Why procurement breaks at agent speed
Procurement is probably the most fragmented workflow in the enterprise. Buyer, requester, finance, supplier, the supplier's own suppliers, freight, customs, and AP all sit on different systems, each with their own approval rules. Once an agent starts handling sourcing decisions, the audit trail usually falls apart: emails to suppliers, quotes in PDF attachments, POs in the ERP, invoices in a separate AP system, payment in treasury. None of it connects.
A2A Procurement runs the whole chain on signed envelopes. The buyer agent signs the RFQ. Each supplier agent signs its quote with a price-validity window. The finance agent signs the PO. The ERP records the agreed-terms fingerprint. When the invoice lands, that fingerprint has to match, or the AP agent flags it before payment goes out.
PO-to-pay, on one rail
1. Signed RFQ
Buyer agent broadcasts a structured RFQ envelope. Supplier agents respond with signed quotes + validity windows. No more "the quote expired" disputes.
2. Signed PO
Finance agent signs the PO bound to the accepted quote hash. PO terms cannot drift in transit. The ERP records the hash as the source of truth.
3. Three-way match, automated
When the invoice lands, the AP agent verifies invoice hash against PO + receipt-of-goods envelopes. Match → release payment. Mismatch → exception queue.
Extends ProcureLock. If you're already running ProcureLock for PO-to-pay attestation, A2A Procurement is the agent-facing wire format on top of it. Same receipts, new clients.
Three-tier pricing
- Per-PO billing
- RFQ + quote + PO envelopes
- Three-way match receipts
- Email support
- Unlimited POs/month
- Custom approval workflows
- ProcureLock integration included
- Buyer-side did:hive identity
- Custom did:hive issuer namespace
- SAP / Oracle / Coupa adapters
- Audit dashboard for CFO + auditor
- Dedicated integration support
A2A Procurement vs the status quo
| Step | Today (PDF/email) | A2A Procurement (Hive) |
|---|---|---|
| RFQ broadcast | PDF attachments, varied templates | Signed structured envelope |
| Supplier quote | Email reply, free-text terms | Signed quote · price-validity window |
| PO issue | ERP-side draft, manual approval | Finance agent signed · bound to quote hash |
| Goods receipt | Warehouse scanner, batch upload | Signed receipt-of-goods envelope |
| Invoice match | Manual or rules-engine | Hash match · automatic release |
| Audit trail | Per-system fragments | End-to-end ALCOA+ receipts |
Frequently asked
Do we need to replace our ERP or AP system?
No. A2A Procurement sits on top of your existing ERP and AP. We ship adapters for SAP, Oracle, Coupa, NetSuite, and Workday on the Enterprise tier. The signed envelopes get written back to the source-of-record system as structured fields. Your ERP stays the system of record, and A2A Procurement adds the signed audit chain.
How does this differ from ProcureLock?
ProcureLock is the human-driven and integrator-driven PO-to-pay attestation rail. A2A Procurement is the agent-facing wire format that runs on the same underlying receipts. Same crypto, same audit, just a different client. Many customers run both: people use ProcureLock, agents use A2A Procurement, and all the receipts land in the same vault.
What happens to supplier agents that aren't on Hive?
The supplier side has two integration modes. In native mode, the supplier runs an A2A Procurement agent and signs quotes directly. In compatibility mode, the supplier responds through the old email or PDF flow and the buyer-side bridge agent builds a signed envelope on receipt. Compatibility mode lets you bring on the long tail of suppliers without forcing them to integrate anything.
Is this admissible for Sarbanes-Oxley audit?
The receipts follow ALCOA+ data-integrity standards, the same bar used in FDA review, with eIDAS 2.0 advanced electronic signatures. Major Big-4 auditors accept ALCOA+ chains as primary evidence for SOX 404 segregation-of-duties testing. We can provide an auditor briefing pack on the Enterprise tier.
How does pricing work for thousands of POs?
Per-PO at $5 stays flat no matter the volume on the Hire tier. The Rent and Lease tiers have unlimited volume. The break-even point versus Hire is about 200 POs a month for Rent and about 2,000 POs a month for Lease. Most mid-market customers land on Rent, and most enterprise customers land on Lease.
Can this handle direct-material spend (not just indirect)?
Yes. The envelope schema supports BOMs, lot and batch identifiers, the supplier-of-supplier chain (so you can trace where a component actually came from on a signed receipt), and freight and customs handoffs. Direct-material customers typically also use the StormLock parametric-trigger rail for supply disruption clauses.
Ready to put procurement on a signed rail?
Order from the Bazaar (USDC on Base 8453) or talk to us about the Enterprise tier.