Payment Run Batching and Preparation
Preparing a payment run means pulling every approved, unpaid invoice, checking each one is actually due, cross-checking bank details haven't changed since the last payment, making sure nothing already paid slips back in, and assembling it all into a payment file or manual bank upload — usually the day before a scheduled run, under time pressure. A single mistake, like an invoice already paid getting included again or a stale bank account being used, isn't caught until the payment fails or lands in the wrong place, and by then it's a reconciliation problem instead of a five-minute check.
STARTING PRICE
From €299
Standard tier · Multi-step workflow with AI extraction/decisioning and 2-3 integrations.
Get a quote →Saves roughly 3-5 hrs per payment run for a mid-sized AP team.
How the automation works
We automate the assembly of each payment run: pulling every approved and due invoice, validating that none have already been paid or are on hold, cross-checking bank details against the vendor master and flagging anything changed since the last payment to that vendor, and staging the batch in the format your bank or accounting system needs. The batch is presented for a final review with all validation checks shown as passed or flagged, rather than assembled silently, so whoever signs off the run sees exactly what's being paid and why, before it's submitted.
Process flow
- 01
Payment run scheduled trigger
On your set payment run cadence, the system automatically identifies every invoice that's approved, due and not on hold.
- 02
Validate payment status ai
Each candidate invoice is checked against payment history to make sure it hasn't already been paid or is duplicated in the batch.
- 03
Validate bank details ai
Vendor bank details are checked against the master record and flagged if changed since the vendor's last payment, a common fraud and error signal.
- 04
Stage the payment batch integration
Validated invoices are assembled into the payment file format your bank or accounting system requires, ready for final review.
- 05
Present for sign-off output
The batch is presented with every validation check shown, so the approver sees total value, invoice count and any flags before authorizing submission.
- 06
Submit and log integration
On approval, the batch is submitted to the bank or payment system and the full run is logged for audit and reconciliation.
Inputs
- Approved, unpaid invoices
- Vendor bank details and change history
- Payment run schedule and cutoff dates
- Available cash balance
Outputs
- Staged, validated payment batch
- Bank-file-ready payment export
- Bank-detail change flag log
- Payment run audit trail
Works with
Prefer a fully custom build instead of an off-the-shelf integration? We scope both options during your free consultation — most jobs like this one work fine on standard connectors, but higher-volume or non-standard systems sometimes need bespoke API work, reflected in the complex tier.
Where this goes wrong if you get it wrong
- A vendor bank detail changed shortly before a payment run is one of the most common signals of payment fraud (business email compromise redirecting a payment) — flag any recent change for out-of-band verification before including that vendor in the batch, never process it silently.
- Invoices approved but subsequently disputed or placed on hold after approval need a final status check at batch time, not just at the original approval — a hold applied yesterday should pull the invoice out of today's run automatically.
- Multiple payment runs close together (an ad-hoc urgent payment alongside the regular weekly run) create real risk of the same invoice being included in both — the validation needs to check against invoices staged in any currently-pending batch, not just historical payments.
- Currency and payment-method mismatches (a vendor paid by wire suddenly appearing in a domestic ACH batch) should be caught before submission — validate payment method against vendor country and currency, since a misrouted payment can take weeks to unwind.
Frequently asked questions
How does this help prevent payment fraud?
Every vendor's bank details are checked against the master record before each run, and any recent change is flagged for verification rather than silently trusted — this is one of the most effective controls against payment redirection fraud.
What happens if an invoice gets put on hold after it was already approved?
The batch assembly step re-checks status at run time, so a hold applied after approval pulls the invoice out of that run automatically instead of relying on someone to remember to remove it.
Can this generate the exact file format our bank requires?
Yes, the staged batch is formatted to your bank's specific payment file requirements or pushed directly via API where your bank supports it.
Does someone still need to approve the final payment run?
Yes — the batch is assembled and validated automatically but always presented for a human sign-off before submission, since this is the step where a mistake is most expensive to unwind.