The Platform PM

Glossary and sources

Field Guide

B2B payments: procure to pay

08

Glossary and sources

7 min read · Chapter 8 of 8

Words that mean something else here

TermWhat you'd assumeWhat it means here
ApprovedDoneSpend, PO, invoice or payment run approved, or payment released in the bank portal. Only release moves money
PaidThe supplier has the moneyAP: released or check printed. Bank: settled or cleared. Supplier: cash applied
MatchA search resultAP: invoice against PO (and receipt). AR: payment against invoice. Bank: reconciliation. Fraud: name against account
TermsTerms and conditionsPayment terms (net 30, 2/10 net 30), whose clock can start at invoice date, invoice receipt, goods receipt or month end. Incoterms cover delivery and risk, not payment
Vendor vs supplierSynonymsOften, but a "vendor" is an ERP record that may also cover employees, tax authorities and refunds; one supplier can have several
POA purchase orderAlso the PO number an invoice must quote to pass intake, and the "PO box" in a supplier's lockbox address
StatementAn invoiceA list of open invoices. Paying from it causes duplicates
RebateA discount from the supplierA share of card interchange the issuer pays the buyer. Some networks also pay suppliers "rebates" to offset card fees
EnablementSwitching a feature onA campaign moving suppliers to card or ACH, one supplier at a time
Payment hubA routing APIA bank's integrated payables service, an ERP payment module, a fintech network that holds funds, or an in-house "payment factory". Ask who holds the money, under whose license
Straight-throughFully automatedA Visa program where the card number is never keyed, invoices no human touches, or automatic reconciliation. Every vendor defines "touchless" differently
Positive PayFraud protectionA bank service matching presented checks to the buyer's issue file (payee Positive Pay adds the name), plus ACH debit filters. It doesn't protect outgoing ACH credits or wires
DPOA lateness metricDays payables outstanding: average days to pay. A high DPO is often a CFO goal
FloatIdle cashThe buyer's days until a check clears, a provider's interest on funds it holds, the supplier's DSO: the same days with three owners
Accepts cardsTakes my cardFor virtual cards, often "enrolled with issuer X". A supplier that takes cards online may refuse a virtual card

What surprised me

"I assumed AP was the mirror of AR." Writing the order-to-cash guide, I spent most of my words matching money to invoices, and expected the buyer's side to be the same problem reversed. It isn't. AP's hard question comes before any money moves: should we pay this at all? Most of the work is matching, approval, vendor checks and tax validation, and the payment comes at the end of it.

"Rebates are carrier fees running backwards." In telco, carrier fees flow downstream and stop. Here the issuer pays the buyer a rebate out of the interchange the supplier pays. The buyer is paid to pick the rail that costs its own supplier the most, and as far as I can tell nobody involved finds that strange.

"A bank-detail change is a number port." A port has an authority: the losing carrier validates ownership and a central database flips the record. A supplier's bank change is an email and a clerk editing a field, and the receiving bank pays by number whatever the name says. With no registry to ask, the control has to live in AP.

"Batching is a throughput trick." In messaging you batch for throughput. In AP the batch is a treasury decision: weekly runs hold cash, checks add float, and paying early has a price. The goal is on time, or deliberately early for a discount.

"Instant payments would land like faster delivery." In AFP's 2025 survey, over two-thirds said faster payments had no impact on their organization, and buyers don't like seeing funds leave instantly. Speed is what the supplier wants; the buyer wants control of the date.

Sources

Undated entries were read on October 1, 2026.

Rail operators and payment systems

Tax authorities, government buyers and law

E-invoicing and standards

Accounting standards and international bodies

Card networks

Industry associations and benchmarks

Company results and filings (the main players)

Pricing pages and buyer data (read Oct 11, 2026)

Trade press

Cited without links (the source URL carries a company's name or ticker)

  • AFP 2025 and 2026 Payments Fraud and Control Survey key highlights, AFP, Apr 2025 and Apr 2026 (hosted by the underwriting bank)
  • State of ePayables 2025, Part Nine: AP benchmarks, Ardent Partners, Jan 2026
  • 2025 Working Capital Survey press release, Hackett Group, Aug 2025
  • Washington State DES commercial card Contract 00719, Amendment 2, Oct 2025
  • Visa Form 8-K on the merchant settlement, Nov 2025
  • Annual reports (Form 10-K) of three US AP and corporate-payments companies, FY2024 to FY2026 (vendor-reported)
  • Summary of Studco v. 1st Advantage (4th Cir.), a law firm, Apr 2025

Field Guides are learning notes, not legal or compliance advice. Rules and fees change; check the cited primary sources before you act on anything here.