Automation and Operations
Which processes to automate first: a simple scoring method
Score each process on hours, clarity, data readiness and risk, check payback, then automate the top one or two. Worked example and pass/fail test.
Payables & Receivables
AI Accounts Payable Agent for Xero
Bills in Xero approved against your limits and checked against bank transactions before any payment run is proposed.
Xero makes bills easy to enter, but approval still happens by email while bills sit in draft. Meanwhile a bill settled by card or direct debit can slip into the next payment run. This agent moves each supplier bill through matching and approval in your Xero organization, checks your bank transactions so nothing is paid twice, and prepares a run for a person to release.
- Draft bills routed to the right approver, no chasing by email
- Bank transactions checked so settled bills never get paid again
- Unknown suppliers held for a person instead of added automatically
$9,700
20–30 working days
Optional maintenance $485/mo
What it is
AI Accounts Payable Agent for Xero moves supplier bills through intake, matching and approval in your Xero organization. It reads and updates bills and contacts, checks bank transactions so nothing already paid slips into a run, and sends each bill to the approver your rules name. A person releases payment. Every approval is recorded in a clear trail.
Why businesses buy it
Bills waiting in Xero drafts slow down your suppliers and your own month end. When approvals happen outside Xero, nobody has a clean record, and paying a bill twice is a real risk once card payments and direct debits are in the mix. After this build, every bill is approved inside your rules and checked against the bank feed before a run is proposed. You still release every payment. The Scope Card lists the workflows, mapping and limits before you buy, so your advisor can review the setup up front.
Problems this solves
Supplier bills already paid from the bank slip into a Xero payment run
The agent checks bank transactions in Xero before a bill joins a run. Anything already paid is held, so a supplier is not paid twice for one invoice.
Nobody is sure who should approve which bill
Bills are sent to the approver your rules name, based on amount, supplier or category. Every approval is recorded in a clear trail in Xero.
Bills move through intake and matching with too many manual steps
The agent reads and updates bills and contacts in your Xero organization, moving each through intake, matching and approval. A person releases payment at the end.
A good fit if
Your bookkeeping runs in Xero, but bills sit in draft while someone chases approval by email.
Your bank feed comes into Xero, and you want each payment run checked against it so a bill settled another way is not paid again.
You want invoices from suppliers who are not yet Xero contacts held for a person, rather than added automatically.
Your Xero admin can approve an OAuth app and give 30 minutes to agree the field mapping.
Not the right fit if
You want invoices captured and coded into Xero bills, while approvals and payments stay manual. See AI Invoice Intelligence for Xero.
Chasing customers for money owed to you is the bigger job. See AI Accounts Receivable Agent for Xero.
Your ledger is in QuickBooks Online. See AI Accounts Payable Agent for QuickBooks.
You want invoice capture, payables, receivables and expense checks bought together. See the AI Finance Ops Stack bundle, which includes the core AI Accounts Payable Agent.
How it works
- Your Xero admin approves an OAuth app, and the bill, contact and bank transaction fields the agent may use are written into a mapping your admin signs off.
- Supplier invoices arrive through one channel. Each is matched to a Xero contact and compared with open bills, so a repeat invoice or an unknown supplier stops for review.
- The bill is routed by your approval rules, which can vary by amount, supplier or account. The approver's decision is written back to the bill in Xero.
- Before a run is proposed, bank transactions in Xero are read. A bill that already shows a matching payment is pulled out and flagged instead of paid again.
- Approved, unpaid bills become a proposed payment run sorted by due date. A named person releases it, and nothing moves without that release.
What you provide within 72 hours
Your portal lists these the moment you order. Delivery starts the working day after everything is in and your access is checked.
- A Xero OAuth app approved by your Xero admin.
- Thirty minutes with that admin to agree the field mapping.
- Your chart of accounts, approval limits by amount or supplier, and how often you pay.
- Around ten real supplier invoices or payables emails to test matching against.
- Names of approvers, and of whoever releases payment runs.
- Access to one additional system if purchase orders or receipts live outside Xero.
- A single decision-maker for sign-off.
- An API key for your own AI model account (for example OpenAI or Google Gemini), created for this build with a spending limit.
The 72-hour rule. Send everything on your checklist, including access, within 72 hours of ordering so your build starts on time.
Timeline
Start
Intake verified, Xero app approved, rules written down.
Weeks 1–2
Bill intake, contact matching and approval paths built.
Week 3
Xero bills, contacts and bank transaction checks connected.
Weeks 3–4
Fifty documented scenarios run on Xero test data.
Week 4
Review with you, then two rounds of changes.
Go-live
Live in your Xero organization, handover report sent, support begins.
| Option | Delivery time | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 20–30 working days | $9,700 |
| Express | 15–25 working days | $11,150 |
| Rush | 10–20 working days | $12,600 |
What you receive at handover
- The payables agent working in your Xero organization, from intake to a run ready for release
- Xero connection plus one more system, with a documented field mapping
- Approval rules for up to six workflows, with a recorded approval trail
- Access set up through user invites or keys you control
- Test report covering 50 scenarios on sandbox or test records
- Admin guide, written handover report and 30 days of support
Expected benefits and how to measure them
- Can help stop already-paid bills being paid again.
- Makes it clear who approved each bill and when.
- Double payments
- Count supplier credits or refunds for duplicate payments in Xero, a quarter before launch and a quarter after.
- Time to approve a bill
- Compare time from bill entry to approval for a sample of bills, before and after launch.
- Bills paid late
- Use Xero's aged payables report to count overdue bills at each month-end.
Before you start: Run Xero's aged payables report and note overdue bills. Record any duplicate payments from the last quarter.
These are things to track, not promised results. Outcomes depend on your data, your team and your market.
Running costs
You pay for the build once. Afterwards, AI model usage and hosting run roughly $50 to $250 a month in your own accounts, and your Xero subscription carries on unchanged, since licenses and plan upgrades are outside this build.
The agent applies your rules; it does not give regulated financial, tax or investment advice.
Ask about running costsCustom requirements
If you need custom Xero objects, more than six workflows, or approvals across several Xero organizations, add a checkout note. A written Change Quote follows.
Request a custom versionKeep it running
We recommend monthly maintenance, with monitoring, fixes and a monthly allowance of change hours, for example a new approver or a changed payment cadence.
$485/mo (5% of the build price a month, includes 4 change hours)
Optional. Starts after the post-launch support period. Cancel any month.
How maintenance worksHow this compares
| Do it yourself with a SaaS tool | Hire a custom agency | Upmark Labs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | An AP add-on for Xero charges a monthly fee that grows with bill volume | An outsourced bookkeeper bills for hours spent | Ours is one fixed price, shown before you buy |
| Paid-twice check | Often relies on you reconciling first | Depends on the bookkeeper's process | Ours reads Xero bank transactions before each run |
| Approvals | Handled in the add-on's own app | Agreed by email | Ours writes each decision back to the bill in Xero |
| Delivery | Connects in a day, but you configure the rules | Set per engagement | Ours has a fixed delivery time shown before you buy, with faster options |
Questions about this product
Why does the Xero payables agent read bank transactions?
To stop a bill being paid twice. Before a payment run is proposed, it checks Xero bank transactions for a payment that already matches the bill, for example one settled by card or outside the usual run. A match pulls the bill out of the run and flags it for your reviewer.
Will AI Accounts Payable Agent for Xero add new suppliers as contacts?
Only if your rules allow it. By default, an invoice from a supplier that is not already a Xero contact is held for a person to check. Your rules can let it create contacts in defined cases, and the field mapping limits which contact details it may change at all.
Can approvals differ by supplier or account in Xero?
Yes. Approval rules can use amount, supplier and account, so a regular utility bill might need one sign-off while a new contractor above a set amount needs two. Up to six workflows are included, and each one records its decision on the bill in Xero, which leaves a clear trail.
What Xero access does the payables edition need?
A Xero OAuth app approved by an admin of your Xero organization, who also signs off the written field mapping. Credentials are never sent by email. Testing runs on test data before the agent works on any live bill in your organization.
What starts the clock on the Xero payables build?
The clock starts once the Xero app is approved and your approval rules are confirmed, and both should be in within 72 hours of ordering. The delivery panel on this page shows the standard date plus faster options before you buy. Your Xero admin usually approves the written field mapping in one round, with any questions answered by email.
Does the Xero edition release supplier payments on its own?
No. It assembles a proposed payment run from approved, unpaid bills, sorted by due date, and a named person must release it. Until that happens, nothing is paid. The release stays a deliberate step for your team, whatever the amount or supplier involved.
Guides on this topic
All guides Stop bills waiting in Xero drafts for someone to chase.
Order AI Accounts Payable Agent for Xero and bills are routed by your limits, checked against bank transactions and lined up as payment runs for a person to release, on a fixed delivery date.
Works well with
Payables & Receivables
AI Accounts Receivable Agent
Tracks receivables, sends reminders and reconciles payments.
