Touchless rate
Touchless (%) =
invoices passing with no manual edittotal invoices× 100
Shows how many invoices need no human correction. Use it to find vendors or formats that cause rework.
AI agentIntake-to-pay
Invoice processing AI agent
An invoice processing AI agent is software that captures supplier invoices from email and portals, extracts their data, matches them to vendors and purchase orders, validates tax and totals, and routes exceptions.
- People stay in control
- Every action is logged
- Start with a small sample
Invoice files and email bodies
Vendor master records
Purchase orders and receipts
Contract and payment terms
Invoice processing AI agentPrepared for review
- ✓Structured invoice record
- ✓Match result with differences
- ✓Validation findings
- ✓Draft supplier query
Handed toAP clerks receive exceptions with reasons
5inputs it reads
6steps in the walkthrough
1point where a person decides
4outputs it prepares
See it run
Agent Record PersonWatch it work
Live walkthrough
- 1Invoice arrivesRecord
- 2Read the documentAgent
- 3Match recordsAgent
- 4ValidateAgent
- 5AP clerk resolvesPerson
- 6Approved for paymentRecord
An invoice reaches the shared inbox or portal.
The agent extracts supplier, number, dates, lines and totals.
It matches the invoice to the vendor and any purchase order.
Totals, tax and terms are tested against the order and contract.
The clerk reviews flagged invoices and decides what to do.
Clean invoices move on to approval in the AP system.
The basics
What is an invoice processing AI agent?
The invoice processing agent collects supplier invoices from email and portals, filters out spam and extracts header and line data, including currency. It then links each invoice to a vendor, purchase order and contract, and validates tax and totals. Its specialist parts cover intake, extraction, matching, validation and exception handling.
Read the full explanation
Clean invoices move on with their evidence attached. Holds, disputes and credit or debit memos go to a named person with the reason stated, and the agent can draft the supplier reply. AP approves invoices, buyers resolve missing orders, and finance controls payment. Every capture, match and hold is logged against the invoice.
Where it breaks
What this agent does
Each task below is something the agent prepares, checks, drafts or routes, with a person keeping the decision.
It collects invoices from inboxes and portals, separates them from spam and statements, and ignores what is not an invoice.
It reads header fields and line items, including tax and currency, from PDFs and images.
It identifies the supplier and finds the related PO or contract, or flags that none exists.
It checks totals, tax, dates and contract terms, and notes where an invoice differs from what was agreed.
Holds, disputes and missing-PO cases go to the right person with the evidence and a suggested next step.
The path
Reads, decides, does
- 01Reads
It reads invoice files and emails, vendor records, purchase orders, contracts, receipts and tax rules your team provides.
- 02Decides
It decides which vendor and PO an invoice belongs to, whether it matches, and what kind of exception it is.
- 03Does
It extracts and records data, places holds for review, routes exceptions and drafts supplier replies. It does not approve or pay invoices.
- 04Intake and triage
Collects invoices, filters spam and sorts by type.
- 05Extraction
Reads header and line-item data and normalises currency.
- 06Matching
Links invoices to vendors, POs and contracts.
- 07Validation
Checks tax, totals and contract terms.
- 08Exception handling
Routes holds, disputes and credit or debit memos.
Want to see this flow on your own items?
Book a demoBring a small sample and watch Flo work through it.
Under the hood
Inside the work
| Aspect | By hand | With the agent |
|---|---|---|
| Data entry | Clerks type header and line data from each document. | Fields are extracted and a clerk checks only low-confidence ones. |
| Matching | Finding the right PO means searching by hand. | Invoices are matched to vendor and order before a clerk sees them. |
| Exception handling | Problems surface at approval, late in the process. | Mismatches are flagged at intake with the reason stated. |
| Supplier queries | Replies depend on who finds the email. | Query drafts are prepared with the facts from the match. |
| Visibility | Status lives in inboxes. | Every invoice has a visible stage and owner. |
| If | Then | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| The supplier is not in the vendor records | It holds the invoice and asks for vendor setup | Vendor master owner |
| The invoice references a PO that is closed or missing | It flags the mismatch and shows the nearest order | AP clerk |
| Line totals do not add to the invoice total | It marks the invoice as failed validation with the lines at fault | AP clerk |
| Quantities exceed what was received | It routes to the receiver and buyer for a view | Buyer |
| Extraction confidence is low on a field | It highlights that field for human reading | AP clerk |
| The document looks like a duplicate | It holds it and links the earlier invoice | AP supervisor |
Reads
- Invoice files and email bodies
- Vendor master records
- Purchase orders and receipts
- Contract and payment terms
- Tax and coding rules
Produces
- Structured invoice record
- Match result with differences
- Validation findings
- Draft supplier query
Hands over to
- AP clerks receive exceptions with reasons
- Approvers receive clean, matched invoices
- Buyers receive quantity and price disputes
Scanned or handwritten invoice
Poor quality lowers extraction confidence, so the agent marks fields for a clerk. People key what cannot be read.
Multiple invoices in one file
The agent separates them where it can and lists the split for confirmation. A clerk corrects any wrong split.
Credit note instead of invoice
It is recognised, matched to the original and queued separately. AP confirms how it offsets the balance.
Invoice in another language or currency
Fields are extracted and the currency is shown against the order. Finance confirms the rate and treatment.
- AP clerk
- Corrects extraction, resolves exceptions and decides how to proceed on each flagged invoice.
- AP supervisor
- Owns matching tolerances, reviews holds and signs off changes to the rules.
- Buyer
- Answers price and quantity questions tied to the order.
- Vendor master owner
- Keeps supplier records correct so matching is reliable.
People and control
What stays with people
- ✓AP approves invoicesA person approves each invoice or the rule that allows it to pass.
- ✓Buyers resolve missing POsPeople decide whether an unplanned invoice is valid.
- ✓Owners handle disputesConversations with suppliers about price or quantity stay with people.
- ✓Finance controls paymentPayment release is a separate human decision.
- ✓Tax owners set rulesThe agent applies tax checks that finance defines and does not give tax advice.
Signs you would benefit
- •Clerks spend their day keyingHigh manual entry time points to extraction as the first fix.
- •Matching is the bottleneckInvoices wait while someone finds the PO.
- •Exceptions are found lateProblems appear at approval or payment, not intake.
- •Invoices sit in personal inboxesNobody can say how many are pending.
Not sure where Invoice processing AI agent fits in your process?
Talk it through with the team. We will map it to your steps and show where a person stays in control.
- Works from a sample of your real items
- Shows what Flo handles and what it hands over
- No commitment to start
Rollout
Rolling it out
- 1One supplier group
Begin with suppliers that send clear PDF invoices against a PO.
- 2Extraction with review
Clerks check every extracted field for a period and record corrections.
- 3Add matching and validation
Enable matches and checks, sending only exceptions to clerks.
- 4Widen sources
Add scanned, portal and non-PO invoices, keeping tolerances under supervisor control.
The numbersMetric 1 Metric 2 Metric 3
How to measure it
Set your own baseline first. We do not publish benchmarks without a source you can check.Exception rate
Exception rate (%) =
invoices routed as exceptionstotal invoices× 100
Tracks how many invoices fall out of the normal path, and why.
Invoice cycle time
Cycle time = approval date - received date, averagedMeasures the time from receipt to approval and shows where invoices wait.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to what people ask most about Invoice processing AI agent.
Book a demoWhat is an invoice processing AI agent?
It is an agent that reads supplier invoices, extracts their data, matches them to vendors and orders, validates them and routes any exceptions. People approve and pay.
How does it handle invoices without a PO?
It detects that no order exists, looks for a contract or prior approval, and routes the invoice to the budget owner or buyer to decide what to do.
Is it the same as OCR?
No. OCR only reads text. The agent also identifies the vendor, matches to orders and contracts, applies checks and decides where the invoice goes next.
Can it pay invoices?
No. It prepares invoices for approval. Approval and payment release stay with authorised people.
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See all 324 AI agent pages →Try Invoice processing AI agent on your own data
Bring a small sample of real items. We will show what Flo handles on its own and where it hands over to your team.
- People approve, sign and pay
- Every action is logged
- Start with a small sample
