Association Rule Failed for Selected Items


Purpose

The purpose of this article is to document a scenario where an invoice fails to automatically match and throws the error "Association rule failed for selected items" when a manual match is attempted without selecting the required lines. This article explains the cause and outlines the correct steps to perform manual matching.

Scenario

An invoice is received but does not automatically match to the corresponding Purchase Order (PO). When a manual match is attempted by selecting only the PO item and clicking the Match button, the system displays the error "Association rule failed for selected items". The same behavior continues even if the invoice is cancelled and resent. See below screenshot 1.

Screenshot 1: Invoice screen showing the error message "Association rule failed for selected items" during manual matching. 

Cause

During manual matching, the system requires both the Invoice Line and the Purchase Order Item Line to be selected at the same time before initiating the Match action. If the Match button is clicked while no invoice lines are selected, the system cannot create the required association and triggers the error.

Instructions: Correct Manual Matching Procedure

  1. Open the invoice in the AP Matching screen and navigate to the Invoice Lines tab.
  2. From the left panel, select the invoice line that needs to be matched. See screenshot 2 attached.

Screenshot 2: Invoice Lines tab highlighted, showing the invoice line selected and the PO line selected on the right panel. 

  1. From the right panel, search for and select the corresponding Purchase Order item line
  2. Ensure that both the invoice line and the PO item line are selected simultaneously.
  3. Click the Match button.

Result

When both the invoice line and the purchase order item line are selected before clicking the Match button, the manual matching completes successfully. The invoice line status updates to Fully matched, and the error "Association rule failed for selected items" no longer appears. See attached screenshot 3.

Screenshot 3: Invoice and PO item successfully matched, with the invoice line status updated to Fully matched.