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4.5 Review Validation Prompts

The validation process for Invoices and SOWs (statements of work) in the workflow relies heavily on the structure and content of the validation prompts. These prompts guide Azure OpenAI in verifying records, ensuring accuracy, and identifying discrepancies. This section provides a breakdown of the key components of each validation prompt.

A well-structured validation prompt is essential to ensure that the AI model correctly interprets and verifies financial records. The effectiveness of these prompts lies in their ability to capture key details, flag discrepancies, and generate actionable validation results. This section provides a review of the Invoice and SOW validation prompts, looking at their structure, and highlighting the critical components that make them effective.

Elements of an effective validation prompt

To ensure the accuracy and reliability of AI-driven validation, prompts must be designed with precision. A well-crafted validation prompt provides clear instructions, guiding the AI to verify financial records, detect discrepancies, and enforce compliance with contractual agreements. The elements outlined here will help optimize the effectiveness of validation prompts, ensuring that they deliver structured and actionable results.

An effective validation prompt should include the following key components:

  • Identification & Matching – Ensure the AI verifies invoice numbers, SOW numbers, and vendor records to match documents with system records.

  • Financial Validation – Confirm total amounts and line items against predefined contract values.

  • Timeline Verification – Check milestone due dates, overdue payments, and applicable penalties.

  • Discrepancy Handling – Provide explanations for inconsistencies, differentiating allowable variances from critical errors.

  • Compliance Enforcement – Ensure adherence to SOW policies, including penalties and billing rules.

  • Structured Reporting – Deliver results in a clear format with separate validation sections and an easily parsable Pass / Fail indicator.

Incorporating these elements ensures that AI-driven validation remains accurate, reliable, and efficient. The following sections below will review the structure and elements of the Invoice and SOW validation prompts used ßin the current workflow.

Invoice Validation Prompt

The Invoice validation prompt, located in src/api/app/prompts/invoice_validation.txt, is designed to ensure that vendor invoices align with the statements of work (SOWs) and comply with billing milestones.

You can expand the section below to see Invoice validation prompt.

Invoice validation prompt
src/api/app/prompts/invoice_validation.txt
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You are an intelligent copilot for Woodgrove Bank designed to automate the validation of vendor invoices against billing milestones in statements of work (SOWs).

When validating an invoice, you should:
1. Verify that the invoice number matches the vendor's records.
2. Check that the total amount on the invoice is correct.
3. Ensure that the milestone delivery dates are before or on the specified due date in the SOW.
4. Assess any late fees or penalties that may apply, as defined by the SOW. For example, if a milestone is late, a penalty of 15% should be applied to payment of that milestone.
5. Validate the line items on the invoice against the billing milestones in the SOW.
6. Ensure that the amount billed for each line item matches the billable amount specified in the SOW.
7. If the invoice contains notes to explain discrepancies, review them for additional context.
8. Confirm that the invoice is legitimate and ready for payment.

If there are milestones missing from the invoice that are not yet beyond their due date according to the SOW, do not flag them as discrepancies.
If the payment terms on the invoice are different from the SOW, assume the SOW is correct.

In your response:
- Provide a statement of valid or invalid for the invoice.
- Create separate sections for the invoice and the milestone validation.
- Provide a detailed summary of the validation results, including any discrepancies or anomalies found between the invoice and the SOW.
- If any discrepancies or anomalies are found, you should provide detailed feedback on the issues discovered, like including dollar amounts, line items, and due dates.
- If there are any discrepancies, flag the invoice for further review.

At the very end of the response, return only '[PASSED]' or '[FAILED]' to indicate if the invoice passed or failed validation.

Structure and Key Sections

  1. Verification of Invoice Details
    • Ensures the invoice number matches the vendor’s records.
    • Checks that the total invoice amount is accurate.
  2. Milestone and Payment Term Validation
    • Confirms that milestone delivery dates are within the agreed timeframe.
    • Assesses applicable late fees or penalties based on the SOW.
  3. Line Item Validation
    • Verifies that each invoice line item corresponds to the correct billing milestone.
    • Ensures that amounts billed match the SOW specifications.
  4. Discrepancy Handling
    • Examines invoice notes for explanations of any discrepancies.
    • Specifies that payment terms in the SOW take precedence over those in the invoice.
  5. Output Format and Conclusion
    • Generates a structured validation report, dividing results into invoice and milestone validation.
    • Provides detailed feedback on any anomalies detected.
    • Ends with either [PASSED] or [FAILED] to indicate overall validation status.

SOW Validation Prompt

The SOW validation prompt, located in src/api/app/prompts/sow_validation.txt, ensures that SOWs are correctly structured and milestones are well-documented.

You can expand the section below to see SOW validation prompt.

SOW validation prompt
src/api/app/prompts/sow_validation.txt
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You are an intelligent copilot for Woodgrove Bank designed to automate the validation of vendor invoices against billing milestones in statements of work (SOWs).

When validating a SOW, you should:
1. Verify that the SOW number matches the vendor's records.
2. Check that the total amount on the SOW is correct.
3. Ensure that the milestone delivery dates are before or on the specified due date in the SOW.
4. Assess any late fees or penalties that may apply, as defined by the SOW. For example, if a milestone is late, a penalty of 15% should be applied to payment of that milestone.
5. Validate the deliverables for each milestone in the SOW.
6. Ensure that the amount billed for each deliverable matches the billable amount specified in the SOW.
7. If the SOW contains notes to explain discrepancies, review them for additional context.
8. Confirm that the SOW is legitimate and ready for payment.

In your response:
- Provide a statement of valid or invalid for the SOW.
- Create separate sections for the SOW and the milestone validation.
- Provide a detailed summary of the validation results, including any discrepancies or anomalies found between the SOW and the milestones.
- If any discrepancies or anomalies are found, you should provide detailed feedback on the issues discovered, like including dollar amounts, line items, and due dates.
- If there are any discrepancies, flag the SOW for further review.

At the very end of the response, return only '[PASSED]' or '[FAILED]' to indicate if the SOW passed or failed validation.

Structure and Key Sections

  1. Verification of SOW Details
    • Ensures the SOW number matches vendor records.
    • Validates that the total amount specified is correct.
  2. Milestone and Payment Term Validation
    • Ensures that milestone delivery dates align with due dates.
    • Applies any late fees or penalties per contractual terms.
  3. Deliverable and Billing Validation
    • Verifies that each milestone has clearly defined deliverables.
    • Confirms that billable amounts per deliverable match the SOW records.
  4. Discrepancy Handling
    • Reviews notes for additional context on potential discrepancies.
    • Flags discrepancies for further review.
  5. Output Format and Conclusion
    • Generates a structured validation report, separating SOW and milestone validation.
    • Provides detailed summaries of anomalies and validation results.
    • Ends with [PASSED] or [FAILED] for conclusive assessment.

Summary

Both the Invoice and SOW validation prompts play a crucial role in ensuring the accuracy and compliance of financial records within the document ingestion workflow. These prompts provide structured guidance to Azure OpenAI, enabling automated validation of invoices and SOWs against vendor records and contractual agreements.

The Invoice validation prompt ensures that invoices align with billing milestones, validate payment terms, and flag discrepancies requiring further review. It effectively categorizes validation checks into invoice details, milestone verification, and line-item validation, ultimately producing a structured output with a clear pass/fail status.

Similarly, the SOW validation prompt guarantees that statements of work are correctly structured, milestones are well-documented, and deliverables are accounted for. This prompt focuses on verifying key contractual details, ensuring compliance with agreed-upon terms, and flagging any inconsistencies for further evaluation.

Both prompts exhibit validation criteria, structured output formatting, and automated pass/fail determination, streamlining the review process and minimizing manual effort. However, potential enhancements—such as improving discrepancy resolution feedback, incorporating historical cross-validation, and adapting prompts for vendor-specific policies—could be used to further optimize the validation process.

Overall, these validation prompts form a strong foundation for automating financial document verification, reducing errors, and improving compliance with vendor agreements. Future refinements can further enhance their precision, making them even more effective in enterprise-scale operations.