An agent that matches each invoice to the order and the contract, and sets aside the ones that do not match.
The problem
Before an invoice is paid, someone checks it against the purchase order, what was actually received and the rate in the vendor’s contract. When the numbers do not match, they chase the vendor or the team that placed the order. It is careful work, done one invoice at a time.
The records to check against already exist in the finance system and the contracts. An agent can match every invoice line to them and set aside only the ones that do not match, with the reason, for a person to resolve.
What the agent does
- Reads each incoming invoice and matches every line to the purchase order, what was received and the contract rate
- Sets aside each mismatch with its reason, such as a short delivery, a price above the contract or a duplicate invoice
- Checks vendor records for missing or changed details, such as an expired tax form or new bank details, and flags them for a person
- Drafts the query to the vendor or the ordering team, and asks before it sends one, approves an invoice or changes a vendor record
Systems it works in
- Finance system: purchase orders, invoices and payments
- Vendor records: contacts, terms and payment details
- Contracts: the agreed rates and terms for each vendor
- Receiving records: what was delivered and when
How it is measured
- Agent-to-human ratio: how many invoices the agent matched, and how many a person still checked by hand
- Quality: how often the mismatches it set aside were real, and how often a person found one it missed
- Coverage: the share of invoices that were matched before they reached a person for approval
No demo is recorded for this work. The recorded demos show the same agent on revenue and customer success work, asking before it changes anything.