Use case · Finance Agent
AI invoice automation — from issue to reconciliation
An AI finance agent handles the full invoice lifecycle without a human in the loop: it drafts invoices from deal or timesheet data, selects the right e-invoice format (XRechnung, ZUGFeRD, Peppol or EN 16931), sends them, escalates dunning at day 3, 14, 28 and 42 if unpaid, matches incoming bank transfers against open invoices, and writes every step to an immutable GoBD-compliant audit log. A 10-person company typically saves 15–25 hours of bookkeeping time per month.
Why manual invoicing is expensive
The cost of invoicing is not the invoice — it is everything around it.
How the Finance agent handles it — 5 steps
Every invoice flows through the same loop, regardless of whether it is a recurring SaaS renewal or a one-off consulting engagement.
- 01
Trigger
Deal closed in CRM, timesheet submitted, subscription renewal due, or direct command: "Send renewal to Acme, €12,400".
- 02
Draft
Finance agent pulls customer tax data, applies pricing rules and tax codes, and drafts the invoice in the correct format (XRechnung for B2G, ZUGFeRD for B2B, EN 16931 for cross-border EU).
- 03
Approve
Above your threshold (default: €1,000), the agent routes to a human for one-click approval. Below, it sends automatically.
- 04
Send
Mail agent sends the invoice with a polite cover note. Delivery tracked; receipt confirmation stored.
- 05
Reconcile
Daily, the agent checks bank statements via OAuth against open invoices. Match confidence above 90% → marked paid. Below → queued for review.
E-invoice formats supported
Correct format selection is no longer optional. Germany's B2B e-invoice mandate enters force in 2026–2027; Austria already mandates XRechnung for public contracts.
XRechnung 3.0
DE · AT public sectorMandatory for German and Austrian B2G invoices. Agent generates the XML directly — no third-party converter.
ZUGFeRD 2.x
DE · AT B2BHybrid PDF + XML format. Accepted by the majority of German B2B recipients. Agent embeds the XML automatically.
Peppol BIS
EU cross-borderEuropean Peppol network for cross-border electronic invoicing. Agent connects to the Peppol access point.
EN 16931
EU standardUnderlying European standard for e-invoicing. All Peppol, XRechnung and ZUGFeRD formats derive from it.
Dunning sequence — fully automated
The agent escalates politely and consistently. You set the thresholds; it executes.
| — | Channel | Tone |
|---|---|---|
| Day +3 | Email (friendly reminder) | Polite, assumes oversight. Suggests the invoice may have been missed. |
| Day +14 | Email (second reminder) | Firmer. Restates terms, due date, and payment options. |
| Day +28 | Email (formal dunning + late fee) | Formal language, references contract terms, applies configured late fee. |
| Day +42 | Phone call (Call agent) | Human-voice call. Verifies the invoice was received, offers payment plan if needed, transfers to you on request. |
Thresholds (days, amounts, late-fee percentages, tone) are configurable per customer or customer segment. Every action is audit-logged.
Cost example — 10-person consultancy, ~80 invoices/month
Numbers based on Austrian/German SMB benchmarks, April 2026.
You issue 80 outgoing invoices per month. 18% become overdue and enter the dunning cycle. 3 of those require a phone call at day 42.
Manual process
- 80 invoices × 11 min drafting14.7 hours / month
- 14 overdue × 20 min dunning emails4.7 hours / month
- 3 escalations × 15 min phone follow-up0.8 hours / month
- Bank reconciliation4.0 hours / month
- Audit log maintenance2.0 hours / month
With Finance agent
- Agent processing (included in €549/user subscription)€0 marginal
- Human approval gates for invoices > €1,000~30 min / month
- Dunning phone calls handled by Call agentVoice credits only
~€1,150 per month in labor reallocated to billable or growth work. The Finance agent is one of 16 included in the €549/user subscription — the rest of the workforce runs CRM, mail, calls, calendar etc. in parallel.
Assumes 80 invoices/month and an internal labor cost of €45/h (gross-loaded junior accountant). Scale proportionally for your volume. Voice minutes for the Call agent's dunning follow-ups are billed separately.
Compliance by default
Every invoice, reminder and reconciliation writes to an immutable audit log. Financial regulators have specific requirements; the agent meets them structurally.
Every invoice and change versioned, immutable, and audit-ready. Tax-audit-proof storage for 10 years.
Austrian equivalent for tax-audit compatibility. Same cryptographic audit log applies.
Structured export (CSV, XML) for DATEV Unternehmen Online — no manual re-entry needed by your tax advisor.
Your invoice content is never used to train models. Tenant-isolated, encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3).
PSD2-compliant OAuth connections to your bank. Revocable in one click. Minimum scopes — read-only for reconciliation by default.
Frequently asked questions
Does the agent also handle incoming invoices?+
Yes. A separate flow: Mail agent detects the incoming invoice PDF, Document agent runs OCR and extracts line items, Finance agent routes to an approval workflow and pays on the due date.
What happens if the AI drafts an incorrect invoice?+
Invoices above your approval threshold (default €1,000) always go through a human review before sending. Below, the agent uses your historical invoicing patterns and deal data — errors are rare, and all drafts are visible in the dashboard before they ship.
Can the agent work with my existing accounting software?+
Yes. Native OAuth integrations today with QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe and Mollie. DATEV export via structured CSV/XML. HubSpot, Salesforce and others on the 2026 roadmap.
Is voice-based dunning (day 42 phone calls) mandatory?+
No. You can disable the phone-call stage per customer or globally. Voice minutes are sold separately as credit packs — only consumed if the Call agent actually dials.
How does the agent handle disputed invoices?+
If a customer replies with a dispute or pushback, the Mail agent flags it and pauses the dunning cycle. It routes to your inbox for human resolution — the agent does not auto-argue.
Does it work for recurring subscriptions?+
Yes. Finance agent drafts recurring invoices on schedule, adjusts for mid-cycle changes (upgrades, credits, pauses) and sends them automatically. The pattern is identical to one-off invoices.
What about multi-currency invoicing?+
Supported. The agent applies the correct tax and currency rules per customer jurisdiction. Reverse-charge for EU cross-border is handled automatically.
How long does setup take?+
1–2 business days after business-ownership verification. The agent imports your last 12 months of invoices to learn pricing, tax codes and customer patterns before going live.
See it run on your own invoice data
Book a 30-minute demo. Bring your last invoice PDF. Watch the Finance agent reproduce and improve it live.