What is Approval Agent?
Approval Agent is an AI-powered assistant that helps Approvers review Bills by analysing the supplier's approved billing history and highlighting anything unusual.
When you open a Bill, Approval Agent compares it with the supplier's previous approved Bills and explains any issues it identifies.
Approval Agent supports your review by highlighting unusual billing patterns, but it never automatically approves or rejects Bills. The final approval decision always remains with the Approver.
Please note: Approval Agent is currently available to selected Organisations as a preview (beta) feature. Access is provided for evaluation purposes only and is not included with any subscription. ApprovalMax may modify, restrict, or discontinue the feature at any time during the beta period. Feature labels, statuses, and behaviour may also change before general availability. Approval Agent is currently planned for availability in Advanced and Premium subscription tiers.
What Approvers see when reviewing a Bill
When you open a Bill for approval, Approval Agent displays a summary banner at the top of the request. The banner provides a quick overview of the analysis and highlights anything that may require your attention.
The banner includes:
An overall status indicating whether the Bill matches the supplier's usual billing patterns.
Check results for each applicable analysis (Amount, Frequency, and Coding).
An AI-generated summary explaining why the Bill received its overall status.
Click Review details to open the complete analysis.
It includes all of the information shown in the summary banner, along with additional details to help you understand why the Bill received its overall status, including:
Approval Agent Summary with the AI-generated explanation.
Billing history, showing the supplier's approved Bills over time.
A Contact overview with key supplier information and billing statistics.
A detailed breakdown of the Amount and Frequency checks.
Line items, highlighting unusual accounts, tax rates, tracking categories, item combinations, or other coding anomalies on individual Bill lines.
A Recent Bills list showing the supplier's approved Bills.
Please note: Approval Agent analyses all approved Bills available for the supplier. However, the Bills displayed in the Recent Bills list depend on your ApprovalMax permissions, so you'll only see Bills you're authorised to access.
How Approval Agent determines the overall status
Approval Agent analyses each Bill by comparing it with the supplier's approved billing history.
Each applicable check returns one of three results:
No anomalies – nothing unusual was found.
Minor concern: something differs slightly from the supplier's usual billing pattern.
Significant concern – something differs substantially from the supplier's normal billing pattern and should be investigated.
Approval Agent combines the results of all applicable checks to determine the overall status displayed at the top of the Bill.
No anomalies: The Bill matches the supplier's established billing pattern.
Check required: One minor concern was identified. Review the highlighted information before approving the Bill.
Review required: A significant concern was identified, and the Bill requires further investigation.
New Contact: This is the first Bill for this supplier, so Approval Agent does not have enough billing history to analyse it. Review the Bill carefully before approving it.
Approval Agent determines the overall status using two rules:
The overall status always reflects the highest level of concern identified. For example, if any check returns a Significant concern, the overall status becomes Review required.
If two or more checks return a Minor concern, the overall status is automatically escalated because multiple unusual patterns occurring together may indicate a higher level of risk.
Checks performed by Approval Agent
Approval Agent runs up to three checks, depending on the supplier's billing history and classification (see How suppliers are classified below).
Check | What it checks | Applies to |
Amount | Compares the Bill amount with the supplier's historical billing pattern. For fixed-amount suppliers, Approval Agent compares the Bill with the most recent approved Bill, so even a small difference may be flagged. For variable-amount suppliers, it compares the amount with the supplier's historical maximum. It also checks whether the Bill is issued in the supplier's usual currency. A currency change is always treated as a Significant concern, even if there is only one previously approved Bill. | All suppliers with a sufficient billing history |
Frequency | Checks whether the Bill arrives when expected and whether more Bills than usual have been received during the current billing period. One additional Bill is treated as a minor concern, while two or more may indicate a duplicate or billing error. Approval Agent also compares the supplier's current-period spend with historical averages and flags unusually high spend. | Recurring suppliers only |
Coding | Compares each Bill line against the supplier's historical coding patterns, including items, accounts, tax rates, tracking categories, and common combinations of those values. | All suppliers with a sufficient billing history |
Please note: For ad hoc suppliers, the Frequency check may display Insufficient data because Approval Agent cannot identify a consistent billing pattern to analyse.
How suppliers are classified
Approval Agent automatically classifies suppliers based on their approved billing history. These classifications determine which checks can be performed and how the Bill is analysed.
Billing pattern
Approval Agent identifies whether a supplier follows a predictable billing schedule.
Recurring – Bills are received on a regular schedule, such as weekly, monthly, or quarterly.
Ad hoc – Bills are received irregularly, with no consistent billing pattern.
Amount type
Approval Agent also classifies suppliers based on the consistency of their Bill amounts.
Fixed – The supplier typically invoices the same or a very similar amount.
Variable – Bill amounts vary from one Bill to the next.
The combination of these classifications (for example, Recurring + Fixed or Ad hoc + Variable) determines which checks Approval Agent performs. It only flags unusual activity when there is enough historical data to make a meaningful comparison.
Suppliers with limited billing history
Approval Agent requires approved billing history before it can identify unusual billing patterns.
Approved Bills | How Approval Agent responds |
0 Bills | The supplier is identified as a New Contact. This is the first approved Bill for the supplier, so Approval Agent does not yet have enough billing history to analyse it. No checks are performed. |
1–2 Bills | Approval Agent provides contextual information, such as the previous Bill amount or year-to-date spend, but does not raise Minor or Significant concerns. The only exception is a currency mismatch, which is always flagged. |
3+ Bills | Approval Agent performs a full analysis and runs all applicable checks. |
Approval Agent data sources
Approval Agent analyses your Organisation's approved Bill history from the connected accounting system. It does not use external data sources.
The analysis is based on information such as:
Bill amounts
Billing dates
Currency history
Billing frequency
Year-to-date and current-period spend
Bill line details, including items, accounts, tax rates, and tracking categories
ApprovalMax is GDPR-compliant and ISO 27001 certified. Supplier data remains within your Organisation and is not shared with external parties.
Using Approval Agent when reviewing Bills
Once Approval Agent is enabled for your Organisation, it automatically appears on supported Bills. No additional setup is required.
When reviewing a Bill:
Review the overall status in the Approval Agent banner to quickly identify whether anything requires your attention.
Click Review details to open the full analysis, including the Approval Agent Summary, Billing history, Contact overview, and the results of each applicable check.
Use this information to help you understand any unusual billing patterns and decide whether further investigation is needed.
Approve, reject, or query the Bill using your normal approval process.
Approval Agent supports your review by highlighting unusual billing patterns, but it never makes approval decisions on your behalf.
Current limitations
Approval Agent is currently available as a beta feature for Xero Bills only.
The following limitations apply:
Only Bills are analysed. Other request types, such as Purchase Orders, Expense Claims, and Sales Invoices, are not currently supported.
Approval Agent requires three or more approved Bills for a supplier before it can perform a full analysis. Suppliers with limited billing history receive only contextual information.
Analysis is based solely on your Organisation's approved Bill history. External supplier data is not used.
Approval Agent is enabled at the Organisation level. As the feature is still in active development, its functionality, labels, and behaviour may change during the beta period.
Tips
Keep the following in mind when reviewing Bills with Approval Agent:
Treat flagged issues as prompts for further review. A flag indicates something unusual, not necessarily an error. For example, a legitimate price increase or currency change may still be highlighted.
Supplier history improves the analysis. Approval Agent performs its most effective analysis once a supplier has at least three approved Bills.
Currency changes are always flagged. Even legitimate currency changes are highlighted because they are uncommon and may require verification.
Multiple concerns increase the overall status. Two or more minor concerns automatically increase the overall status because several unusual patterns together may indicate a higher level of risk.
Feedback
We'd love to hear what's working and what isn't. For any questions, comments, or feedback, please contact:
Danila Timerin: [email protected]
ApprovalMax Support: [email protected]