PURCHASING PROCESS · PROCESS MAP
What is Procure to Pay?
Understand how SAP turns an approved business need into received value, a verified liability, and supplier payment.
Procure to Pay flow
Select any stage to explore
THREE-WAY MATCH
One purchase, three proofs
Before a supplier invoice is cleared for payment, SAP compares the commercial commitment, evidence of receipt, and supplier claim.
Purchase order
Confirms the authorized supplier, item or service, quantity, price, and terms that were agreed.
Goods receipt
Confirms the quantity, quality, and value of goods received or services accepted.
Invoice verification
Compares the supplier claim with the purchase order and receipt, then routes differences for review before payment.
How the process works
P2P is the controlled path from an internal demand to a cleared supplier liability. Each stage creates evidence for the next, so buyers, warehouse teams, accounts payable, and treasury can act from the same document history.
Demand may be entered manually or generated from MRP, sales, production, maintenance, or projects. Some authorized scenarios create a PO directly; a requisition remains valuable when request ownership, account assignment, sourcing, budget, or approval must be evidenced before commitment. See the MM context behind the request.
HOW SAP FRAMES THE NEED
Four structures make procurement executable
The process explains what the business does. These structures explain the operating context, supplier identity, purchase-order record, and mechanisms that determine value, authority, promise, and communication.
Material, organization, and stock
Master data, plant, purchasing organization, inventory, planning, valuation, and account determination establish the procurement frame.
Explore MM foundations SUPPLIERBusiness Partner and supplier roles
The leading identity, company-code and purchasing extensions, partner functions, payment, tax, and blocks establish who can supply and be paid.
Open supplier model OBJECT MODELPurchase order anatomy
Header, item, account assignment, delivery schedules, and indicators separate shared commitment from line-specific execution.
Open PO anatomy DETERMINATIONConditions, confirmations, workflow, output
Price technique, expected supplier responses, approval authority, and output turn the document into a governed commitment.
Open purchasing mechanics- 01
Need Request
A requisition states what is needed, how much, when, and for which account assignment. It is an internal document—not a supplier commitment.
Creates Purchase requisition and controlled internal demand
- 02
Purchase order Commit
It records supplier, material or service, quantity, price, tax, delivery terms, plant, and account assignment. Source lists, contracts, and quotations can supply its terms.
Creates Purchase order and governed supplier commitment
- 03
Goods receipt Receive
Referencing the PO checks quantity and delivery status. For valuated material, the posting normally debits inventory and credits GR/IR; services use service entry and acceptance.
Creates Goods-receipt evidence, stock or consumption update, and accounting evidence where relevant
- 04
Invoice Verify
SAP compares PO price, received quantity, tax, and invoice value. Differences beyond tolerance can block payment while preserving the liability for review.
Creates Supplier invoice, liability, and any payment-block evidence
- 05
Payment Settle
The automatic payment program proposes items using due dates, payment methods, bank selection, blocks, and available discounts. Approval and payment-media steps remain controlled.
Creates Payment and supplier-item clearing evidence
DOCUMENT FLOW
One need, one connected audit trail
SAP links the request, commitment, receipt, supplier claim, and settlement. Users can trace quantities, values, status, and exceptions without rebuilding the story in a spreadsheet.
See the commercial commitmentTrace the approved need, requisition, source, and account-assignment context.
Find the purchase order, receipt, invoice, payment, and clearing evidence.
Separate unapproved, undelivered, uninvoiced, blocked, overdue, and unpaid outcomes.
Reconcile ordered, received, invoiced, paid, and account-assigned quantity and value.
CONTROL POINTS
What keeps P2P reliable?
The process is strongest when authority, evidence, and exceptions are visible at the point where a commitment or posting is made.
Approval and budget
Release workflow, account assignment, sourcing rules, and budget checks confirm that the need is authorized.
Explore requests BEFORE LIABILITYThree-way match
The purchase order, receipt, and invoice are compared. Tolerances route material differences for review or block payment.
Explore invoice checks BEFORE CASHPayment governance
Due dates, payment blocks, approved bank channels, maker-checker review, and payment media protect settlement.
Explore paymentExplore requisitions, sourcing, purchase orders, receipt, invoice verification, payment, and the connected document trail.