient processes.
The manual process for matching order, invoice, and receipt is not suffi cient in
a complex, global supply chain with a multitude of stakeholders.

3. Plant
Plant
Network
Connectivity
Agility
Manual payment processes
are rife with error and delay;
only with cloud technology can
documents be standardized
across suppliers and used on
an exception-based, automated
system.
Customers
Customer
DC / Warehouse
Plan
Actual At-Risk Delay
Dynamic ETA
B
A
Sense more accurately
Operate more efficiently
Respond faster
Make better decisions
3
The Solution
Dealing with supplier invoice payments becomes much easier
in the cloud. Suppliers and fi nancial institutions are brought
onto a single platform, using an exception-based system to
automate payments.
In the cloud, orders are updated automatically across all supply
chain partners. Invoices will match the latest order, and pay-ment
to suppliers can be made on time. Automation causes
better buyer-supplier relationships and more accurate forecasts
for inbound cash fl ows. It also eliminates costly letters of credit
and may greatly reduce bank fees. Financial documents are
standardized and instantly available to all relevant players in a
manufacturer’s supply chain network.
Purchase-to-Pay
Automation
Self-Invoicing
Operation
Payment
Aproval
Bank
Trade Document
Management
Seller
Invoice
Exception
Collaboration
Buyer
Order
3-Way
Match
Receipt
Consignee
Automate three-way match and payment to suppliers
on a cloud-based platform.
Collaborate with suppliers, logistics providers, and banks
on order and invoice documentation
Automate electronic payment process from end-to-end
How to use it to automate payments:
1. Manage DPO and cash position
2. Speed up payment reconciliation and approval
3. Collaborate on line exception management and resolution
4. Avoid overpayments by matching invoice with actual receipts
and POs
Value Propositions
Automation of supplier invoice
payment on a cloud supply chain
platform can help improve sup-plier
relations, optimize working
capital, and reduce fees and
ineffi ciencies along the fi nancial
supply chain. Manufacturers can
benefi t in the following ways:
1. Reduce cost with improved supply chain document
compliance
Improve supplier payment visibility and management
2. Reduce supplier payment costs
Centralize access to bank payment and trade services
Enable suppliers to accelerate receivables through
invoice discounting
Inject liquidity to suppliers through pre-shipment
fi nancing
Use bank or self-funding sources
3. Improve cash management through accurate cash
forecasting
4. Free up working capital by improving payment terms
5. Improve supplier relations; gain higher levels of satis-faction
and retention
Supplier Invoice Payment Automation and the
Networked Company
To automate supplier invoice payments and standardize
documentation, companies must transform themselves from
silo-based, inward-facing corporate operators to intercon-nected,
highly agile business network orchestrators.
In the cloud, orders, supplier invoices, and receipt are all reconciled automati-cally;
supply chain partners collaborate in an exception-based process.