Larkspur Industrial Supply is a 60-person distributor of industrial fasteners and MRO parts in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This plan was prepared on November 7, 2026.

Worked example: how a 60-person distributor's AP specialist handles 3.4× the work.

Larkspur has one accounts payable specialist and is hiring a second at $48,000 to $54,000. With the six changes below, the specialist it already has handles 3.4× the work.

The biggest of the six changes is that an inbox agent enters every invoice, which takes back 11.1 hours a week. Together the six changes take back 28.3 of the role’s 40 hours.

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28.3 of 40 hours a week come back

3.4× the work from one person

The AP specialist’s 40-hour week, task by task. Raspberry is the time that comes back.

28.3 of the AP specialist’s 40 weekly hours go to work AI can carry.

One AP specialist costs $66,300 a year: the $51,000 salary midpoint plus 30% for payroll taxes and benefits. The posting lists six tasks, and this table shows the hours each one takes and how many of those hours AI and better process take back.

Hours a week by task, and how much AI and better process can take
What the posting asks for Hours a week AI and process can take Hours back
Invoice entry in QuickBooks Online 13.0 85% 11.1
PO and receipt matching 8.0 65% 5.2
Vendor emails and statements 6.0 70% 4.2
Payment runs 5.0 50% 2.5
Month-end close and AP aging 5.0 70% 3.5
Vendor setup, W-9s and 1099s 3.0 60% 1.8
Total 40.0 28.3

Hours come from the tasks listed in the posting and the time those tasks take at a company of 60 people. On the Planning Call we replace them with your person’s real week.

Cost per invoice today
$8.50
Cost per invoice with the six changes
$2.50
Invoices one person handles per week
150 to 510

Six changes take 28.3 hours a week off the role.

  1. An inbox agent enters every invoice.

    11.1 hours a week back

    Today Invoice entry in QuickBooks Online, 13 hours a week.

    Invoices arriving by email or PDF get read, coded to the right GL account and drafted in QuickBooks Online. Your specialist reviews a batch and approves it with one click.

  2. Matching runs on its own.

    5.2 hours a week back

    Today PO and receipt matching, 8 hours a week.

    Every invoice is checked against its purchase order and the receiving record automatically. Only quantity and price mismatches reach your specialist, with the difference already worked out.

  3. Vendor emails come pre-answered.

    4.2 hours a week back

    Today Vendor emails and statements, 6 hours a week.

    Payment status questions, statement reconciliations and remittance confirmations get drafted from your own AP data. Your specialist reads each one and hits send.

  4. Month-end close is drafted for them.

    3.5 hours a week back

    Today Month-end close and AP aging, 5 hours a week.

    AP aging, accruals for received-not-invoiced goods and the close checklist are prepared from live data, so AP close takes an afternoon instead of three days.

  5. Payment runs build themselves.

    2.5 hours a week back

    Today Payment runs, 5 hours a week.

    The weekly run is assembled from due dates, terms and early-pay discounts, then routed to Dana for approval in one step.

  6. New vendors onboard themselves.

    1.8 hours a week back

    Today Vendor setup, W-9s and 1099s, 3 hours a week.

    A setup packet collects the W-9 and banking details, checks the TIN format and flags anything missing. 1099s are ready to file in January.

Building these, training the AP specialist and making the change stick is the Role Remake. This plan is the first step of every one we do.

The inbox agent codes and matches a morning’s invoices before the AP specialist starts work.

This is the inbox agent’s queue for one Tuesday morning. It reads each invoice that arrived overnight, codes it to the right account, matches it to its purchase order and receiving record, and queues it in QuickBooks Online. The AP specialist approves the clean ones in one click and spends the morning on the two that need a decision.

4 ready to approve in QuickBooks Online

2 sent to your specialist with the difference worked out

Inbox agent: invoices received overnight
InvoiceVendorAmountCoded toPO matchStatus
INV-20931 Midwest Fastener Co. $4,812.60 5010 Inventory purchases PO 4471, received in full Ready to approve
88214 Red River Freight $1,186.00 6120 Freight in BOL 30917 Ready to approve
INV-7740 Prairie Steel Products $9,304.25 5010 Inventory purchases PO 4459, 12 units short Check: quantity
T-55102 Tulsa Packaging $642.18 6210 Shipping supplies PO 4480 Ready to approve
OZ-1187 Ozark Industrial Supply $2,275.40 5010 Inventory purchases PO 4476, price $0.40 over Check: price
10442 Green Country Electric $318.90 6410 Utilities Recurring, no PO needed Ready to approve

The AP specialist can use these two prompts today.

Paste either one into Claude or ChatGPT with this week’s vendor email or exception list, with bank and tax numbers removed. Both work whether or not you hire us.

Answer a "where's my payment" email

Use it when a vendor asks when they'll be paid.

You are the accounts payable specialist at Larkspur Industrial Supply. Below is a vendor's email and our current AP aging export. Find every open invoice for this vendor, tell me which are scheduled in the next payment run and which are past terms, and draft a short, friendly reply with exact invoice numbers, amounts and expected pay dates. Do not promise a date that is not in the export. If an invoice is missing from our records, say so and ask the vendor to resend it.

Vendor email:
[paste]

AP aging export:
[paste]

Summarize this week's invoice exceptions for the owner

Use it when you are preparing the Friday payment run.

Below is this week's list of invoice exceptions (price mismatches, quantity mismatches, missing POs, duplicates). Write a five-line note for the owner: total dollars on hold, the three largest items with what we need from whom, anything that will cost us an early-pay discount if not cleared by Tuesday, and one line on any vendor that shows up repeatedly. Plain language, no bullet symbols, numbers exact.

Exceptions:
[paste]

Remaking the current role saves the $66,300 a year a second specialist would cost.

A second AP specialist costs $5,525 every month you employ them, for as long as you employ them. A Role Remake is one fixed fee, paid once.

Hiring another AP specialist compared with a Role Remake
MeasureHire another AP specialistRemake the role you have
What it costs$51,000 salary, $66,300 a year with taxes and benefitsOne fixed fee per role
When you pay itEvery year you employ themOnce
Time to full speedRecruiting, then three months of ramp-up30 days, or 14 working days on Fast Track
Who carries the riskYou do, if the hire does not work outWe do: at least 2× in 30 days, or we keep working for free
What you keepA second salary on the payrollSkills, agents and a trained person, all inside your own accounts
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A recent client’s accountant now handles 3× the work.

The client kept the $200,000+ it had budgeted for new hires.

Work handled
3×
Hiring budget kept
$200k+

Twice the output in 30 days, or we keep working for free.

In days 1 to 3 we map the role’s tasks with the AP specialist and count the work completed on those tasks in the most recent full week. That count is the day-0 baseline. On day 30 we count the same tasks the same way. If the AP specialist is below twice the baseline, we keep working at no charge until they reach it. We call it the 2x-in-30 Guarantee.

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Day 0 1.0×
Day 30 3.4×
Output on the same tasks, measured the same way. The line marks 2×, where the guarantee is met.

On day 30 you get a scorecard like this one.

The scorecard puts day 0 and day 30 side by side for every mapped task. It is the number the guarantee is measured on, and it is yours to keep.

Larkspur Industrial Supply

Accounts Payable Specialist: same tasks, measured the same way

Hours to complete one week of each task on day 0 and the day-30 target
Task, one week of itDay 0Day 30 target
Invoice entry in QuickBooks Online13.0 h2.0 h
PO and receipt matching8.0 h2.8 h
Vendor emails and statements6.0 h1.8 h
Payment runs5.0 h2.5 h
Month-end close and AP aging5.0 h1.5 h
Vendor setup, W-9s and 1099s3.0 h1.2 h
One week of the role's work40.0 h11.8 h
Invoices one person handles in 40 hours150510

Productivity on day 30: 3.4×. The 2x-in-30 Guarantee is met at 2.0×.

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Send the role. Josh builds your plan with your numbers and records a short video walking you through it.

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The plan is free, and Josh sends it by the next business day with a short video walking you through it.

to forward to a partner or your controller.

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