The agent prepares; people approve and release. It selects approved invoices due in the run, applies credit notes and holds, checks payee details and duplicates, fits the run to the cash the treasurer allows and drafts a payment proposal with a reason for every line. A named approver signs the proposal, and authorised signatories release the payments at the bank.
What is a payment run, and who owns each part?
A supplier payment run turns approved invoices into payments. Accounts payable selects what is due, nets credit notes, excludes disputed or held invoices and produces a proposal. Someone with authority approves the proposal. Treasury confirms cash. A payment file goes to the bank, and signatories release it.
Ownership is deliberately split. The AP lead owns selection. The financial controller or a delegate approves the proposal. Treasury owns the cash limit. Signatories under the bank mandate own release. An agent can take on almost all of the AP lead's preparation, which is where most of the hours go, while each approval stays with the person who holds it today. The bounds for finance agents are in AI agents for finance.
What are the steps, who acts at each, and what evidence does each leave?
- Agent, depth 1: selects candidates. Approved invoices with due dates in the run window, or earlier where an early payment discount is worth taking. Evidence: the selection criteria and list.
- Agent, depth 1: applies holds and credits. Excludes invoices on dispute hold, suppliers on payment hold, and nets open credit notes against the same supplier. Evidence: each exclusion and netting with its reason.
- Agent, depth 1: checks payees. Bank details unchanged within the cooling period; supplier not newly created within its first-payment wait; account name check result where available. Evidence: the master record version per supplier.
- Agent, depth 1: checks duplicates. Same supplier, amount and reference in this run or recent runs; the same invoice number in different formats. Evidence: duplicate flags.
- Agent, depth 2: fits the run to cash. Within the limit treasury sets for the date, prioritising by due date, discount and supplier criticality under rules the AP lead approves. Evidence: the cash limit and prioritisation version.
- Agent, depth 2: drafts the proposal. Every line with supplier, invoice, amount, due date and why it is in; a summary by supplier and currency; flags first. Evidence: the proposal document.
- Person, approver: reviews and approves. Removes or adds lines with reasons. Evidence: approval with identity and changes.
- Agent, depth 2: builds the payment file. From the approved proposal only, as in preparing bank payment files for release. Evidence: file hash tied to the proposal.
- Person, signatories: release. Evidence: the bank's authorisation record.
| Step | The agent does | Depth | Stays with a person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select | Due and discount-worthy invoices | 1 | Setting the window |
| Holds and credits | Excludes and nets | 1 | Lifting holds |
| Payee checks | Details, cooling period | 1 | Verifying changes |
| Duplicates | Flags across runs | 1 | Deciding flagged lines |
| Cash fit | Prioritises within limit | 2 | Treasury sets limit |
| Proposal | Drafts with reasons | 2 | Approver signs |
| File | Builds from approved proposal | 2 | Nothing |
| Release | Nothing | none | Signatories |
What does a proposal look like in practice?
Take an illustrative weekly run for a distributor. The agent finds 220 approved invoices due, worth 1,400,000. It excludes six on dispute hold and one supplier whose bank details changed four days ago, nets three credit notes, and flags one invoice that matches a payment made last month under a slightly different reference. Treasury's limit for the date is 1,200,000, so the agent defers lower-priority invoices not yet due under the approved rules, listing each one. The approver sees the flags first, removes the suspected duplicate and approves 1,180,000.
Why must the agent never release?
Release sends money that, on most rails, you cannot pull back on your own. It is depth 4. More importantly, a preparer that can also approve or release defeats segregation of duties. The question of whether the same AI agent can prepare and approve a payment has a firm answer: no, and the same holds for release. The agent holds no approval rights in the AP tool and no authorisation rights at the bank.
The approver also needs to be independent of the agent's configuration. A person who sets the agent's prioritisation rules should not be the only approver of the runs it prepares.
Where does it usually go wrong?
Proposals approved unread. The draft is good every week, so the approver signs without looking. Put flags at the top, keep the summary short, and record whether the approver opened the flagged lines.
Holds lifted informally. A supplier calls, someone tells the agent to "include them this week". A hold is lifted only in the system by the person who owns it.
Credit notes ignored. A supplier is paid in full while a credit sits unused. The agent nets credits automatically and lists any it cannot apply.
Out-of-run payments. Urgent one-off payments bypass the run and its checks. Route them through a short run with the same steps.
Supplier queries pile up. Suppliers ask when they will be paid. The proposal gives the answer; answering supplier payment status queries can draw on it once approved.
What should you measure?
- Lines removed by approvers, by reason.
- Duplicates caught before approval.
- Payments recalled after release.
- Early payment discounts taken against those available.
- Late payments to suppliers.
Questions people ask
Can the agent pay a supplier early to take a discount?
It can include the invoice in the proposal with the discount shown. The approver decides.
What happens to lines the approver removes?
They return to the open invoice list with the approver's reason, and the agent considers them again in the next run unless held.
Can the agent tell suppliers they will be paid?
Only after the proposal is approved, and only what the approved proposal says. Whether an agent can answer supplier payment queries in general depends on that rule.