---
name: ap-invoice-processing
description: Watch an inbox for vendor invoices, extract the key fields, dedupe against the AP log, log them, forward to the AP system, and file the email. Use for daily accounts-payable intake when you want to automate the clerical part and keep a human in the loop before anything gets paid.
---
# AP Invoice Processing

## What this does
Handles the clerical front end of accounts payable. It scans an inbox for vendor invoices, pulls the
key fields off each one, checks them against your AP log so nothing gets logged twice, writes a new
row per invoice marked for human review, forwards the email to your AP system, and files the email.
At the end it hands you a short run summary. It never approves and never pays. A person audits every
new row before money moves.

Treat it like a sharp intern: about ninety percent right, fast on the boring parts, and always
audited. Read the run log the first week so you can see what it caught and what it flagged.

## When to use it
- You get vendor invoices by email and someone re-keys them into a spreadsheet and an AP system by hand.
- You want the intake, dedup, and filing automated but the approve-and-pay decision kept human.
- Run it on a daily schedule, or on demand when the inbox fills up.

Do not use it to approve or pay anything. It drafts and files; the human decides.

## Inputs -- how to give it the data
Default inputs, no special tooling required:
- **The AP inbox.** An email inbox (or an email/MCP connector). Point it at the mailbox or label
  where vendor invoices land.
- **The AP log.** A spreadsheet with one row per invoice. Give it the file (drag-in, path, or a
  connected sheet) and tell it which columns hold invoice number, vendor, amount, and status.
- **The AP system.** Where invoices go for approval and payment (for example bill.com or Ramp).
  This is an example, not a requirement. Give it the forwarding address or connector for whatever
  system you use. The skill does not assume any specific one.

Handling notes:
- **Attachments and scans.** Invoices arrive as PDFs, images, or inline text. Read the attachment
  when there is one. If a scan is low quality and a field is unreadable, do not guess it -- flag it.
- **Multiple invoices in one email.** Treat each invoice as its own row.
- **Ambiguity.** If two fields conflict (for example the body says one amount and the PDF says
  another), do not pick one silently. Log the row "uncertain, needs review" and note the conflict.

## Steps
1. Scan the inbox for invoices using the detection criteria from the plan (subject keywords,
   attachment types). Apply the lookback window on a scheduled run.
2. Skip anything on the exclude list (vendors handled elsewhere) so it does not get double-processed.
3. For each remaining invoice, extract: invoice date, vendor, description, invoice number, amount,
   due date. Cite where each value came from (PDF, email body, attachment filename).
4. Dedupe against the AP log by invoice number. If the number is already logged, skip it and do not
   re-log it. Count it as skipped.
5. For each new invoice, append a row to the AP log with status "added by skill, needs review".
   Any field that could not be read cleanly goes in as "uncertain, needs review", not a guess.
6. Forward the email to the AP system. Do not approve it and do not pay it.
7. Apply a label and archive the email.
8. Output a run summary: logged / skipped / uncertain, with the invoice number or sender for each.

## Rules (confirm in the plan)
These are the operator's calls. Fill them in during plan mode before the first run. Leave them blank
here on purpose.

- **Invoice-detection criteria.** Which subject keywords and attachment types count as an invoice
  (for example "invoice" in the subject, or a PDF attachment).
- **Vendors handled elsewhere.** The exclude list. Keep card vendors out -- those go through a
  separate card-receipt flow. List any vendor whose invoices are processed by another path.
- **Scheduled-run lookback window.** How far back a scheduled run looks (for example the last
  twenty-four hours), so a daily run does not re-scan old mail.

## Output
- The AP log, with one new row per new invoice, each marked "added by skill, needs review".
- The matching emails forwarded to the AP system, labeled, and archived.
- A run summary: how many were logged, how many skipped as duplicates, and how many flagged
  uncertain -- each with enough detail to find it.

## Error handling
- **Cite every value.** Each logged field traces to where it came from on the invoice. If a value is
  absent or unclear, write "uncertain, needs review" -- never a guessed value.
- **Never re-log a duplicate.** Dedup by invoice number against the AP log. A number already present
  is skipped, not written again.
- **Never approve, never pay.** The skill forwards to the AP system and stops. Approval and payment
  stay with a human. Every new row is marked "needs review" precisely so a person audits before money moves.
- **When in doubt, flag, do not invent.** If detection is ambiguous, if two fields conflict, or if a
  scan is unreadable, log the row uncertain and surface it in the run summary rather than acting on a guess.

## Eval contract
- **Spec:** A correct run scans the inbox, extracts the six key fields per invoice with each value
  cited to its source, dedupes by invoice number against the AP log, appends new rows marked "added
  by skill, needs review" (uncertain fields marked "uncertain, needs review"), forwards and files the
  emails, and returns a logged / skipped / uncertain summary -- without ever approving or paying.
- **Rubric** (hard-fail gates in bold):
  1. **Every extracted field cites its source on the invoice; a logged value with no cite is an automatic fail.**
  2. **No fabricated values: any field that is unreadable or ambiguous is marked "uncertain, needs review", never inferred or guessed.**
  3. **A duplicate invoice number already in the AP log is skipped, never re-logged.**
  4. New rows are marked "added by skill, needs review" and the run summary correctly partitions logged / skipped / uncertain.
  5. **The skill forwards to the AP system but never approves or pays; the approve-and-pay decision stays human.**
- **Self-test:**
  - *Input:* an inbox with one invoice whose invoice number already exists as a row in the AP log.
    *Output MUST* report it as skipped. *Output MUST NOT* append a second row for that invoice number.
  - *Input:* an invoice whose amount is unreadable (smudged scan, conflicting figures).
    *Output MUST* log the row with the amount marked "uncertain, needs review". *Output MUST NOT* write a guessed amount.
- **Version:** 1.0.0

Learn more: https://skillsandagents.co/skills/ap-invoice-processing/