Follow up on business invoices
and prepare dispute resolutions.
“This business owes us. What is holding up payment, and how do we resolve it?”
A business has sold goods or services to another business, but its invoice is overdue. Its agent checks whether the money is still owed, finds out why it has not been paid, and helps resolve the problem. If payment arrives, it checks that the right invoice has been updated.
The business gets paid, the payment is recorded against the right invoice, and any amount still owed is clear. If payment is still outstanding, the team knows why and what happens next.
Operates alongside business invoicing, receivables software and supported payment-collection and reporting capabilities for eligible B2B sellers (distinct from patient balance collection).
Human Journey
Someone in the business’s accounts-receivable team follows up on an unpaid invoice. Their job is to get it paid—or establish why it should not be collected as billed—and keep the accounts correct.
“This invoice is overdue. Does the customer still owe us, and what do we need to do to get paid?”
Check that the invoice really is unpaid.
They open the invoice, check what was agreed and review payments and credits. Sometimes the customer has already paid, but the payment has not been recorded against the invoice.
Find out why—and deal with that reason.
They ask the customer’s accounts-payable contact what is holding up payment. A missing invoice can be resent. A missing purchase-order number needs to be found. A disputed service or amount needs evidence and a decision. If approval is still pending, they agree who will act and when.
Follow through until payment arrives or the case needs a decision.
They track the agreed action and follow up when it is due. If the customer says it has paid, they look for that payment instead of demanding another. A dispute or concession outside their authority goes to the appropriate owner. Some cases stay open across several conversations.
Record the money against the invoice and check the balance.
When payment is confirmed, they check which invoice or invoices it covers. They record it—or check what existing software already recorded—and confirm what remains owed. A partial payment does not close the whole invoice.
“We got paid and the invoice is correct—or we know exactly why it is still open, who needs to act and when.”
If the invoice was wrong, an authorized correction may resolve it without collecting the original amount.
Representative B2B receivables workflow. Existing software may already handle standard reminders, payment links or posting; the steps above can loop, wait or skip ahead depending on why an invoice is open.
Agent Journey
An invoice is overdue. The seller’s agent checks what is owed, works with the customer to resolve the reason for non-payment, then checks the money and the invoice records.
Proposed agent workflow for joint review. The following technical-alignment topics define the target B2B seller cohort, connected invoicing/payment interfaces and exception rules to agree together.
Walkthrough · decisions and alternate paths
The agent acts for the business owed money—the seller. Rectangle provides the commercial payment and reporting channel where applicable, while the buyer retains full control over its own approvals and payment authorization.
The agent adds investigation and follow-through where existing tools stop. It does not replace every reminder, negotiate without authority or assume an overdue invoice permits charging a card.
- Seller’s accounting records → agent
Check whether the customer still owes the money.
Read the current invoice, terms, credits, receipts and prior follow-up. Check whether someone or another process is already handling it.
Already paid? Skip collection and verify the records. Wrong invoice or disputed balance? Find the evidence before asking for money.
Result: A current amount owed, with a reason to follow up—or a reason not to. - Agent ↔ buyer’s AP contact and seller’s records
Resolve the reason it has not been paid.
Ask the authorized buyer contact what is missing. Send permitted documents, check supporting records and track the specific next action. Prepare a proposed resolution where a dispute needs a commercial decision.
Missing document: supply it. Approval pending: track owner and date. Promise to pay: wait and follow up. Dispute: resolve within authority or refer it to the seller’s owner. Revisit this stage when new evidence arrives.
Result: A specific action taken, a dated commitment, an authorized resolution or an open issue with an owner. - Payment evidence → agent
Check what money actually arrived.
If the buyer says it paid, trace that payment. If it needs a payment path, use the existing approved service only where supported; the buyer separately authorizes payment. Check actual payment evidence rather than treating a link, promise or pending result as money received.
This stage can be reached immediately for an already-paid invoice. If no payment arrives, continue follow-up; if only part arrives, retain the remaining balance. Use Rectangle’s transaction status alongside the relevant settlement or bank evidence to confirm receipt of funds.
Result: A supported payment reference and financial state—or a clear missing/pending-payment issue. - Agent ↔ seller’s accounting records
Record the payment and check what is still owed.
Read existing allocations first. If needed and permitted, apply the confirmed receipt to the correct invoice or record an authorized correction. Read back the invoice, payment and remaining balance to check the result.
Already recorded: verify, do not post twice. Unknown write: inspect before retry. Received payment but failed posting: repair accounting, do not collect again. An authorized credit can resolve a balance without cash; record that distinction.
Result: The seller can see what was paid, what was corrected, what remains owed and what needs action next.
What the business sees afterward
- “The customer paid. It is recorded against this invoice, with this amount still owed.”
- “The invoice needed an agreed correction. Here is what changed and who authorized it.”
- “It is still unpaid. Here is why, who needs to act and when we will follow up.”
Representative outcome states: a case may conclude in a verified payment, an authorized invoice adjustment, or an explicitly tracked open follow-up.
Shared premise & technical alignment
The job is to help a business get an overdue invoice paid and keep its accounts correct. The agent’s contribution is to find and work through the reason payment is stuck—not to add another reminder or payment page.
Before collecting, check the invoice is still unpaid. Before repeating a reminder, find the reason for non-payment. Before recording cash, establish what was paid. Before closing, verify the invoice balance. Those decisions create the stages; the case can loop, wait or skip collection entirely.
Core design premises
- Operating model: The agent represents the B2B seller owed money, while the buyer is a separate business entity. Together with Rectangle, we align on the target B2B seller cohort (such as healthcare suppliers, labs or commercial service providers).
- Where the work starts: One overdue business invoice verified against current AR records—distinct from patient balance collection or insurer claim reimbursement.
- Build on existing tools: Existing AR, reminder and payment collection tools stay in place; the agent coordinates the investigation and dispute-preparation steps those tools leave unresolved.
- Governance: DecentraCore governs agent operations. Routine document retrieval and follow-up run under standing authority, commercial concessions require seller-owner approval, and seller authority never substitutes for buyer payment authorization.
Platform foundation & integration scope
Payment & reporting surface: Bridge Payments and Rectangle’s card-not-present payment and transaction-reporting APIs provide payment collection and status reporting capabilities alongside the seller’s accounting/AR system.
Integration alignment: Confirm the target B2B seller cohort and map how Rectangle’s payment request and reporting capabilities connect with the seller’s invoice, customer-communication and accounting records.
Which business and invoice are we actually helping?
Stakeholders: Rectangle commercial & product leads · Seller AR owner
- Which eligible seller has business invoices that Rectangle can support?
Select the initial B2B seller cohort and representative overdue-invoice workflow to scope the pilot.
- What does a person do today that existing software does not?
Walk through one paid case and one unresolved case. Together, identify the investigation work that remains manual.
What can the agent see, and who can it contact?
Stakeholders: Seller systems owner · Rectangle integration team · Communications owner
- Where do invoices, credits, receipts, terms and service evidence live?
Identify source records, IDs, access and freshness. An invoice alone does not prove buyer acceptance.
- Who is the buyer’s authorized AP contact, and which communication channel is allowed?
Confirm contact identity, disclosure limits and follow-up rules. Buyer API access and a buyer agent are not assumed.
- Which payment evidence can connect a receipt to the invoice?
Confirm Rectangle reporting access if supported, any separate bank evidence, and what each status actually proves.
What can the agent do when it learns why payment is stuck?
Stakeholders: Seller commercial / AR owner · Rectangle & Decentra integration leads
- Which actions are covered by standing authority?
Agree separate permissions for document sharing, recording commitments, issuing credits, changing payment terms and offering an approved payment path.
- When does the agent wait, resume, stop contacting or refer a decision?
Define promised dates, disputes, payment claims, unsupported operations and seller-owner queues.
- What request and result crosses Core for each action?
Map approved connectors and completed, blocked, pending and unknown outcomes across DecentraCore (identity, intent and authority, funding and risk, controlled execution, evidence and disputes, and enterprise/agent integration).
What proves the business got paid and the invoice is correct?
Stakeholders: Seller accounting lead · Payment operations · Target system owner
- Which supported payment route can this buyer use, if needed?
Confirm merchant eligibility, buyer authorization, invoice reference propagation and payment/settlement semantics.
- How are partial receipts, multiple invoices and authorized credits handled?
Agree evidence and allocation rules. A credit is not a payment; a partial payment leaves a balance.
- Which read-back proves posting, and what happens after an uncertain write?
Confirm duplicate prevention, concurrent staff work, lookup and recovery. Received money with failed posting means accounting repair only.
What is the smallest useful proof?
Stakeholders: Seller sponsor · Rectangle operations · Privacy & security leads
- Can we follow one overdue invoice through its real conversations, payment and final records?
Walk through one paid case and one disputed or already-settled case using synthetic or appropriately de-identified records.
- What access and release conditions apply, and who owns open cases?
Confirm the selected environment, authorized channels, owner handoffs and closure evidence.
- How will we know the agent helped?
Establish baseline measures for manual touches, resolution time, payment timing and posting accuracy to evaluate pilot impact.
Architecture & discovery summary for joint technical alignment between Rectangle and Decentra.