Reconciling payments and invoices, with AI.
AI agents match bank transfers, RiBa (Italian bank receipt) and SDD direct debits to open invoices. Your accounts team approves. At month end, the open items are the real ones.
What is payment reconciliation
Payment reconciliation means matching each payment received to the invoice, or invoices, it settles. It closes customers' open items and keeps the accounts receivable ledger accurate. In the US it is called cash application.
Bank reconciliation, by contrast, compares the bank statement with the accounts and checks that the balances agree. Companies do both together, every day and at month end: AIR handles both.
Where reconciling receipts eats up time
The ERP matches transactions with clear references. The cases left over end up in Excel, one by one, and the month-end close drags on.
Combined transfers
One payment for several invoices, often net of a credit note.
Part payments and deposits
Payments in instalments, advances on orders, balances with a discount.
Vague references
“Balance”, “Mar inv.”, the name of another company in the group.
Unpaid RiBa and returned SDD
Items that look closed and need reopening.
Fees and differences
Bank charges deducted, rounding, exchange rates.
Old items
Open for months: real debts or payments never matched.
Context: in Italy 42.0% of businesses pay on time (Cribis, Payment Study, June 2026). 42% of organisations still manage accounts receivable with largely manual processes, and fewer than one in five use advanced forecasting or automation tools (SSON, AR Trends Report, 2025).
Bank and payment reconciliation with AI agents
Agents do the work, people decide. Every match is logged.
AI agents are explained in What is an AI agent; human control over the key steps in What is human in the loop.
How we work
- We start with the process that costs most: usually the receipts that are matched by hand today.
- A few days alongside the accounts team, as an intern would.
- A quick trial on a few months of real data, in the tools already in use, ERP included.
- We measure before and after: hours spent reconciling, transactions closed automatically, open items. We extend what works.
Supplier invoices: order, delivery note, invoice
The same method checks supplier invoices. The agents compare each invoice with the purchase order and the delivery note, the three-way match, and flag differences in price, quantity or delivery.
Invoices that match arrive ready for payment; the team decides on the rest.
What the client keeps
- Accurate open items, updated every day.
- A shorter month-end close, with every decision explained.
- People free for the cases that need judgement.
- Rules, data and history that stay with the company.
With the ledger in order, the next step is debt collection: reminders only to customers who still owe.
Payment reconciliation: frequently asked questions
What is payment reconciliation?
It means matching each payment received to the invoice, or invoices, it settles, and closing the customer's open item. In the US it is called cash application. The result is an accounts receivable ledger in which the open items are the real ones.
What is the difference between payment reconciliation and bank reconciliation?
Bank reconciliation compares the transactions on the bank statement with the accounting entries and checks that the balances agree. Payment reconciliation works on the customer side: it decides which invoice each bank transfer, RiBa or SDD direct debit pays. In practice the two are done together, and our agents handle both.
Our ERP already matches payments: what do the agents add?
ERPs match transactions with clear references well, such as a RiBa or SDD with an invoice number. The agents work on the cases left to the accounts team: combined payments, part payments, advance payments, credit notes, vague payment references. They propose a match with the reason, and a person approves it.
Which ERPs and banks does it work with?
We start from the exports the company already uses: CBI or CSV bank statements, the accounts receivable ledger, XML e-invoices. The ERP stays the one you use today, off-the-shelf or custom-built.
Who decides the matches and the postings?
The people in the accounts team. The agents prepare proposals, each with its reason; a match is posted to the accounts after approval or under a rule the company has set. Every step is logged.
Where is the bank data held?
The data belongs to the company. AIR processes it as a data processor, under a written agreement, with access limited to the people working on the project.
Does it also work for supplier invoices?
Yes. The same method checks each supplier invoice against the purchase order and the delivery note, the so-called three-way match, and flags differences in price, quantity or delivery. The team approves payment of the invoices that match and decides on the rest.
How does it link to debt collection?
Reconciliation tells you which items are genuinely open. Debt collection starts from there: reminders go only to customers who still owe, with the history of each item ready.