Executive summary. A purchase order, an acknowledgement, a receipt, and an invoice are four successive commitments; treating them as one record hides every discrepancy.
Definition
Purchase-order control is the practice of comparing authorized purchase intent with supplier acknowledgement, physical receipt, and invoiced obligation.
Compare the four records
The order states intent. The acknowledgement states what the supplier accepted. The receipt records what arrived. The invoice states what is owed. Compare quantity, item identity, unit price, and dates across all four.
Record substitutions and backorders explicitly. A different NDC or pack size can be operationally correct and still make an automatic cost comparison unsafe.
Resolve before payment where possible
Route quantity, price, and product mismatches to a named owner with the supplier evidence attached. The resolution should say which of the three changed: the record, the goods, or the invoice.
Retain acknowledgements and invoice source files. A spreadsheet edited by hand carries no provenance into a dispute.
Frequently asked questions
What does an EDI acknowledgement prove?
That the supplier responded to an order. It says nothing about what was received or whether the invoice is correct.
Referenced standards and further reading
- ASC X12: Transaction sets ↗ASC X12
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