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AI agent · Finance and accounting

AP invoice agent: matches supplier invoices to POs and deliveries

The AP invoice agent takes each supplier invoice and checks it against the purchase order and what was actually received. When everything agrees, it prepares the bill with GST and account codes for finance to approve. When something differs, it holds the invoice and shows exactly what differs and by how much.

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AP invoice agentWaiting for you

Bill for invoice INV-55021 from supplier S-114

200 safety gloves at S$3.25 (PO: S$3.10)
S$650.00
50 safety goggles at S$8.40, matched
S$420.00
Subtotal
S$1,070.00
GST 9%
S$96.30
Total payable
S$1,166.30

Gloves are S$30.00 over the PO, above your S$20 tolerance, so the bill is held for you. Quantities match GRN-0934.

RejectEditApprove

Sample data. Harbourline Supplies Pte Ltd is not a real company.

The job

What it does, and what it never does

What it does

  1. 1Matches each invoice line to the PO line and the goods received note.
  2. 2Checks prices and quantities against the tolerances you set.
  3. 3Codes the bill to your accounts, checks the GST charged (9% on standard-rated lines, and only from a GST-registered supplier), and puts it in front of finance to approve.
  4. 4Sets the due date from the supplier's payment terms.
  5. 5Checks for likely duplicates by supplier, invoice number and amount.

What it never does

  • Pay a supplier
  • Change a supplier's bank details
  • Post a bill without approval
  • Approve its own exceptions

AP invoice agent

Spec sheet
Job
Matches supplier invoices to POs and deliveries.
Module
Finance and accounting
Starts when
A supplier invoice arrives.
Default control
Draft for approval
Approved by
An AP clerk, or the finance manager when a bill is held or above your value limit.
Always a person
Paying a supplier is a payment, so it always stops at a person.
Logged
Every draft, edit and approval, in your own system.
Off switch
Yes. Switch it off and the work goes back to your team.

Trigger

When it starts

A supplier invoice arrives.
  • The document intake agent reads an invoice from your accounts inbox.
  • Someone keys in or uploads a supplier invoice.
  • A held invoice is updated, for example when a credit note arrives.

Data

What it reads and what it writes

Least access: the AP invoice agent reads only the records this job needs, and it writes only drafts. Some things it never touches, whatever the settings.

Access is set per agent in the system we build, so you can see exactly what it can reach. Changing it goes through the same tests and review as any other release.

Access

  • Reads
  • Drafts
  • Never

  • Supplier invoices

    PDF, scan or keyed in

    Reads

  • Purchase orders and goods received notes

    For the three-way match

    Reads

  • Supplier terms and past bills

    Due dates and duplicate checks

    Reads

  • Chart of accounts and tax codes

    For coding

    Reads

  • Supplier bills

    Posted only after approval

    Drafts

  • Supplier bank details

    Always a person

    Never

  • Payments

    Always a person

    Never

Control level

Draft for approval by default, with limits you set

Paying a supplier is a payment, so it always stops at a person.
  1. Level 1

    Suggest

    The agent recommends. A person does the work.

  2. Level 2 Default

    Draft for approval

    The agent prepares the record and waits. Nothing changes until a person approves. This is the default.

  3. Level 3

    Act within limits

    Opt in per action, under a S$ limit you set. Payments, deletions and messages to customers or suppliers always stop at a person.

    For the AP invoice agent

    Off for this agent. Posting a bill always waits for a person in finance.

Sample data. Harbourline Supplies Pte Ltd is not a real company.

Always stops at a person, at every level

Payments, deletions, and messages to customers or suppliers. No setting turns this off.

Limits you can set

Set in the scoping call, changed whenever you need, and logged when they change.

  • Price tolerance

    A S$ or percentage difference per invoice that still counts as a match. Anything above is held and flagged. Either way, the bill posts only after approval.

  • Quantity rule

    Bill only what was received, or allow small differences you define.

  • Approval by value

    Bills above a S$ amount you set go to the finance manager.

  • Accounts it may use

    The accounts and cost centres it may code to. Anything else goes to a person.

Approval

The approval step

An AP clerk, or the finance manager when a bill is held or above your value limit.

What the approver sees

  • The invoice beside the PO and the goods received note
  • Each difference in price or quantity, with the amount
  • The accounts and GST codes it chose
  • The due date from the supplier's terms

After approval

Once approved, the bill is posted and waits for the payment run. Paying it is a separate step that a person in finance always takes.

What each choice does

  • Approve

    The change is made exactly as drafted, and the approval is logged with your name and the time.

  • Edit, then approve

    Your changes are logged as yours, next to what the agent first drafted.

  • Reject

    Nothing changes. The draft and your reason stay in the log.

Log

What is logged

Every step is recorded in your own system, with who proposed it, who approved it and what changed. For the AP invoice agent, that means:

  • The invoice file, and when it arrived
  • The match result for each line
  • The codes it chose
  • Edits and notes from finance
  • Who approved, and the posting reference
action_log1 entry
event
bill.posted
record
INV-55021 from S-114
matched_to
PO-1162, GRN-0934
exception
gloves S$0.15 a pair over PO, S$30.00 in all
held_by
AP invoice agent, 10:05
approved_by
Finance manager, 11:40
total
S$1,166.30 incl. GST
due
10 Dec, 30-day terms

Sample data. Harbourline Supplies Pte Ltd is not a real company.

Testing

How it is tested before go-live

The AP invoice agent goes live only after it has been run against agreed cases and you have signed it off.
  1. 1

    We agree the cases with you

    The everyday cases, plus the awkward ones your team already knows about.

  2. 2

    It runs on a test copy

    On sample data or a test copy of your system, never on your live records.

  3. 3

    Two people check it

    Our tester runs the test plan. Our ERP controller checks the business rules: prices, GST, tolerances and who approves what.

  4. 4

    The release is reviewed

    Lester Law, our founder, runs the AI coding agents and reviews every release before it reaches you.

  5. 5

    You sign off

    You check the results against the agreed cases. It goes live when you are satisfied.

Cases in the test plan

Each one is run and checked before go-live, with your own cases added.

  • Invoice that matches the PO and delivery exactly
  • Price higher than the PO
  • Short delivery: invoiced for more than was received
  • Invoice with no PO
  • The same invoice sent twice
  • One invoice covering two deliveries

Sample run

A sample run, start to finish

One run on sample data, as it appears in the activity log. The draft itself is shown at the top of this page.

  1. 10:04 · Supplier S-114, by email

    Invoice INV-55021 attached (PDF).

  2. 10:05 · AP invoice agent

    Matched to PO-1162 and GRN-0934. Goggles agree. Gloves invoiced at S$3.25 against S$3.10 on the PO: S$30.00 over.

  3. 10:05 · AP invoice agent

    Above your S$20 tolerance. Coded the bill with GST of S$96.30 and held it for finance.

  4. 11:40 · Finance manager

    Supplier confirmed the new price by email. Approved S$1,166.30 and posted.

  5. 11:40 · AP invoice agent

    Posted. Due 10 Dec on 30-day terms. Payment stays with finance.

Sample data. Harbourline Supplies Pte Ltd is not a real company.

What to notice

  • The agent prepares and explains. It does not decide.
  • A named role approves, edits or holds, and that choice is logged.
  • Anything unclear is left for a person rather than guessed.

Where it fits

Part of Finance and accounting

Start with the AP invoice agent on the tools you run today, or inside our finance and accounting software, one part of the AI ERP we build.

Industry

Wholesale and distribution

Account pricing, stock across locations, purchasing and credit control.

Learn more about Wholesale and distribution

Industry

Construction and engineering

Progress claims, variations, site requests and subcontractor payments.

Learn more about Construction and engineering

Same module

Collections agent

Drafts payment reminders for overdue invoices.

Learn more about Collections agent

Other agents

Price

The AP invoice agent on your data, as a quick build from S$15k

2 to 3 days of build. You own the code, with no per-user licence fees. After go-live, Run (hosting, support, AI usage) and Evolve (monthly build capacity) are priced in the phase plan.

Book a scoping call See pricing

FAQ

Questions about the AP invoice agent

Can the AP invoice agent pay suppliers?

+
No. Payments always stop at a person. The agent prepares bills and posts the ones finance approves; paying them is a separate step that finance takes.

What is three-way matching?

+
Checking a supplier invoice against the purchase order (what you agreed to buy) and the goods received note (what actually arrived). The agent does this line by line and shows any difference.

What happens to an invoice with no PO?

+
It is held and sent to the person who owns that cost, such as the operations manager, with the agent's suggested coding. Nothing posts until someone approves.

Can it catch duplicate invoices?

+
It checks each invoice against earlier bills from the same supplier by number, date and amount, and holds any likely duplicate for a person to check.

Who sets the tolerances?

+
You do, per supplier or for all suppliers, as a S$ amount or a percentage. You can change them at any time, and each change is logged.

Can we keep our accounting software?

+
Often, yes. The agent can prepare bills in a finance module we build, or work alongside the accounting software you run today. Which route fits, and what connecting needs, is something we check in the scoping call.

See the AP invoice agent on your kind of data.

Bring one workflow that hurts. In 30 minutes we show you how it would run as an approval queue on sample data, and what a quick build would cost.

Book a scoping call See pricing