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Procure-to-Pay

From purchase need to supplier payment

AI agents prepare purchase requests and purchase orders, then check each supplier invoice against the order and the receipt. The operator, a person on your team, approves spending above the amount you set, chooses suppliers and makes the payments.

What the purchasing cycle covers

The cycle starts when someone in the business needs to buy something. It ends when the supplier is paid. It covers the purchase request and its approval, comparing suppliers, the purchase order, delivery follow-up, receiving, matching the invoice against the order and the receipt, then preparing payments.

In the fictional examples below, a 40-person machine shop in the Beauce region buys steel, tooling, supplies and surface treatment services from regular suppliers. Nadia, in purchasing, is the operator. She receives the agents’ questions, approves their work and decides what goes out. The suppliers play the end customer, the outside person who writes to the company: Sophie for work gloves, Luc for steel.

The first example follows a work glove order triggered when the stock drops below its threshold. In the usual case, it goes from the stock alert to an invoice ready to pay without Nadia stepping in. The step-by-step walkthrough then covers a larger purchase of steel plates, from a foreman’s request to paying the supplier. There, Nadia approves the request, chooses the supplier and settles discrepancies.

Who does what

A glove order, from low stock to an invoice ready to pay, with no step for Nadia in the usual case

When the glove stock drops below its threshold, the inventory software notifies the instance with a signed webhook. The purchasing agent prepares the purchase order at the usual supplier’s price and, below the amount the company has set, a function sends it. Nadia, the operator, only gets a question if the order goes over that amount or the invoice doesn’t match.

No operator step in the usual case

  1. Step 1 of 5: The software reports 18 boxes, below the threshold of 20. Who acts: Inventory software, External system
  2. Step 2 of 5: The agent prepares the order at the usual supplier’s price. Who acts: Agents
    • Exception. Only above the set amount: a question to Nadia. Who acts: Nadia, purchasing, Operator
  3. Step 3 of 5: A function sends the purchase order to Sophie. Who acts: Agents
  4. Step 4 of 5: Sophie delivers and emails her invoice. Who acts: Sophie, at the supplier, End customer
  5. Step 5 of 5: A function checks the invoice and queues it for payment. Who acts: Agents
Nadia, Sophie and the shop are fictional. The order goes out through a sending function set up with you at installation, without confirmation because the company set it up that way for small amounts, and no agent makes payments.

  • Inventory software, External system

    Outside the mark,Sends an event

    The software where the shop keeps its stock sends a signed webhook to the instance when an item drops below its threshold. Without that signal, a schedule can start the agent every morning to check stock levels.

    • Work gloves: 18 boxes, threshold of 20

  • Agents

    Below the line,Works

    The purchasing agent reads the Items collection, prepares the purchase order, then reads the supplier’s invoice. Two functions, fixed code set up at installation, send the order and check the invoice against it, with no token cost. Every run leaves a log and a verdict.

    • Purchasing agent
    • Sending and matching functions

  • Sophie, at the supplier, End customer

    Outside the mark,Writes in and confirms their own request

    Sophie works at the shop’s usual glove supplier. She gets the purchase order by email, delivers, then sends her invoice as usual to the shop’s invoice address.

    • Gets the purchase order by email
    • Emails her invoice

  • Nadia, purchasing, Operator

    Above the line,Decides

    Nadia is only asked about exceptions: an order over the set amount or an invoice that doesn’t match. She answers the agent’s question from the email she receives, without logging in. Every Thursday, she reviews the payment list and makes the payments herself.

    • Answers from an email
    • Approves an order over the set amount

Demo

The glove order played step by step, in the usual case and then with an exception

The usual case runs from the stock alert to the last verdict without Nadia stepping in. In the exception, the same order goes over the set amount, and the agent stops to email Nadia a question. Each step’s button moves the example to the next one.

Who acts in this example

  • End customer Outside the mark: writes in and confirms their own request
  • Operator Above the line: decides
  • Agents Below the line: works
  • Belowdecks team Behind the scenes: sets up and monitors

Glove stock runs low, then the order goes to Sophie and her invoice is queued for payment

Procure-to-Pay at the shop. The purchasing agent does two runs, one on the stock alert and one on the invoice. No step waits for Nadia, because the company set up routine orders that way.

Belowdecks · Usual case

Example

Email

Sophie, at the supplier, End customer End customer
Sophie, at the supplier, End customer

Sophie writes here, by email.

Below the line

Agents Agents Now

  1. Tuesday, 10:42 a.m. The inventory software sends a signed webhook: work gloves are down to 18 boxes, below their threshold of 20, and the purchasing agent starts

Step 1 of 8 Tuesday, 10:42 a.m.

Fictional people and company. Purchase orders go out through a sending function set up with you at installation, and the webhook requires inventory software that can send one. Every run leaves a log and a verdict.

Step by step

A steel purchase, from request to payment

For each step: what triggers it, who acts (Nadia, one of the agents, Luc or a function) and what gets recorded.

Legend

End customer
Someone outside the company: customer, supplier or candidate
Operator
A person on your team confirms, answers or decides
Agent
An AI agent on your instance does the work
Function
Fixed code, no model cost

  1. Step 1 of 8: Nadia approves the purchase request

    Trigger: Team space conversation

    Who acts: Operator

    A foreman writes in the team space that he needs 40 steel plates for next week. The team space agent asks him for what’s missing (thickness, use, date needed) and lays the request out on a card. The Purchases collection is set up so the card goes to Nadia by email. She checks the quantity and date, then approves from the email, without logging in.

    Recorded or delivered: Request added to the Purchases collection

  2. Step 2 of 8: Comparison and purchase order

    Trigger: New request in the collection

    Who acts: Agent

    The new request puts the purchasing agent to work. It looks up prices and lead times from past purchases in the collection, along with quotes received from suppliers, then prepares a comparison and a draft purchase order. Since the amount is above what the company set for routine purchases, the order waits for Nadia’s answer.

    Recorded or delivered: Comparison and draft purchase order

  3. Step 3 of 8: Nadia chooses the supplier

    Trigger: Agent question

    Who acts: Operator

    The purchasing agent puts the question to Nadia with two options: Luc’s company, at the price of the last order, or another supplier that delivers two days sooner. Nadia answers from the email or in the instance. The agent finishes the purchase order and sends it to Luc through the sending function.

    Recorded or delivered: Purchase order sent to Luc

  4. Step 4 of 8: Luc confirms delivery

    Trigger: Email from Luc

    Who acts: End customer

    Luc replies by email with the delivery date. The email puts the purchasing agent to work. It reads the reply, finds the record and enters the expected date. A delay notice Luc sends later updates the date the same way.

    Recorded or delivered: Delivery date on the record

  5. Step 5 of 8: Receiving the goods

    Trigger: Photo of the packing slip

    Who acts: Operator

    When the steel arrives, the storekeeper attaches a photo of the packing slip in a team space conversation. The agent reads the quantities received and lays them out on a card, which goes to Nadia like the purchase request. Nadia confirms it, and any difference from the purchase order is noted on the record.

    Recorded or delivered: Receipt noted on the record

  6. Step 6 of 8: Invoice matching

    Trigger: Email received: supplier invoice

    Who acts: Function

    Luc sends the invoice by email. The purchasing agent opens it and picks out the lines, then a function compares it line by line with the purchase order and the receipt: quantities, unit prices, taxes. This check is code, with no token cost. An invoice that matches is marked ready to pay.

    Recorded or delivered: Invoice matched, ready to pay

  7. Step 7 of 8: Nadia settles the discrepancy

    Trigger: Agent question

    Who acts: Operator

    Luc’s invoice shows 48 plates; the purchase order called for 40. The agent puts the question to Nadia with three choices: record 40 plates and flag the difference, put the invoice on hold, or record 48 plates. It applies her answer and drafts the email to Luc, which Nadia reviews and sends.

    Recorded or delivered: Discrepancy settled, email to Luc sent by Nadia

  8. Step 8 of 8: Preparing payments

    Trigger: Every Thursday

    Who acts: Agent

    The purchasing agent lists the invoices ready to pay that are coming due, with the early-payment discounts in each supplier’s terms. Nadia reviews the list and makes the payments in your accounting software or online banking.

    Recorded or delivered: This week’s payment list

What you see

Every purchase, from request to invoice

Records are available in the team space, and each member group gets its own rights there.

One record per purchase

The request, approval, purchase order, receipt and invoice sit on the same record in the Purchases collection.

Rights by group

Each member group gets its rights in the project: talk with the agents, read or edit records, answer agents’ questions.

The questions inbox

Quantity and price discrepancies wait for the operator in one place, with their answer options. The operator replies from the instance or straight from the email, without logging in.

Verdicts and the monthly report

Every run keeps its log, and the agent closes it with a verdict: Delivered, Partial or Blocked. On the 1st of the month, an email gives each agent’s run count, verdicts and cost.

Who decides what in the purchasing cycle

Approving spending, choosing a supplier and paying are up to Nadia, the operator. Agents prepare comparisons, purchase orders, invoice matching and the payment list. In this cycle as set up here, an order for a routine item, from the usual supplier and below the amount the company has set, goes out without waiting for Nadia, through a sending function set up at installation. Above that amount, the agent asks her and waits for her answer. Nadia makes payments herself in her accounting software or bank, and no agent has access to payments.

Luc and Sophie, who play the end customer, write by email as usual. When an invoice doesn’t match the order, the agent asks Nadia and waits for her answer before recording it. Reading stock, suppliers and purchase orders from your software requires a connection to that software, through its API or an MCP server, which the Belowdecks team sets up with you. If your inventory software can’t send the low-stock webhook, a schedule can start the agent every morning.

Common questions about purchasing and supplier invoices

Where is our purchasing and pricing data stored?

In the collections of your dedicated instance, a server reserved for your business. To read an invoice or prepare a comparison, agents send its content to the AI model provider, Anthropic, through your own account. Notices for your team go out by email, and technical error reports reach the Belowdecks team. Nothing passes from one Belowdecks instance to another.

Do we have to change our accounting software?

You keep your software. Your accounting or purchasing software connects through its API or an MCP server, configured during setup, and agents read suppliers, prices and purchase orders there. Without that connection, records stay in your instance’s collections and your team enters approved invoices in its software.

What does the agent do with an unreadable invoice or an unexpected case?

Email attachments are saved on your instance, and the agent opens each invoice with its tools to pick out the lines. When an invoice is unreadable, or a case falls outside its instructions (an unknown supplier, an item missing from the purchase order, unplanned freight charges), it puts its question to the operator. The operator answers from the instance or the email, and the agent picks up where it left off.

How long does it take to set up this cycle?

It depends on how many suppliers you have, their invoice formats and which software needs connecting. The diagnostic answers that question for your business, then the Belowdecks team sets the cycle up with you and monitors the instance. A cycle can start with a single step, such as matching emailed invoices against purchase orders, then extend to purchase requests and payments.

Let’s look at your purchasing and supplier invoices

The diagnostic finds the steps in this cycle that suit agents and the one to start with.

Request a diagnosticSee the five cycles