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Accounts payable

Resolve AP exceptions before they become payment problems.

Our AI agents compare invoices, purchase orders, receipts, contracts and payment data, investigate the discrepancies and prepare the next action for review.

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An illustration of the AP Agent investigating an Amazon Web Services invoice of $18,420.00 against a purchase order of $16,900.00: the $1,520.00 difference is a data transfer line the PO never covered, which the contract allows and earlier invoices also carried.
Invoice exceptionINV-4518 · received 12 Mar

Vendor

Amazon Web Services

Invoice INV-4518
$18,420.00
Purchase order 8823
$16,900.00
Difference
+$1,520.00

Invoice against purchase order, line by line

LineInvoicePO
EC2 compute, committed11,200.0011,200.00
S3 storage5,700.005,700.00
Data transfer out1,520.00—
Total18,420.0016,900.00

Checked

  • Enterprise agreement §4.2 bills data transfer on usage
  • February usage report shows 17.4 TB transferred out
  • January and February invoices carried the same line

AP Agent

The overage is data transfer billed on usage. The contract allows it and it recurs every month, but PO 8823 only covers the committed lines.

Proposed resolution

Amend PO 8823 by $1,520.00, then record the invoice.

HoldApprove

Most AP work isn't the happy path.

Entering invoices is the easy part, and most AP tools already do it. The work is resolving everything that doesn't match.

The happy path

What most AP tools automate

  1. Invoice arrives
  2. Matches
  3. Approved
  4. Paid

Everything that doesn't match

Where the week goes

  1. 1Invoice arrivesAP
  2. 2It doesn't matchAP
  3. 3Someone checks the POAP
  4. 4Searches email for the quoteAP
  5. 5Messages procurementProcurement
  6. 6Contacts the vendorVendor
  7. 7Updates the ERPAP
An illustration of two paths through accounts payable: a four-step happy path that is already automated, and a seven-step exception path across AP, procurement and the vendor.

Let our AP Agent investigate the exception.

It goes where your team would go — the ERP, the contract, the usage data, earlier invoices — and comes back with a likely cause and a proposed fix.

  1. Invoice received
  2. Matched against PO, receipt and contract
  3. Discrepancy detected
  4. Supporting systems searched
  5. Likely cause determined
  6. Resolution proposed
  7. A person reviews it
  8. The ERP is updated or the vendor contacted
An illustration of the AP Agent investigating invoice INV-4518 across five systems: Business Central, Gmail, Snowflake, BILL and Slack, and concluding the difference is usage-based data transfer the purchase order never covered.
Investigation · INV-45185 systems · 2m 14s

  • Business CentralPO 8823 and its receipts

    PO $16,900.00 · no data transfer line

  • GmailContract and correspondence with AWS

    Enterprise agreement §4.2: transfer billed on usage

  • SnowflakeFebruary cost and usage table

    17.4 TB transfer out · $1,520.00

  • BILLEarlier invoices from this vendor

    Transfer billed Jan $1,380.00 · Feb $1,455.00

  • Slack#procurement, PO amendments

    No amendment requested for PO 8823

Likely cause

Usage-based data transfer the PO never covered. Allowed by the contract, consistent with the last two months, and never amended into the PO.

Waiting on AP review: amend PO 8823 and release

The exceptions AP actually spends its time on.

Six kinds of exception the agent investigates before payment. Open one to see what it checks.

  • Invoice mismatchesInvestigate invoice, PO and goods-receipt discrepancies.
    What our agent does

    Compares the invoice line by line with the PO and the receipt, then looks for the reason for each difference in the contract, the usage and the correspondence.

    INV-4518 · 3 lines · 2 match · data transfer +$1,520.00 not on PO 8823

  • Duplicate invoicesIdentify likely duplicate invoices or duplicate charges before payment.
    What our agent does

    Looks across vendors, amounts, dates and invoice numbers for the near-matches a straight lookup misses: a re-sent PDF, a changed reference, the same charge on a card.

    INV-77140 and INV-77140A · same vendor · same amount · 3 days apart

  • Pricing leakageFind unexpected pricing, fees and contract discrepancies.
    What our agent does

    Checks unit prices, fees and surcharges against the contract and the vendor's own history, and flags the ones nobody agreed to.

    Unit price $212.00 against contracted $195.00 · 400 units · $6,800.00 over

  • Vendor creditsIdentify available or unapplied credits.
    What our agent does

    Finds credit notes that were issued but never applied, and credits a vendor owes but hasn't sent, before the next payment goes out.

    CN-3310 · $2,450.00 · issued 4 Feb · not applied to any open bill

  • Payment exceptionsInvestigate failed, blocked or unusual payments.
    What our agent does

    Traces a payment that bounced, stalled or went out twice back through the bank, the ERP and the payment run, and says what to do about it.

    Payment 40912 · returned R02 · account closed · vendor bank details out of date

  • Vendor changesSurface changes such as bank details for additional review.
    What our agent does

    Flags a change to a vendor's bank account, address or contact before the next payment uses it, and flags it for a second person to confirm.

    Harlow Fasteners · bank account changed 18 Mar · flagged before the next payment

Worked example

A surcharge nobody agreed to.

A supplier invoice arrives $4,400.00 over its PO. Here is how our AP Agent gets from the mismatch to a reply your AP manager can approve.

20 March. Meridian Industrial Supply invoices $82,400.00 against purchase order PO-7710 for $78,000.00.
  1. Compares the invoice with PO-7710: 400 units at $195.00 on both, plus a line the PO doesn't have.Agent
  2. Checks receipt GR-5520: all 400 units arrived on 18 March, on standard freight.Agent
  3. Checks the vendor's last six invoices: none carried a handling surcharge.Agent
  4. Finds the difference: a $4,400.00 expedited handling surcharge that was never ordered or approved.Agent
  5. Gathers the PO, the receipt, the invoice and the invoice history into one record.Agent
  6. Drafts a reply asking for a credit note, and proposes paying the agreed $78,000.00 on terms.Agent
  7. Sends both to the AP manager for review.AP manager
An illustration of the AP Agent's proposed response to a supplier invoice that is $4,400.00 over its purchase order: the invoice, PO and receipt compared, a proposal to pay the agreed $78,000.00 and hold the surcharge, and a drafted reply to the vendor waiting for an AP manager's approval.
Vendor responseDraft · INV-20931
  • InvoiceINV-20931 · 400 × 195.00 + expedited handling$82,400.00
  • POPO-7710 · 400 × 195.00 · standard delivery$78,000.00
  • ReceiptGR-5520 · 400 received 18 Mar · standard freight400 units

Proposed

Pay $78,000.00 on terms. Hold $4,400.00 until the vendor credits it or shows it was approved.

Drafted reply

To
Meridian Industrial Supply · Billing
Subject
INV-20931: expedited handling not on PO-7710

Hello — invoice INV-20931 includes a $4,400.00 expedited handling surcharge. PO-7710 was placed for standard delivery, the goods arrived on standard freight, and none of your recent invoices carried this charge. Please send a credit note for $4,400.00, or the approval for expedited handling. We are paying the agreed $78,000.00 on terms.

Drafted for review. The agent doesn't send it.

Request reviewApprove response

Your team stops searching and starts deciding.

The investigation moves to the agent. The judgement calls stay with the people accountable for them.

Before

  • People search
  • People compare
  • People follow up
  • People document

With our AP Agent

  • The agent investigates
  • AP reviews the exceptions
  • People make the judgement calls
The productAccounts PayableSupplier invoices compared with the purchase and receipt records, discrepancies investigated, and the next action prepared for your team to approve.Explore Accounts Payable

Other solutionsReconcile accountsResolve close exceptionsPrepare accrualsManage prepaidsExplain performanceManagement reportingKeep forecasts currentModel business decisionsAccelerate cash collection

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