Accounts payable automation
Supplier invoices are keyed into our ERP by hand across several entities. Can AI do it reliably?
Last updated
Yes, AI can key supplier invoices into an ERP reliably across several entities when every invoice passes rule checks before it posts. AI reads PDF and emailed invoices, identifies the supplier and the entity billed, matches lines to purchase orders and receipts, checks GST and ABN details and suggests coding. Invoices that fail a check go to an AP officer with the reason, and a person approves before posting.
Who this is for
AP leads, financial controllers and finance systems leads in groups running Business Central, NetSuite, Pronto Xi, SAP S/4HANA or SAP Business One, or Xero and MYOB across several organisations. Invoices arrive in a shared AP mailbox as PDFs, scans and email bodies, staff retype them entity by entity, and approval backlogs pile up at month end.
Solve8 delivers this in fixed-fee phases: discovery on one AP queue at one site with a measured baseline, a shadow pilot on live invoices where your team sets the accuracy bar, a build into your ERP on your infrastructure in Australia, then support or handover. Workshops run on site and builds run remotely under your access controls.
How AI invoice processing works
Capture
Invoices go to one internal AP mailbox and are stored with the email and sender. Duplicates are caught by supplier, invoice number and amount.
Read
AI extracts supplier, ABN, invoice number, dates, PO reference, lines, GST and totals from any layout, including scans.
Identify supplier and entity
The supplier is matched to the vendor master by ABN and history. The billed entity is read from the bill-to name and ABN, so a ten-company group posts to the right one.
Match and code
PO invoices are matched to orders and receipts. Non-PO invoices get GL account, cost centre and tax code suggestions from that supplier's past postings.
Route
Clean invoices go to the approver your delegation rules name. Anything that fails a check goes to an AP officer with the reason and the source document side by side.
Post
Approved invoices are written to the ERP through its API as purchase invoices or bills, with the PDF attached and a log of who approved what.
Two-way and three-way matching
| Check | What is compared | Typical exception sent to a person |
|---|---|---|
| Two-way match | Invoice price and quantity against the purchase order | Price above the agreed tolerance or an unordered line |
| Three-way match | Invoice against the purchase order and the goods receipt | Billed before receipt, or billed quantity above received quantity |
| Non-PO invoice | Coding and approver against supplier history and cost centre owners | New supplier, unusual amount or no clear cost centre |
| Credit note | Credit against the original invoice it reverses | No matching invoice or a partial credit |
| Duplicate | Supplier, invoice number, date and amount against open and paid invoices | Same invoice sent by email and post, or resent with a new number |
GST, ABN and entity checks
Tax invoice fields
business.gov.au lists what a tax invoice must show: the words tax invoice, the seller's name and ABN, the issue date, what was sold with quantity and price, and GST payable. For sales of 1,000 dollars or more it must also show the buyer's identity or ABN. Missing fields are flagged before GST is claimed.
ABN against the vendor master
The ABN on the invoice must match the supplier record. A mismatch can mean a wrong supplier match or a fraud attempt, so it always goes to a person.
Right entity, right GST
An invoice addressed to one company but sent to the group mailbox is flagged if the buyer ABN does not match the entity it is about to post to.
AP inbox fraud checks
Bank details never change from an invoice
Bank details on each invoice are compared with the vendor master. Any difference stops the invoice and alerts AP. The AI cannot edit supplier bank details.
Callback on stored contacts
Scamwatch advises confirming changed payee details by phone on a number sourced independently, never from the email. The exception screen shows the stored contact for that callback.
Lookalike senders
Sender domains are compared with the supplier's known domains, catching an extra letter or swapped character.
Two people for master data
Changes to supplier bank details need a second approver, and the first payment to new details can be held until confirmed.
Posting into your ERP
| System | How approved invoices land |
|---|---|
| Business Central | Purchase invoices through the API, or Microsoft's Payables Agent where it fits (see below) |
| NetSuite | Vendor bills per subsidiary through NetSuite web services |
| Pronto Xi | Supplier invoices through Pronto's API integration platform, agreed with your Pronto partner |
| SAP S/4HANA and Business One | Supplier invoices through SAP's standard APIs, parked for approval where your process requires |
| Xero and MYOB, multi-entity | Draft bills in each organisation or company file through the accounting API |
Measuring accuracy in a shadow pilot
Baseline first
Count invoices per week by entity, minutes per invoice, exception rate and late payment or duplicate incidents.
Run alongside AP
For several weeks the AI processes the same invoices your team keys, without posting. Supplier, entity, totals, GST, PO match and coding are compared field by field.
You set the bar
Finance decides the accuracy needed per field before go-live. Suppliers or invoice types that miss it stay manual until they pass.
AP automation software or a build around your ERP
| Situation | AP automation software product | Built around your ERP |
|---|---|---|
| One ERP with a certified connector | Usually enough | Rarely needed |
| Mostly PO-backed invoices, standard approvals | Usually enough | Not needed |
| Entities on different ERPs, or Pronto Xi with custom fields | Connector gaps are common | Good fit |
| Rules from contracts, rebates, freight or job costing | Limited to product settings | Good fit |
| Invoices and logs must stay in your environment | Depends on the vendor's hosting | Runs on your infrastructure in Australia |
When a product or your ERP's agent is enough
Buy AP automation software when one ERP is supported out of the box and invoices are mostly PO-backed. On Business Central, test Microsoft's Payables Agent first. Microsoft documents that it reads PDF invoices from a monitored mailbox, identifies the vendor, proposes PO line matches and creates unposted purchase invoices for review. Its listed limits include no approval flows or anomaly detection, PDF only, and caps of 100 emails and 500 invoices a day, billed in Copilot Credits.
Related work
Purchase orders into the ERPCustomer POs read from email and PDF, checked and written back.
Freight invoice matchingCarrier invoices checked against consignments and rate cards.
Multi-entity month-end closeIntercompany matching and one group report across Xero, MYOB and Business Central.
Process automationLess retyping and chasing between systems, with a person approving exceptions.
Sources
Microsoft Learn, Payables Agent overview in Business Central: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-au/Dynamics365/business-central/payables-agent
business.gov.au, Invoicing: https://business.gov.au/finance/payments-and-invoicing/invoicing
Scamwatch, Business email compromise scams: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/business-email-compromise-scams
Questions
Can AI process supplier invoices without anyone checking them?
For a narrow set it can come close: known suppliers, PO-backed, fully received, within tolerance. Most finance teams still keep a person approving every invoice before posting and let the AI do the reading, matching and coding. Straight-through posting should only be switched on for suppliers whose accuracy has been proven in a shadow pilot.
Our capture tool reads headers but not line items. Is three-way matching possible?
Yes, if extraction reads every line and receipts are available from the ERP. Where suppliers summarise lines, the match runs at PO total with a tolerance and any difference goes to a person.
What happens to invoices sent to the wrong entity or with no PO?
Wrong-entity invoices are flagged when the buyer name or ABN does not match the company they would post to, and AP reassigns or returns them. Non-PO invoices get coding suggested from supplier history and go to the cost centre owner your delegation rules name.
Will AI catch fake invoices and bank detail changes?
It can catch the signals: bank details that differ from the vendor master, a new or lookalike sender domain, an unknown supplier ABN or an unusual amount. It should never accept a change. A person confirms any change by calling a stored number, and a second person approves the vendor master edit.
Who can automate supplier invoices into our ERP in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane?
Your ERP partner can switch on native features such as the Business Central Payables Agent, and AP software vendors suit a single supported ERP. For several ERPs, Pronto Xi or rules a product cannot hold, an AI and integration consultancy builds the layer. Solve8 does this across Australia and New Zealand, with workshops on site.
Related
- Customers email us PDF purchase orders and staff retype them into the ERP. Can AI do this reliably?How AI reads emailed PDF purchase orders, checks them against customer, item and price data, routes exceptions to a person, and writes orders to your ERP.
- We pay several carriers and suspect fuel levy and cubic weight overcharges, but nobody checks freight invoices against consignments. How do we automate it?Check each carrier invoice against consignments, recalculate cubic weight and fuel levies from each contract, and send only real discrepancies to a person.
- We run several entities across Xero, MYOB and Business Central. How do we close month-end faster and get one group report?How groups on Xero, MYOB and Business Central close month-end faster: intercompany matching, one consolidation and AI drafts an accountant checks.
- Process automationLess retyping, chasing and manual checks.
Keying supplier invoices across several entities?
A 30-minute review with a senior consultant. You leave with a written one-page summary you can share internally.
Fixed-fee phases, agreed before we start. Stop after any phase.