Who should answer supplier “where’s my payment?” calls?

Why do supplier payment calls take up so much time?

Each call looks small. A supplier wants to know if an invoice has arrived and when it will be paid. To answer, someone stops what they are doing, looks up the invoice, checks whether it has been approved, may ask a site manager, and calls back. Multiply that by every supplier, every week, and it becomes a real share of the team’s time.

A global study by Ardent Partners found that the average accounts payable team spends 26.9% of staff time handling supplier enquiries, against 13.4% for the best teams. See the Ardent Partners summary.

What does a supplier actually need to hear?

Almost always the same four things:

• Have you got my invoice?
• Has it been approved?
• If not, what is holding it up?
• When will I be paid?

Every one of those answers already sits in your accounting system and approval queue. The slow part is a person having to go and look.

Can an AI voice agent answer these calls safely?

Yes, if it only says what the ledger says. The Atlantas voice agent:

• Recognises the supplier from the phone number on file, or takes their details if the number is new.
• Asks for the invoice number and checks its live status.
• Explains any hold in plain English, such as a delivery still waiting for site sign-off.
• Gives the payment date once the invoice is cleared.
• Never changes supplier details over the phone. Any request to change bank details is passed to finance in writing, where invoice fraud is stopped.

Hear a sample call, start to finish, on supplier payment calls.

What about suppliers who chase on WhatsApp or LinkedIn?

Small suppliers often chase wherever they know someone, so messages end up on personal phones and get lost. Atlantas answers WhatsApp and LinkedIn messages using the same live status as the phone line, and passes anything else to finance with the thread attached. See supplier messages.

What still comes to the finance team?

The calls that need a person: a disputed amount, a change of details, a supplier on stop, anything that needs judgement. Those arrive with the invoice already found and the story so far written down, so the conversation starts in the right place. Voice is one of four channels, alongside Email, Chat and Social, that all work from one Knowledge Base, so a supplier gets the same answer however they ask.

What does it take to set up?

The voice agent answers from your own records, so the work is in connecting them, not in writing scripts. Your supplier terms, payment days and the rules on what can be said to a caller sit in the Knowledge Base. The live invoice status comes from your accounting system and approval queue. Anything outside those rules goes straight to a person.

Plans start from £500 a month and grow with invoice volume and the number of companies. See pricing.

Questions people also ask

Can the voice agent change a supplier's bank details?

No. Supplier details are never changed over the phone. Any change request is passed to finance in writing.

How does it know which supplier is calling?

It recognises the supplier from the phone number held on their account. If the number is new, it takes their details and the invoice number.

What can it tell a supplier about an invoice?

Whether the invoice has arrived, whether it is approved, what is holding it up in plain English, and the payment date once it is cleared.

What happens to calls it cannot answer?

Disputes, detail changes and anything that needs judgement go to your finance team, with the invoice found and the call summarised.