Accounts Payable Best Practices for Financial Professionals

Author: Mary Schaeffer

Fraud, technology, and regulatory changes all impact the accounts payable profession and not always in a good way. And now, remote work in accounts payable has become a factor all companies are grappling with. These issues require analysis and change. In the last few years, these issues have been affecting the function at a speed that’s hard to believe. They’ve also increased the visibility most organizations have into their accounts payable function. This is a good thing for without proper attention and focus, the organization could end up with an accounts payable process that is far less efficient than it should be. Unfortunately, what worked yesterday may not work today. This is especially true when it comes to fraud protection, although that is not the only area impacted. Best practices for the accounts payable function are critical for those organizations concerned about their bottom line. Poor practices result in excess cost, duplicate payments, increased processing expenses, potential fraud, and frayed vendor relationships. We learned this the hard way during the COVID crisis. This course includes a number of new best practices that reflect today’s reality of remote working and increasingly sophisticated criminals utilizing the technology we use to make our processes more efficient. Additionally, some best practices have changed as the COVID crisis revealed weak practices that should have been changed a long time ago. Alas, keeping up to speed these days can be like herding cats. While some best practices remain steadfast, others simply no longer work and are being replaced by new practices just now appearing. The truth is that companies ignore accounts payable best practices at their peril and the impact is felt on your bottom line. It’s that simple and yet some organizations continue to turn a blind eye to the leakage that occurs due to poor or inefficient process in their AP operations. Don’t be one of them!

Publication Date: August 2023

Designed For
Accountants, controllers, accounting managers, auditors (internal and external), Treasurers, CFOs, CEOs, accounts payable professionals, expense reimbursement staff, payroll professionals, procure-to-pay professionals, and travel managers.

Topics Covered

• AP Best & Worst Practices
• Weed out worst practices
• Create an efficient, effective and fraud resistant Accounts Payable process
• Invoice delivery and processing
• Payment technologies
• Regulatory issues affecting the payment process
• Travel and entertainment
• Master vendor file and the raft of new frauds focused on it
• Staffing

Learning Objectives

• Identify best practices
• Recognize and weed out worst practices
• Identify how to create an efficient, effective and fraud resistant Accounts Payable process
• Identify approximately what percent of companies receive invoices via email

Level
Basic

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Accounting (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
None

Advance Preparation
None