(And Why Agentic AI Ruined His Plans)
Every year, right around the holidays, finance teams brace themselves.
Not just for year-end close.
Not just for audits.
Not just for backlogs that mysteriously double.
They brace for something worse.
Manual work.
And that’s when the Grinch shows up.
He doesn’t hate Christmas.
He hates automation that thinks for itself.
He loves spreadsheets. He loves inboxes. He loves processes that depend on people remembering things, forwarding things, and following up … eventually.
Because nothing creates chaos like work that waits.
Meet the Modern Grinch
This Grinch doesn’t steal presents.
He steals:
- Time
- Attention
- Focus
- Momentum
He hides in accounts payable (AP) queues full of invoices that “need review.”
He lurks in accounts receivable (AR) aging reports waiting for someone to follow up.
He hangs around risk workflows that rely on manual checks and after-the-fact reviews.
The Grinch thrives when work is passive.
“Someone will get to that.”
That’s his favorite phrase.
The Old Way: When Work Just Sat There
In Whoville Finance, automation existed. But it had limits.
Invoices were captured, but exceptions waited.
Payments were processed, but only after approvals chased people down.
Collections were tracked, but reminders depended on someone pressing “send.”
Risk checks happened, but often after the damage was done.
Everything required a human nudge.
The Grinch grinned.
Because traditional automation doesn’t act.
It waits.
Then Agentic AI Arrived in Whoville
One year, Whoville Finance did something bold.
They deployed Agentic AI – AI that doesn’t just automate tasks but initiates them.
This wasn’t rules-based automation.
This wasn’t a dashboard that waited for clicks.
This was AI that understood goals, monitored conditions, and acted.
The Grinch froze mid-sneer.
Why the Grinch Hates Agentic AI in AP
In AP, Agentic AI didn’t just process invoices. It:
- Detected exceptions and resolved them automatically
- Routed approvals based on context, not static rules
- Followed up when approvals stalled
- Learned from past decisions to reduce future exceptions
Invoices didn’t sit idle.
They moved.
The Grinch tried to bury work in the queue.
The AI cleared it.
Why the Grinch Really Hates Agentic AI in AR
The Grinch loved AR delays.
Unpaid invoices.
Missed follow-ups.
Collections that depend on someone remembering to check aging reports.
But Agentic AI changed the game. In AR, it:
- Monitored payment behavior continuously
- Triggered outreach at the right moment, not too early, not too late
- Adapted messaging based on customer behavior
- Escalated risk automatically when patterns change
Cash didn’t wait.
It flowed.
The Grinch muttered something about “people needing to be more forgetful.”
And Then Came Risk Mitigation (The Grinch’s Worst Nightmare)
The Grinch thrives in gaps.
Between systems.
Between checks.
Between “we should probably review that.”
Agentic AI closed those gaps.
Instead of periodic reviews, risk mitigation became continuous. The AI:
- Watched transactions, vendors, and behaviors in real time
- Flagged anomalies as they emerged, not weeks later
- Took preventative action before losses occurred
- Learned what “normal” looked like and spotted what didn’t
Risk wasn’t discovered.
It was intercepted.
The Grinch panicked.
The Big Difference: Work That Doesn’t Wait
Here’s what finally broke the Grinch.
Agentic AI doesn’t wait for:
- Someone to notice a problem
- Someone to start a workflow
- Someone to remember what to do next
It acts.
It nudges, escalates, resolves, and improves, continuously.
For finance teams, that means:
- Fewer manual touches
- Faster cycle times
- Better cash visibility
- Reduced exposure to fraud and errors
- Teams focused on decisions, not drudgery
The Grinch hates initiative.
Agentic AI is nothing but initiative.
What Happened to the Grinch?
He tried everything.
More exceptions.
More emails.
More “urgent” requests.
But AI didn’t get overwhelmed.
AI didn’t forget.
And it didn’t slow down during year-end.
In the end, the Grinch didn’t steal productivity.
Because finance teams stopped relying on work that waits and started relying on AI that acts.
And somewhere in Whoville Finance …
Cycle times shrank.
Cash arrived sooner.
Risk went down.
And teams finally got their time back.
The Grinch?
Well, his heart didn’t grow three sizes. But his backlog did. See how Itemize’s Agentic AI helps finance teams automate AP, accelerate AR, and reduce risk, without adding complexity.
