Invoice reconciliation
Also called: invoice audit · three-way match
Invoice reconciliation compares the purchase order, the delivery, and the invoice. Discrepancies between the three are common and almost always in the supplier's favour — not from dishonesty, but because nobody checks, so nothing corrects them.
The four errors it catches
| Error | How it appears | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Short delivery | Invoiced 6 cases, 5 arrived | Credit memo at the door, before you sign |
| Price change | Unit price up from last delivery, unannounced | Query it same-day; unchallenged prices become the new baseline |
| Substitution | Different brand or pack at the original price | Accept or reject explicitly — never silently |
| Arithmetic | Extension or total doesn't foot | Rarer than the others, and free money when it happens |
The ten-minute version
- Check quantities against the delivery before the driver leaves. This is the only step with a hard deadline, and it's the one that matters most.
- Weigh a sample of the catch-weight items.
- Compare each unit price to the last delivery of the same item.
- Note anything wrong on the invoice itself and get the driver's initials.
- Chase the credit memo within 48 hours — most supplier credit windows are short.
The guide that works it through
Why Is My Food Cost So High? A Diagnostic
Seven causes of a high restaurant food cost, in the order they're usually the answer — with the check that confirms or eliminates each one in under an hour.
Related terms
Credit memo
A supplier document reducing what you owe — for a short, damaged, or wrongly-priced delivery.
Price creep
Small, frequent supplier price increases that individually look ignorable and collectively remove several points of margin a year.
Catch weight
Items priced by actual weight rather than by a fixed case quantity — most proteins and cheeses.
Case price vs. unit price
Suppliers quote cases; recipes need units. Comparing vendors on case price alone hides which one is actually cheaper.
Pack size
How a product is packaged — units per case and size per unit. Changes to it are price changes in disguise.