These users can match a Bill to both a Purchase Order and an Item Receipt:
Bill Approver
Bill Requester
Bill Reviewer
Organisation Administrator
Matching can be done at any point before the Bill receives final approval — during review, editing or while On Approval.
After the final approval, matches become read-only due to NetSuite restrictions.
Please note: Matching is only available for Bills created in ApprovalMax. Bills created directly in NetSuite will have read-only matches in ApprovalMax. If a Bill was created in NetSuite without any matching, there is no way to apply or change the match later in ApprovalMax. In that case, the only option is to return to NetSuite and create a new Bill by copying from the relevant Purchase Order.
Here’s how the typical 3-way Matching flow works in ApprovalMax
Step 1: Copy the Purchase Order to an Item Receipt
Once a Purchase Order has been fully approved in ApprovalMax, open it and click on COPY TO → Copy to Item Receipt:
This will open a new Item Receipt request prefilled with details from the Purchase Order. When everything looks good, click on SUBMIT FOR APPROVAL:
Important: Unlike the Purchase Order, the Item Receipt does not need to be approved in order to proceed with 3-way Matching. Matching can be performed as long as the Bill has not yet been approved and the Purchase Order is not closed.
Step 2: Create a Bill
Once your Item Receipt is submitted, it’s time to create the Bill. You can do this in two ways:
Step 2a: Create a Bill by copying the Purchase Order
Go back to the approved Purchase Order and click on COPY TO → Copy to Bill:
This opens a new Bill request, with the Purchase Order and Item Receipt already matched:
Step 2b: Create a Bill from scratch
If you create a Bill from scratch rather than copying from a Purchase Order, automatic matching is not applied.
You’ll need to manually match each line on the Bill form by clicking on the Link+ icon:
Select the corresponding Purchase Order line and click on MATCH:
You will also see the matched Item Receipt in the Purchase Order details:
After matching the Purchase Order, the Item Receipt column will automatically populate:
Step 3: Review the matching details on the Bill form
On the Bill form, each line shows a Link icon once it’s been matched:
Click on this icon to review which Purchase Order and Item Receipt the line is matched to:
If you need to change the matched Purchase Order, simply unmatch a line by clicking on REMOVE:
Once removed, the Link icon will change to Link+, indicating that the line is not yet matched:
You’ll also see that the previously linked Item Receipt is no longer displayed — it’s automatically unlinked when the associated Purchase Order is removed.
Item Receipts are always linked to their originating Purchase Order and can’t be changed independently.
Clicking on the Link+ icon will open a pop-up where you’ll see a list of available Purchase Orders and their individual lines.
Select the appropriate line, then click on MATCH to apply it to your Bill:
Check that all required lines are correctly linked — then either approve the Bill, or resubmit it for approval if you've made edits.