Glossary: agentic finance
Definitions of the core terms behind agent-to-agent finance and the automation of accounts payable and receivable.
Agent-to-agent (A2A) finance
A model in which one company’s finance agent transacts directly with another company’s finance agent — negotiating terms, resolving disputes, and settling — inside human-defined guardrails, instead of two people emailing back and forth.
Agentic AP automation
Using AI agents to run accounts payable end-to-end: validating invoices, matching purchase orders and goods receipts, flagging discrepancies, and negotiating early-payment discounts with suppliers, with a human approving external actions.
Agentic AR automation
Using AI agents to run accounts receivable: intake and validation of disputes, enforcement of payment terms, dunning, and early-payment offers to customers.
Execution layer vs. system of record
A system of record (e.g. an ERP) stores the data. An execution layer acts across systems to get work done. Causa Prima is an execution layer that sits on top of any system of record, rather than replacing it.
Dynamic discounting (early-payment discount)
An arrangement where a supplier offers a small discount in exchange for being paid earlier than the agreed term. Historically only worthwhile on large invoices because of processing cost; agents make it viable across the long tail.
Context graph
A knowledge graph that captures the implicit reasoning behind financial decisions — terms negotiated over years, exceptions granted to a supplier — that systems of record normally discard. The highest-value context lives in the relationship between two companies.
Counterparty view (magic link)
A view that lets a supplier or customer see invoice status, disputes and promises through a secure link, without creating an account — the mechanism that pulls both sides onto the network.
Supply chain finance (SCF)
A set of financing techniques that let suppliers get paid earlier and buyers optimize working capital, using the buyer’s stronger credit. Dynamic discounting and invoice financing are two of its forms.
Invoice financing (factoring)
Advancing cash against an unpaid invoice for a fee, so a supplier gets working capital now instead of waiting for the payment term to elapse.
Working capital
The cash a business has tied up in day-to-day operations — money owed to it (receivables) minus money it owes (payables). Faster, smarter settlement frees working capital that would otherwise sit trapped.
Dunning
The structured process of reminding customers about overdue invoices and following up to collect payment — tone, timing and channel ideally tuned to each counterparty’s actual behavior.
Three-way match
A control that checks an invoice against its purchase order and goods-receipt note before payment, catching price, quantity and duplicate errors. A core step an AP agent automates.
System of record
The authoritative store of a company’s data — typically the ERP or accounting platform. Causa Prima acts on top of it as an execution layer rather than replacing it.
Human-in-the-loop
A design where the agent proposes and a human approves before any external action is taken. Causa Prima keeps a human in the loop on external actions, widening autonomy only as trust is earned.