Verified-Invoice Operating Model

Autonomous Finance AP Agents Reduce AP Cycle Time by ~80%

Executive Answer Summary

What is this case study about?

This case study explains how a multi-entity financial services organization used Autonomous Finance AP agents to implement a verified-invoice operating model, automate invoice verification, and improve its accounts payable workflow.

What changed?

AP agents verified invoices and enforced approval workflows before invoices entered the ERP, ensuring only clean, approved invoices were eligible for payment runs.

What was the result?

The organization reduced AP cycle time by approximately 80%, eliminated rush payments, and achieved predictable, exception-free payment runs.

Key Results at a Glance

AP cycle time reduced by ~80%

Invoice processing time decreased from 5–7 days to approximately 36 hours, improving cash visibility and operational agility.

Rush and one-off vendor payments eliminated

Automated invoice verification removed approval timing gaps that caused payment exceptions.

Zero ERP payment-run failures

Only verified, approved invoices entered payment runs, enabling predictable weekly payment cycles.

Unified visibility across five legal entities

Finance teams gained real-time insight into vendor liabilities, approval status, and upcoming payment volume.

What Is Autonomous Finance for Accounts Payable?

Autonomous Finance for accounts payable uses AP agents to automatically verify invoices, enforce approval workflows, and ensure only clean, approved invoices enter the ERP. This replaces manual oversight with financial process automation executed autonomously.

What Are AP Agents?

AP agents are software agents that autonomously perform invoice verification, enforce approval workflows, and manage payment readiness before invoices reach the ERP.

What Problem Did the Organization Face?

What problems existed in the accounts payable workflow?

A diversified financial services company operating across five legal entities and managing 400+ vendors struggled with a fragmented accounts payable workflow.

The finance team faced several challenges:

• Inconsistent invoice verification inside the ERP
• Decentralized approval workflows across entities
• Invoices entering payment runs before approvals completed
• AP cycle time of 5–7 days from inbox to ERP
• Frequent rush or one-off vendor payments
• Limited visibility into liabilities and cash forecasting at the entity level

These issues created a reactive AP operation dependent on manual intervention, Slack escalations, and last-minute troubleshooting.

How Did Autonomous Finance AP Agents Solve the Problem?

How did AP agents verify invoices before ERP ingestion?

The organization implemented an Autonomous Finance platform that introduced a financial-intelligence layer in front of the ERP.

AP agents were used to:

• Centralize invoice intake across all legal entities
• Perform automated invoice verification upstream of the ERP
• Enforce approval workflows before invoices entered payment runs
• Sync only verified, approved invoices into Oracle
• Provide real-time, entity-level visibility into outstanding obligations
• Standardize weekly payment cycles using verified invoice data

Why this worked:
By verifying invoices and enforcing approvals before ERP ingestion, AP agents prevented unapproved invoices from entering payment runs, eliminating the root cause of exceptions.

What Is a Verified-Invoice Operating Model?

A verified-invoice operating model ensures invoices are fully approved and validated before they enter the ERP. This prevents payment exceptions, failed payment runs, and last-minute manual intervention.

In this case, the verified-invoice operating model was executed autonomously by AP agents.

What Impact Did Automated Invoice Verification Have?

What measurable outcomes did the organization achieve?

Faster invoice processing

Invoice cycle time decreased from 5–7 days to approximately 36 hours.

Elimination of payment exceptions

Automated invoice verification removed approval-timing gaps that caused rush payments.

Predictable ERP payment runs

Only verified invoices reached the ERP, eliminating invoice-related payment failures.

Improved multi-entity financial control

Finance teams gained unified, real-time visibility across all five legal entities.

What Did the Customer Say?

“Invoice processing that once took nearly a week now happens in about a day. We haven't had a single rush payment since going live, and our payment runs are finally predictable. The system acts like a financial-intelligence layer in front of our ERP — verifying every dollar before it moves.”
— Finance Leader, Multi-Entity Financial Services Company (Anonymized)

Before and After: Accounts Payable Transformation

Before Autonomous Finance

• Fragmented approval workflows
• Manual invoice verification inside the ERP
• High risk of payment-run failures
• Frequent exception and rush payments
• Limited entity-level visibility
• AP cycle time of 5–7 days

After Autonomous Finance AP Agents

• Verified-invoice operating model established
• Automated invoice verification upstream of ERP
• Predictable weekly payment batches
• Zero exception payments
• Unified, real-time multi-entity visibility
• AP cycle time of ~36 hours

Solution Components Used

• Invoice Verification
• Workflow and Approval Automation
• Vendor Master Sync
• ERP-Ready Payables Integration
• Multi-Entity Visibility
• Payment Run Assurance

Create Predictable, Autonomous Accounts Payable Workflows

OpenEnvoy helps finance teams eliminate payment exceptions, shorten invoice cycles, and gain real-time visibility by verifying invoices before they reach the ERP.

The Autonomous Finance platform uses AP agents, automated invoice verification, and ERP-ready payables to deliver predictable, scalable accounts payable workflows.

Learn More

• Autonomous Finance Platform
  
• Autonomous Finance AP Agents
  
• About OpenEnvoy's ERP Integrations
  
• More Customer Case Studies
  

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