Jobs AI can do / Purchasing
Matching supplier invoices, without checking every line.
AI can check each supplier invoice against its purchase order and receiving record, so your accounts payable team only handles the invoices that don't match. At 1,000 invoices a month, that is worth about $28,000 a year in AP time at the low end of published figures. Below about 600 invoices a month, a custom build usually doesn't pay for itself in a year, and a packaged AP tool is the better choice.
Why it's hard
What's actually in the way.
Most companies think the problem is finding the right AP software.
The real problem is that the invoice, the PO and the receiving record often don't agree on their own. Supplier names are spelled three ways, part numbers lose their leading zeros, and units don't match. That is normal, and it is why AP checks every line by hand.
So before anyone builds or buys, we check whether your records line up well enough to match. If they don't, you learn what to fix first.
Today
How it's done by hand.
An AP clerk opens each invoice, finds its PO, checks the receiving record, and compares price and quantity against your tolerances. Then they approve it or chase the supplier. A typical AP employee handles about 12,000 invoices a year, which is about 10 minutes each.
With AI
What the workflow does, and where a person decides.
- Reads each invoicePulls the PO number, quantity, unit price and total from the PDF or email, with a confidence score for each field. Anything unsure goes to a person.
- Matches itChecks the invoice against the PO and the receiving record in your ERP, using your own tolerances, such as price within 2% and quantity exact.
- Sorts itEvery invoice lands in one group: matched, price exception, quantity exception, no receipt, no PO, or possible duplicate.
- A person approvesMatched invoices go into an import file that a person approves before anything is loaded. Exceptions go to a queue with the reason and a suggested next step.
The math
What it's worth, at the low end.
| Input | Value | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier invoices a monthExample company | 1,000 | Example company |
| Minutes per invoice, arrival to approvedAPQC: a median of 12,000 invoices a year per AP employee | 10 min | APQC: a median of 12,000 invoices a year per AP employee |
| Cost of an hour of AP time, with benefitsBLS bookkeeping and AP clerk median pay, $24.36 an hour (May 2025), with benefits | $35 | BLS bookkeeping and AP clerk median pay, $24.36 an hour (May 2025), with benefits |
| Share of invoices that match on their ownLow end. Ardent Partners 2025: 32.6% of invoices touchless on average, 49.2% for the best | 40% | Low end. Ardent Partners 2025: 32.6% of invoices touchless on average, 49.2% for the best |
| Worth each yearPays for itself in about 8.5 months | $28,000 a year | Pays for itself in about 8.5 months |
Payback counts the full cost of the build. Duplicate payments and overbilling caught are left out, so the real number may be higher. Your own numbers will differ. Move the sliders for this job to see yours.
When it doesn't pay
When we'd tell you not to build it.
The Scan
What we'd need from you.
The Rapid Scan tests this job on exports from your systems. We never connect to them. You get a verdict and a payback number within 10 business days of getting your data. It costs $5,000, credited toward the build.
- 3 months of PO lines and receipts
- Your invoice register or AP voucher export
- 100 to 200 invoice PDFs from one month
- Your supplier list
- Your written tolerances and any exception log
Questions
What people ask us.
Will it pay suppliers or change our ERP?
No. It reads your data and prepares an import file. A person approves before anything is loaded, and its account can't write to your ERP.
What about invoices with no PO?
They go to their own queue for a person. The workflow saves time on the invoices that can be matched.
Does this mean we cut AP staff?
Usually not. The time saved is real, but it turns into cash only if you avoid a hire or move people to other work. We show it as hours, not as layoffs.
How do we know it's accurate?
The Scan checks it on 30 of your invoices from at least 10 suppliers. Before go-live it runs next to your AP team for 2 weeks and has to reach the agreement rate you set.
See your own number. A 30-minute call goes through your volume and how your team does this today. If it doesn't fit, we say so.
Sources
- APQC Open Standards Benchmarking, accounts payable
- Ardent Partners, State of ePayables 2025
- BLS Occupational Outlook: bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks
- BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026: wages are 66.9% of total pay in manufacturing