Key takeaways
- Upload a supplier's bill as a PDF or photo, or forward it to your account's own bills email address. AI reads it into a draft, and a person always reviews it before anything is paid.
- Every bill is checked by rules in code: a duplicate of a bill already paid is blocked, and new bank details or a new wallet for a supplier you've paid before must be confirmed by a person.
- A checked bill is one action, Approve and pay, from your USD or EUR Global Account. The supplier can be paid in USD, EUR, GBP or AED by bank, or in USDC, USDT or EURC to the wallet on their invoice.
- If your business uses payment approvals, a member's bill goes to an admin to approve and pay with their own passkey.
The short answer
In AlignPay, open Bills and drop in a supplier's invoice, or forward it to your account's bills email address. AI reads the supplier, amount, due date and payment details into a draft and marks anything it isn't sure of. Code then checks the bill for duplicates, changed bank details and lookalike suppliers. You review it beside the original, and pay it in one step with Approve and pay.
Step 1: Add the bill
- Upload it. Drop a PDF or a photo anywhere on the Bills page. Files up to 4 MB are accepted, in any language.
- Or forward it. Each business gets its own bills address, shown with a copy button on the Bills page. Forward supplier emails to it: each attachment the reader recognises as an invoice becomes a draft bill, and logos and terms sheets are skipped. Any sender is accepted, because every emailed bill is a draft a person reviews.
The bill opens straight away while it's being read. A clean PDF usually takes seconds; a phone photo a little longer.
Step 2: Let it be read, twice when unsure
The first read scores how sure it is of each field. If a key field, such as the supplier, invoice number, amount, due date or bank details, is uncertain, or the bill is a photo, a second, more careful read starts afresh without seeing the first. Any field the two read differently is marked Check, with both values shown.
Then code checks the result against the document itself:
- Payment details and key figures must appear in the bill's own text.
- An IBAN must pass its check digits, and a wallet address its checksum.
- The line items and tax must add up to the total.
- The due date can't be before the issue date.
A failed check marks the field with the reason. It never changes a value for you.
Step 3: Review the fraud checks
The checks below run on every bill, as rules in code: what's printed on a bill can't argue its way past them.
| Check | What happens |
|---|---|
| A duplicate of a bill already paid or being paid | Blocked: there's no Pay button until it's resolved |
| A possible duplicate (same supplier, amount and currency) | Flagged for you to look at |
| New bank details, or a new wallet, for a supplier you've paid before | Flagged; paying needs your explicit confirmation |
| An account that's saved for a different payee | Flagged in red |
| A supplier name within two letters of a known supplier | Flagged in red |
| An emailed bill from a domain that looks like a known supplier's | Flagged |
| The account holder's name doesn't match the supplier | Flagged |
| The bill says its bank details have changed, or pressures you to pay today | Flagged, with the quote |
| An amount over twice the supplier's largest bill | Flagged |
Before you confirm a change of bank details, call the supplier on a number you already hold. The guide to supplier bank detail changes sets out a full process.
Step 4: Approve and pay
On a wide screen, the bill sits beside the form so you can compare every field with the original. Choose the recipient: the supplier's saved account, or one created from the invoice's details, which goes through the same checks as any new recipient. Then press Approve and pay, and confirm with your passkey.
- Bank payments go out in USD, EUR, GBP or AED from your Global Account, and the bill is linked to the payment, so it shows as paid once the payment completes.
- Bills that ask for USDC, USDT or EURC are paid from your USD or EUR Global Account too. Align picks the route from what you hold; if the payment has to cross networks, the fee is shown before you pay and the supplier receives the bill amount in full.
- A payment made outside the button is offered back on the bill as a possible match, never linked by itself.
Two people can't pay the same bill at once: a payment that's started holds the bill for 30 minutes.
If your team uses approvals
If your business requires approval for members' payments, a member's bill is sent for approval instead of being paid. Every admin is emailed, and the request waits on Home. An admin pays it with their own passkey, or declines it with a reason. See team roles and payment approvals.
What isn't there yet
Scheduling a payment for a later date, recurring bills, partial payments, and paying several bills as one bulk payment aren't available yet.
Sources
- Align, Bill pay and Security
- Align, Team and approvals
Common questions
- Does the AI pay bills by itself?
- No. The AI fills in the bill and flags what looks wrong. Nothing is paid until a person reviews the bill and approves the payment with their passkey.
- Which files can I upload?
- A PDF or a photo of the bill, up to 4 MB, in any language. You can also forward supplier emails to your account's bills address; each attachment the reader recognises as an invoice becomes a draft bill.
- What happens if a supplier's bank details have changed?
- The bill is flagged. Paying a supplier you've paid before at an account you haven't paid them at needs an explicit confirmation, and the check is made against the accounts saved before the bill arrived, so saving the new details doesn't clear it. Confirm the change with the supplier on a phone number you already hold before you confirm it in Align.
- Can I pay a bill in a currency other than USD, EUR, GBP or AED?
- You can record it and mark it paid, but Align pays bills in USD, EUR, GBP and AED by bank, or in stablecoins to a wallet on the invoice.
- Will the supplier see the invoice number on their statement?
- Not always. Payments from your Global Account don't carry a payment reference, so the invoice travels with the payment as a document instead. If your supplier matches payments by reference, tell them the amount and date to expect.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and providers' terms change; check the sources linked above and take advice on your own situation.