Agentic AI to manage ERP Exceptions

What is an ERP Exception An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) exception is a notification generated by an ERP system when a real-world situation or process deviates from a planned norm, policy or rule. These exceptions act as alerts to indicate issues such as stock shortages, missed deadlines, or data discrepancies that require human intervention to resolve and prevent disruptions to business operations.

Why Agentic AI to manage ERP exception Agentic AI goes beyond simply flagging an issue; it can autonomously reason, take action to resolve the issue, and learn from the experience. This moves ERP exception handling from a reactive to a proactive and preventative process.

How agentic AI improves ERP exception handling

Agentic AI to manage ERP exception handling helps with

Top use cases for ERP exceptions management with Agentic AI

Use Case 1: Three-way Invoice Matching In this process, we match Purchase Order against Goods Receipt and Invoice. The exception cases of unmatched invoices are sent to the AI agent. It does the same research that the user would have done, the AI agent successfully finds the correct PO number, saving the exceptions user the time of doing the research. The exceptions user reviews the Agent’s findings and approves. The agent processes the transactions saving the exceptions user the time of processing the transactions.

Use Case 2: Customer Payment Matching In this process, we match the invoice against customer payment in bank statement. The exception cases (unmatched customer payments) are sent to the Agentic AI Agent. The AI Agent does the same research that the user would have done. It will find the invoice and match to the customer payment from bank statement and presents the recommended solution to the user, saving the user the time of doing the research. The exceptions user accepts the recommendation. The agent processes the transactions saving the exceptions user the time of processing the transactions.

Use Case 3: Sales Order Entry In this process, a certain sales order line item has no available stock to fulfil. The Agentic AI Agent retrieves information from the ecommerce site, emailing the customer with a replacement SKU and escalating to the credit and supply chain team. After completing the research, the agent will recommend a solution for each exception. If the user accepts the recommendation, the agent performs the transactions in SAP and/or other systems to replace the item.

Use Case 4: PO Confirmation The Agentic AI Agent can parse each PO to extract key terms such as limits of liability and compare the key terms with the central contract automating the PO Conformation Process. Upon confirmation, the Agent can enter the PO as an order into the ERP system.

Use Case 5: Cash Forecasting The ERP system contains most or all information required for creating a cash forecast. The ERP has bank account balances, unpaid vendor invoices, unpaid customer invoices, and other critical inputs to a cash-forecasting process. Other systems may also contain additional information for input into the cash forecast. A forecast is generated from bank/investment account balances, vendor invoices (liability) and customer invoices (asset). The Agentic AI Agent collects the necessary data points from the ERP and other systems and calculates a per-day cash forecast based on standard operating procedure.

Use Case 6: Financial Period End Close In this process, AI Agent can do several, most or even all of the steps for financial period-end closing with or without a human in the loop. The Agent can reconcile bank statements, account receivables and payables, consolidate ledgers, and account for depreciations, unearned revenue, prepaid expenses and intercompany reconciliations. It can handle the exceptions by communicating with various stakeholders in the organization.