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Finance

How much does an AI agent cost to run Accounts Payable?

Token cost benchmark for an autonomous Accounts Payable agent, across 24 models. Prices as of 25 Oct 2026.

An agent for Accounts Payable on the clean path costs about $0.0385 to $3.85 per outcome depending on the model, around 49x the cost of a single chat message. At 10,000 outcomes a month that is roughly $385 to $38,500.
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Cost per outcome by model

Model$/1M in$/1M outCost / outcomeCost / month*
Claude Haiku 5.5$0.10$0.50$0.0385$385
GPT-6 Luna$0.10$0.50$0.0385$385
Llama 4 Maverick$0.25$0.87$0.0917$917
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash$0.30$1.20$0.112$1,119
Gemini 2.5 Flash$0.30$2.50$0.128$1,275
Mistral Large 3$0.50$1.50$0.180$1,805
Gemini 3.8 Flash$0.75$3.75$0.289$2,888
Claude Haiku 4.5$1.00$5.00$0.385$3,850
DeepSeek V4 Pro$1.32$3.96$0.477$4,765
Mistral Large 4$1.36$4.18$0.492$4,922
Gemini 2.5 Pro$1.25$10.00$0.526$5,262
Grok 4.7$2.00$6.00$0.722$7,220
Claude Sonnet 5.5$2.00$10.00$0.770$7,700
Claude Sonnet 5$2.00$10.00$0.770$7,700
GPT-6.1 Sol$2.00$10.00$0.770$7,700
Gemini 4 Argon$2.00$10.00$0.770$7,700
Gemini 3.1 Pro$2.00$12.00$0.794$7,940
Claude Sonnet 4.6$3.00$15.00$1.16$11,550
Claude Opus 5.5$4.00$20.00$1.54$15,400
Claude Opus 5$5.00$25.00$1.93$19,250
Claude Opus 4.8$5.00$25.00$1.93$19,250
Claude Fable 5.1$10.00$50.00$3.85$38,500
Claude Fable 5$10.00$50.00$3.85$38,500
GPT-6 Astra$10.00$50.00$3.85$38,500

*At 10,000 outcomes per month. Cheapest model highlighted.

What this agent does

The clean-path steps this benchmark prices:

  1. Capture & Digitize
  2. Validate Vendor & PO#
  3. Duplicate invoice?
  4. Fraud red flag?
  5. Code GL & Tax
  6. PO on invoice?
  7. Three-way Match
  8. Match in tolerance?
  9. Rush / expedite?
  10. Approve payment?
  11. Vendor on hold?
  12. Record Payable
  13. Period-end cutoff OK?
  14. Early-pay discount?
  15. Schedule Payment
  16. Payment cleared?
  17. Reconcile & Report

What drives the cost

This path runs 17 steps: 4 tool calls, 2 reasoning steps, 10 decision points and 1 automated system step (no AI). Tool steps make two model calls each, and the agent re-reads its growing context on every call. That compounding is why one Accounts Payable outcome costs about 49x a single chat message ($1.16 on Claude Sonnet 4.6), not the price of one message.

Why these numbers matter.

How this benchmark is calculated

These figures are modeled estimates, not metered bills. We price a generic, representative Accounts Payable workflow across 24 models using the same cost engine as the live estimator, at each model’s published list price (checked 25 Oct 2026), under documented default assumptions for planning loops, tool calls, memory retrieval, sub-agents and context size. Your own process will differ, so use these as starting points, tune the assumptions in the estimator, and validate against your real usage. Illustrative estimates, not financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an AI agent cost to run Accounts Payable?

On the clean path with default assumptions, an agent for Accounts Payable costs about $0.0385 to $3.85 per outcome depending on the model, or roughly $385 to $38,500 per month at 10,000 outcomes. The cheapest model here is Claude Haiku 5.5 at $0.0385; the most expensive is GPT-6 Astra at $3.85.

Why does an AI agent cost more than a single chatbot message?

An agent does not make one model call. It plans, calls tools, retrieves context and re-reads its growing working context on every step. For Accounts Payable that adds up to about 49x the cost of a single chat message.

Which model is cheapest for Accounts Payable?

Across the 24 models benchmarked, Claude Haiku 5.5 is cheapest at $0.0385 per outcome and GPT-6 Astra is the most expensive at $3.85. A cheaper model is not always the right choice, but it sets the floor for this workflow.

How can I reduce the cost of an agent for Accounts Payable?

The biggest levers are prompt caching on the base context, fewer planning loops, smaller tool results, less retrieval, and choosing a cheaper model where quality allows. You can test each lever in the live estimator.

What is this Accounts Payable benchmark based on?

These are modeled estimates, not metered bills. Each figure prices a generic, representative Accounts Payable workflow across 24 models with the same cost engine as the live estimator, at each model's published list price (checked 25 Oct 2026), under documented default assumptions for planning loops, tool calls, memory retrieval, sub-agents and context size. Your own process will differ, so treat these as starting points, tune them in the estimator, and validate against your own usage.

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