An AI agent compares invoices with purchase orders, identifies missing information and prepares approval. An example of finance, purchasing and AI working together.
Illustrative use case — not a report of a completed client project.
A supplier invoice reaches a medium-sized company by email. The purchase order is in the ERP and receipt of the goods is documented separately. One line item cannot be matched clearly. Before anyone can approve payment, purchasing and finance need to bring the records together and explain the discrepancy.
The proposed workflow
The agent extracts the supplier, invoice number, amounts and line items. It checks required fields and looks for an existing copy of the invoice. Illegible or conflicting values are flagged rather than treated as reliable information.
Using approved interfaces, the agent finds the relevant purchase order and goods receipt. It can interpret differently worded item descriptions. Amounts, quantities and tolerances are then checked against defined rules.
For the unmatched line item, the agent drafts a specific question linked to the document. The responsible person sees the original data, proposed match and discrepancy together. The agent does not invent a goods receipt or a cost centre.
Once clarified, the invoice enters the designated approval process. In this example, the agent does not trigger a payment. Business and financial approval stays with authorised people; changes and handovers are recorded for review.
The workflow needs readable invoices, access to purchase-order and goods-receipt data, and a clear approval process. The pilot starts with a limited invoice category. Its test set includes matching documents, duplicates, missing orders and amount discrepancies, so the team can check whether uncertainty is actually handed over to people.
Changes to bank details, unclear supplier identities and discrepancies outside agreed tolerances need separate review. Permissions are limited to the necessary data and actions. The workflow supports document checks; it does not replace accounting or tax judgement.
Evaluate value in the pilot
The potential benefit is less searching and better-prepared decisions. The pilot measures manual processing time, elapsed time to approval, incorrect matching suggestions and follow-up questions. Only that comparison shows whether the workflow is worthwhile and for which invoice categories.
Not in this example. The agent prepares records and checks. Which narrowly defined steps may later be automated depends on your approval rules, tests and risk limits.
