Categories / Admin & Back-Office
AI bill capture and transaction coding
Sauna and cold-plunge studios · 2 in 3 bills automated, 20 hours a month saved
- Task
- replace 20–30 manual bank payments/week, passed-around shared cards and receipt chasing
- Result
- Smart OCR automates two in three bills (~20 hours/month saved); Accounting Agent auto-codes ~43% of eligible transactions; 98.9% of card transactions touchless; AP agent remembers vendor payment terms (e.g., net-45)
- Tools
- Ramp (corporate cards per location manager, Accounting Agent, Smart OCR bill pay, AP Agent, multi-entity CAD/USD)
- Setup
- set up one Ramp entity per location (CAD/USD) → issue cards to each location operator with limits instead of shared cards → route bills through Smart OCR for extraction → Accounting Agent codes transactions to location/GL → AP agent stores vendor-specific terms once → approvals in Ramp instead of inboxes/Slack
Send this to your AI
A ready-to-send prompt built from this card. Your AI will ask a few questions about your business, then give you a beginner setup plan.
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Help me set this up for my business: "AI bill capture and transaction coding".
Example business: sauna/breathwork/cold-plunge studio brand (4 locations across Canada and US; each its…. Task: replace 20–30 manual bank payments/week, passed-around shared cards and receipt chasing.
Reported result: Smart OCR automates two in three bills (~20 hours/month saved); Accounting Agent auto-codes ~43% of eligible transactions; 98.9% of card transactions touchless; AP…
Tools: Ramp (corporate cards per location manager, Accounting Agent, Smart OCR bill pay, AP Agent, multi-entity CAD/USD)
Setup outline:
1. set up one Ramp entity per location (CAD/USD) → issue cards to each location operator with limits instead of…
Starter prompt from the guide (use it as a base):
I'm setting up AI bill coding for a [NUMBER]-location business. Our GL accounts are: [PASTE]. Our main suppliers and what they supply: [PASTE]. Write short plain-language coding instructions per supplier (one line each) that I can paste into my bill-pay system, including which location and GL account to use and how to treat freight and tax lines.
First, ask me up to 5 questions about my business and tools. Then give me a beginner step-by-step setup plan, plus copy-paste prompts/templates I can use. Plain English, and tell me if any step needs a tech helper.
via autopilotbusiness.ai/use-case/bathhouse-chain-4-locations-ramp-accounting-agent-smart-ocr-2-in-3-bil/Step-by-step setup guide + copy-paste prompt
> Cost: Freemium. Ramp Free covers cards and basic bill pay; the AI features here need Ramp Plus, $15 per user/month plus a platform fee (30-day trial).
Honest note: this one really is AI. Smart OCR and the Accounting Agent learn from your past coding. The results come from a Ramp-published story about a four-entity, two-country business with a three-person finance team, so a single shop will see smaller numbers. The story is also inconsistent: it says the agent codes "43%" of eligible transactions in one place and "roughly half" in another. Expect a partial win at first that improves as it learns.
Prerequisites
- A Ramp account (Plus for Smart OCR, auto-coding and more than one entity).
- QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite or Sage connected (NetSuite and Sage need Plus).
- A list of locations or entities, GL accounts, and who approves bills.
Step-by-step setup
Step 1. Give each location manager their own card. Issue a card per manager with a monthly limit. When creating or editing a card, go to Spend controls and restrictions → Add restrictions and allow only relevant categories (for example supplies and utilities).
Step 2. Send bills to Ramp. Use your Bill Pay AP email forwarding address (in the Bill Pay menu) for supplier invoices, or drag and drop PDFs into any Bill Pay tab; they land in Drafts.
Step 3. Teach Smart OCR (Plus). Open a draft bill, click the Ask Ramp icon (round icon with dots) at the bottom-right of the invoice, and type instructions in plain language, for example "Put all freight on one line" or "Code this vendor to the Toronto location". Ramp learns from your corrections.
Step 4. Set the AP Review Policy. Open Bill Pay policy settings → AP Review Policy. Edit it (or tell Ask Ramp on a bill) with rules like a vendor's payment terms. Under Automatic bill creation, choose Allow only once coding is reliable. Bills still go through your approvers.
Step 5. Turn on the Accounting Agent. Go to Accounting → Needs review → Automation settings and choose Auto-code all eligible fields (or selected fields). Set a materiality threshold and, on Plus, auto-mark transactions ready. They sync nightly.
Step 6. Make receipts easy. Cardholders can text receipts to Ramp (447-267, "HIRAMP"), email receipts@ramp.com, or use the app.
Easier: let your AI do it
Ramp has an official MCP server, a secure plug that lets an AI chat like Claude or ChatGPT look at your Ramp spending with your permission.
- An admin turns it on and controls who can use it under Integrations → Ramp MCP → Manage access.
- In Claude, add Ramp from the connector directory (one click), or add a custom connector with
https://mcp.ramp.com/mcp. In ChatGPT (Plus or Pro), use the Ramp app. Sign in to Ramp when asked. - Try: "Which card transactions from last week are still missing receipts or codes, and who owns them?"
What success looks like
Most bills arrive coded and waiting for approval, card spend codes itself per location, and month-end is a review instead of a chase.
Common issues & fixes
- No Ask Ramp icon: you're not on Plus, or you don't have permission to edit the bill.
- Agent codes too little: it needs history. Keep correcting, and leave feedback when you override.
- Card declined at a supplier: the merchant's category isn't allowed. Add an exception.
Optional: Maintenance
- Monthly: check auto-coding accuracy and adjust instructions.
- Quarterly: review card limits per location.
Copy-paste prompt
I'm setting up AI bill coding for a [NUMBER]-location business. Our GL accounts are: [PASTE]. Our main suppliers and what they supply: [PASTE]. Write short plain-language coding instructions per supplier (one line each) that I can paste into my bill-pay system, including which location and GL account to use and how to treat freight and tax lines.Sources
- Case: Ramp customer story (multi-location sauna and cold-plunge studio brand). Credit: the company's finance team (vendor-published).
- Ramp Help: Uploading invoices and bills
- Ramp Help: Bill Pay OCR and Smart OCR
- Ramp Help: AP agents in Bill Pay
- Ramp Help: Accounting Agent admin guide
- Ramp Help: Category and merchant restrictions
- Ramp Help: Ramp MCP
- Ramp pricing
Results as reported by the source; not independently verified. Community-sourced from public sites and attributed to the source platform. Original author? Ask us to correct or remove it. Read the disclaimer.