Find supplier credits before they go unused

A supplier may issue a credit after a return, price correction or quality claim. If the note never reaches the right supplier account, the company can pay the next invoice in full and leave the credit unused.

An AI agent can compare supplier statements with invoices, payments, claims and credit notes. It finds likely gaps and prepares the evidence. Finance still decides whether the credit is valid and how it should be posted.

This work is hard to keep tidy because the evidence arrives in different places. The statement may be a spreadsheet, the credit note a PDF and the reason for it buried in an email about a return.

The useful AI work is reading those records, connecting references and drafting a follow-up when something is missing. Ordinary accounting rules still decide whether the credit can be used.

A large list of possible credits is not a savings result. Some items will already be applied, belong to another legal entity or turn out to be duplicates.

The agent can identify a likely credit, collect records and ask the supplier for confirmation. It should not post a credit, change bank details, write off a balance or reduce a payment without the company’s existing approval.

Send uncertain entity matches, tax treatment, currencies and disputed claims to a person. For UK VAT records, HMRC guidance says credit notes should contain enough information to identify the original invoice and should be posted correctly in the VAT accounts.

Start with one supplier group or business unit. Track the age of open credits, time spent reconciling statements, supplier response time, false matches and the value finance confirms.

Then measure credits applied to a payment or returned as cash. Report found, confirmed and realised value separately. A good first pilot improves the evidence and handoff even before any posting step is automated.