Safeguarding Solar EPC Margins with 3-Way Matching

In the solar EPC sector, maintaining project margins requires keeping tight control over procurement costs. With multiple active installation projects, purchasing high volumes of panels, inverters, and racking structures from various suppliers makes auditing invoices difficult.

Discrepancies between what was ordered, what was delivered to the warehouse, and what the supplier billed can lead to profit leaks. Implementing a structured three-way matching process helps solve these challenges. It ensures that every expenditure is fully verified.

How 3-Way Matching Works

The three-way matching workflow reconciles three key procurement documents before payment is approved: the Purchase Order (PO) from your procurement team, the Goods Received Note (GRN) from your warehouse manager, and the Supplier Invoice.

Reconciling these documents manually is tedious and slow, especially when managing multiple suppliers. Automating the comparison through your CRM helps catch inconsistencies in pricing or quantities instantly, saving time and keeping procurement costs accurate.

• Purchase Order (PO): Check the agreed items, quantities, and pricing details.
• Goods Received Note (GRN): Verify the actual items and quantities received at the warehouse or job site.
• Supplier Invoice: Compare the quantities and prices billed by the vendor against the PO and GRN.

Using your CRM to automate the reconciliation of these three documents helps you quickly flag pricing errors, quantity shortages, or unexpected charges, ensuring you only pay for correct deliveries. It locks down your project cost structures.