Given Target’s high volume of purchase orders every year, the process for making sure that suppliers are paid and on-time is heavily systematized.
Target’s system for receiving invoices (see image on the following page) functions as a match rate per centage, the percentage being how much the supplier invoice matches perfectly their system for payment. Both suppliers and Target internal are motivated to reach as high a match rate as possible. The closer the invoice is to matching their system, the less manual intervention is required.
Target’s Invoice Receiving System
Target’s process for matching invoices with receipts, detailed on Partners Online, is roughly as follows:
1. Target receives the supplier’s invoice in their system (nor mally done through EDI).
2. Target receives the supplier’s merchandise at the agreed upon location, the product is scanned, and a digital receipt is created for the product.
3. Each day the system searches for a receipt that matches the supplier’s invoice based on the following criteria:
a. Vendor Number
b. Department Number
c. Purchase Order (PO) Number
d. Location
e. Total Invoice Cost
4. If all fields on the invoice and the receipt match, the invoice is processed through the system and approved for payment.
5. If there are any discrepancies between the receipt and the invoice, the invoice will be sent to a que for manual cor rection.
a. The invoice will only be paid in full once it is recon ciled; at that point they will also generate a deduction for any discrepancies.
If an invoice doesn’t match to any receipt at all, it will simply remain unpaid until the supplier provides the required documentation via the dispute process in the Synergy app in Partners Online.
Match reports can be viewed by monthly request using the POL Accounts Payable Request Support Form found on Partners Online.