Invoice Verification Deep Dive: Quantity and Price Variances, Payment Blocks, MRBR and GR/IR

Business scenario

PO 4500001400 orders 100 EA of RM-1000 at ₹1,000. Only 80 EA have arrived when the supplier invoices all 100 EA at ₹1,050.

All companies, numbers and documents are fictional demo data.

Step-by-step flow

1. 01

   First delivery: 80 of 100 EA open in twin

   80 EA arrive and are received with 101. GR/IR is credited ₹80,000.

   GR/IR now expects an invoice for 80 EA at ₹1,000.

2. 02

   Invoice for 100 EA at ₹1,050 open in twin

   The supplier invoices 100 EA at ₹1,050 = ₹1,05,000. Received so far: 80. Agreed price: ₹1,000.

   Two variances: quantity (invoiced 100, received 80) and price (₹1,050 vs ₹1,000).

3. 03

   What do you do with the invoice? open in twin

   Both quantity and price are out of tolerance.

   The supplier's claim is real and must be in the books; whether to pay it is a separate decision.

4. 04

   Hiding the variance open in twin

   Editing the PO to match the invoice removes the price check. The 80 EA already received were valued at ₹1,000, so GR/IR no longer balances and needs manual clearing later.

   A price increase should be a deliberate approval (release of the block), not a silent PO edit — otherwise the control that caught it is defeated.

5. 05

   Post the invoice — blocked Q and P open in twin

   Vendor credited ₹1,05,000; GR/IR debited ₹1,00,000; ₹5,000 price difference. Payment block set.

   The liability is recorded, but the payment run skips the invoice while it is blocked.

6. 06

   The missing 20 EA arrive open in twin

   20 EA are received. GR/IR is credited ₹20,000 and now balances. The quantity block reason no longer applies.

   GR/IR is now balanced: 100 received, 100 invoiced.

7. 07

   Release the invoice (MRBR) open in twin

   MRBR releases the quantity block automatically (its cause is gone). The buyer confirms the new price, so the price block is released manually.

   Payment only happens after someone has accepted each variance.

8. 08

   Payment run open in twin

   F110 pays ₹1,05,000 to the supplier.

   End of the procure-to-pay cycle with variances.

9. 09

   Invoice settled open in twin

   GR/IR balanced, invoice paid, ₹5,000 price difference recognised.

   GR/IR is the control account that proves receipts and invoices match.

SAP documents

Stock impact

Accounting impact

Movement type

• 101GR for purchase orderReversal: 102

Checks supplier invoices against what was ordered and received, records the liability, holds payment for unaccepted variances, and keeps GR/IR as the control between receipts and invoices.

Transactions & Fiori apps

Configuration

• Tolerance keys (OMR6)

  Configuration dependent

  PP (price), DQ (quantity), BR/BW and others set limits that block or prevent posting.

• GR-based invoice verification

  Configuration dependent

  Matches invoices per goods receipt; the PO item indicator controls it.

• Price control of the material

  Typical

  Standard price sends price differences to PRD; moving average price sends them to inventory while stock covers the quantity.

Prerequisites

• Purchase order with goods receipt
• Tolerance keys for the company code
• Payment terms and payment run setup

Master data

Purchase order

Agreed quantity and price; GR-based IV indicator.

Supplier master

Payment terms and payment methods.

Organizational structure

• Company code 1000
• Plant 1000

Tables

Integration

• FIPayables, GR/IR clearing, price differences and the payment run.

Common errors

• “Invoice blocked for payment”

  Likely causes: Price or quantity variance beyond tolerance; Invoice before goods receipt; Manual payment block

  Where to look: MRBR · Invoice item blocking reasons · Tolerance keys

• “GR/IR account does not clear”

  Likely causes: Quantities received and invoiced differ permanently; PO price changed after receipt

  Where to look: MB5S · PO history · MR11

Troubleshooting

Something went wrong? Work through these checks in order. They are diagnostic questions, not configuration instructions — confirm changes with your system owner.

1. CHECK 1

   Blocked invoice

   • Which blocking reason is set?
   • Has the missing goods receipt arrived?
   • Has the buyer approved the price?

2. CHECK 2

   GR/IR

   • Run MB5S for the PO
   • Compare PO history quantities

Interview questions

• What happens in MIRO when the invoice price is higher than the PO price?

  Within tolerance, the invoice posts normally and the difference goes to inventory (moving average price with stock coverage) or to a price-difference account (standard price). Beyond the blocking tolerance, the invoice posts with blocking reason P and is held for payment until released in MRBR; beyond the posting tolerance it cannot be posted at all.

• What is GR/IR clearing and how is it kept clean?

  A clearing account credited at goods receipt and debited at invoice receipt for the same PO quantities and prices. Balances show received-not-invoiced or invoiced-not-received items. MB5S lists them; MR11 clears differences that will never be settled, posting them to a GR/IR clearing difference account.

• How are blocked invoices released?

  Through MRBR (or the Fiori app). Blocks whose cause has disappeared — e.g. the missing goods have arrived — can be released automatically; others are released manually after approval, or resolved by a credit memo.

Quiz

Related processes

• 101101 Goods Receipt
• 101Procure-to-Pay

References

• SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Logistics Invoice Verification (source)
• SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Tolerance Limits and Blocking Reasons (source)
• SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: GR/IR Clearing Account Maintenance (source)

Explanations are original. They summarize standard behaviour; always validate against your system's release and configuration.

Version history