Guide for AP Managers
As an AP Manager in Mod AI, you oversee the entire AP operation. You configure the Agent, set up approval policies, manage vendors, monitor processing metrics, and keep the team running.
What you can do with Mod AI
Mod AI automates the parts of AP that used to take hours of manual work. You set up an Agent that knows how your company codes and processes invoices, and approval policies that enforce your authorization rules automatically.
- Customize the Agent so coding, matching, and extraction follow your company's conventions, without manually touching each invoice.
- Design approval policies that route invoices based on amount, vendor, or department.
- Request validation rule severity adjustments (handled via your Mod AI implementation manager today) to control what blocks an invoice from moving forward.
- Watch the Dashboard for processing volume, success rate, turnaround time, and bottlenecks in real time.
- Receive invoices automatically over email forwarding so the system can categorize invoices, credit memos, and other documents on intake.
- Invite users at the organization level in-app, and request per-entity role assignments via your Mod AI implementation manager.
Your responsibilities
- Configure the Agent with the instructions your company needs.
- Set up email forwarding so invoices flow into Mod AI automatically.
- Configure approval workflows so invoices route to the right approvers based on amount, vendor, or department.
- Request validation rule severity changes (via implementation manager today) to match your company's tolerance for blocking issues.
- Manage your team: invite users, assign roles, and confirm the right people have the right access.
- Maintain accurate vendor records and resolve vendor matching issues.
- Monitor AP performance through dashboard metrics and processing success rates.
Your role in Mod AI
AP Managers usually have the Controller or Administrator entity role.
| Permission | Access |
|---|---|
| View, edit, and upload invoices | Yes |
| Approve or reject invoices | Yes |
| Manage vendors and other fields | View only (Administrator can manage) |
| Customize the Agent | Yes |
| Configure validation rule severity | No (Administrator only) |
| Manage approval policies | Yes |
| Manage users | No (Administrator only) |
| Manage entity settings | No (Administrator only) |
For the full breakdown, see User Roles.
Key features you use
- Agents. Customize how the AI processes invoices for your company.
- Approval Policies. Define who approves what, based on conditions and thresholds.
- Validation. Understand and configure the rules that block bad invoices.
- Vendors. Maintain vendor records, default coding, and matching.
- Dashboard and Metrics. Monitor processing volume, success rates, and approval turnaround.
- Entity Users. Invite users, assign roles, manage team access.
- Email Forwarding Setup. Configure forwarding addresses for automatic invoice intake.
- Validation Notices. Review and resolve flagged issues across the team's invoices.
Daily workflow
- Open the Dashboard and check processing volume, success rates, and pending items.
- Review invoices waiting for your approval in the approval queue.
- Scan flagged invoices: anything stuck on a notice that the team can clear faster with your help.
- Update the Agent instructions if new patterns have emerged (new vendors, new GL accounts, seasonal coding shifts).
- Look at processing errors. Investigate anything stuck and resolve from the invoice detail page, or re-upload a clearer document if the original was unreadable.
- Check team activity. Confirm clerks are keeping up with the queue and approvers are responding promptly.
Common tasks
Create an approval policy
Go to Approval Policies and click Create Policy. Define the conditions (amount thresholds, vendor, entity), set the approval chain, and assign priority. See Creating a Policy for the step-by-step.
Update Agent instructions
Open the Agents page and edit the instructions in the markdown editor. Save your changes; new invoices use the updated instructions on their next extraction. See Writing Instructions for guidance.
Adjust a validation rule
If a validation rule is too strict (or too loose) for your company, an admin can request a severity override via your Mod AI implementation manager (the in-app Settings page isn't shipped yet). See Configure Rule Severity for the current process.
Add a user
Go to Entity Users and click Invite User. Enter the email, select the organization role and entity role, and send the invitation. The user receives an email and can accept the invitation.
Configure email forwarding
Set up an email address that forwards into Mod AI so invoices arrive automatically. See Email Forwarding Setup.
Review dashboard metrics
Open the Dashboard for invoices processed, average processing time, approval turnaround, and error rates. See Metrics for what each measures and how to improve it.
Manage vendors
Review and update vendor records, set default GL coding for specific vendors, and resolve vendor matching issues.
Tips
- Start with the Agent for your highest-volume vendors. Custom instructions for the top 10 vendors save the most time. See Examples.
- Set policy priorities carefully. Approval policies evaluate in priority order. Make sure specific policies have higher priority than general ones. See How Approvals Work.
- Use delegation for coverage. When approvers go on vacation, set up delegation so invoices keep moving.
- Monitor the dashboard weekly. Metrics over time reveal bottlenecks better than daily checks.
- Keep vendor records clean. Accurate vendor records improve matching accuracy and reduce duplicates.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make the Agent code consistently?
Open the Agents page and add explicit instructions for the patterns you want. See Writing Instructions and Examples.
How do approval policy priorities work?
When an invoice enters approvals, Mod AI evaluates policies from highest priority (lowest number) to lowest. The first match applies. See How Approvals Work.
How do I delegate approvals?
See Delegating Approvals. You can assign a delegate with start and end dates so invoices route automatically when the original approver is unavailable.
Can I see what the Agent decided on an invoice?
Yes. Open the invoice and check the AI Summary and the activity log. The summary explains the agent's reasoning and the activity log shows every action taken on the invoice.
How do I handle a vendor that keeps getting flagged as unknown?
Confirm the vendor record exists with the right name variations in Vendors. You can also add an Agent instruction to recognize specific vendor patterns. See Vendor Matching.