Topics
Featured Topic: Management and Career Development
Managing Vendor File Costs Organizations $1,000 Per Supplier Per Year
Article • posted 01/27/12
The old expression is "garbage in, garbage out." If you want to have accurate information to report on, keep your master vendor file clean and updated. Continue…
Sales & Use Tax
Sales & Use Tax: States Go Easy on Individual Consumers, But Are Tough on Businesses
Article on Sales & Use Tax • posted 09/12/11
Hope is on the way for AP professionals who are burdened with the task of determining tax liability when vendors don't charge tax. Many states are beginning to require that remote sellers collect tax on their sales. Continue…
P2P: Purchase to Pay
P2P Solutions Allow for Auto-Matching with Little Human Intervention
Article on Case Studies • posted 12/07/11
With P2P, employees and vendors have better visibility into the accounts payable process, and can track where invoices are in the payment cycle. Continue…
Invoice Processing
Which Way to Go? Imaging or E-Invoicing?
Article on Automating AP Functions • posted 12/05/11
What's the right choice? The reality is, It depends on each organization’s processes and supplier community. Continue…
Technology
How Quickly Can You Access Archived Tax and Legal Files?
Article on Benchmarks • posted 08/15/11
If you had to pull out a tax record from 1999, how long would it take you to do it? See how your archiving methods stack up against other companies of your size. Continue…
Travel and Expenses
Benchmark: Number of T&E Report Payments Processed Per Month Per AP Staffer
Resource on Benchmarks • posted 03/29/11
In the 2010 survey, the average number of T&E report payments processed per month per AP staffer is 1,262, with a median of 350 (Figure 16). Companies in the 90th percentile are accomplishing an average rate of 2,387, almost twice the overall average. Continue…
Master Vendor File
Is Your Master Vendor File Ready for a Cleaning?
Article • posted 11/13/10
This time of the year is a good time to consider implementing the best practice of purging the master vendor file. That is, vendors with no recent history should generally Continue…
Purchasing Cards
How AP Handles Sales & Use Tax on P-Card Transactions
Article • posted 11/10/10
Sales and use tax liability can be sneaky when purchasing cards (p-cards) are used. It’s easy to miss accruing use tax on individual transactions that get lumped together onto one Continue…
- Metrics Reveal How Much P-Cards Streamline P2P
- How Companies Fend Off ‘Rampant’ Payment Fraud
- IRS Urged to Give Relief From 1099 Reporting of P-Card Transactions
- New IOMA Research Suggests P-Cards Have Room to Grow
- 7 Key Factors for Building a Strong P-Card Policy Manual
- 50 Ways AP Can Cut Costs and Be More Efficient in 2009
Payment Processing
Reducing Payment Errors Using Ideas to Fit Any Budget
Article • posted 11/11/10
Despite their best efforts, AP departments continue to be plagued by erroneous payments. The ever-increasing number of AP audit and payment recovery firms is evidence of the fact that this Continue…
- Which ACH Services Can You Get at Discount Prices?
- Survey Reveals Incidence of Check Fraud Is Down a Bit
- OFAC Triggers New International ACH Payment Rules
- 10 Reasons Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Automate AP
- How Companies Fend Off ‘Rampant’ Payment Fraud
- Must-Have Policies to Follow for Making Payments
- How to KO a Common Payment Processing Bottleneck
Internal Controls
14 Cash Application Best Practices to Ensure Internal Control Compliance
Article on Accounts Receivable • posted 04/01/11
Cash application appears on first glance to be a straightforward process: applying customer payments to open receivables. A host of issues, however, can lead to time-consuming headaches, customer relations problems, Continue…
- How AP Can Avoid Getting a Black Eye From the Auditors
- What to Do About Fraud Perpetrated by Someone in AP
- Survey Reveals Incidence of Check Fraud Is Down a Bit
- What to Do to Avoid T&E Red Flags
- Sales & Use Tax: Beware the Risks of Noncompliance
- How Companies Fend Off ‘Rampant’ Payment Fraud
- Time to Take a Fresh Look at AP’s Overall Control Picture
- How to Set Up a Rock-Solid Vendor Verification Program
Invoice Processing
Special Invoices Equate to Special Challenges
Article on Invoice Processing • posted 07/14/11
IOFM Education Director Pam Miller offers her tips on how to ease the burden of "Pay alone" invoices. Continue…
Staff Management
AP Pros Reveal How to Boost Productivity Without Wrecking Morale
Article • posted 11/12/10
Improving productivity has become an ongoing goal for AP departments everywhere. But how can this be done—and measured accurately—without damage to staff morale? MAP sifted through responses to recent surveys Continue…
- What to Do About Fraud Perpetrated by Someone in AP
- Key Angles to Consider When Combining Two AP Departments Into One
- What Specific Tasks Does AP Handle—And Who Does What?
- 25 Ways to Reorg AP & Boost Productivity
- How to Use Training to Get AP Staff to Peak Efficiency
- Layoffs: How to Make the Most of a Difficult Situation
- 12 Ways One AP Pro Turns ‘Change Resistors’ Into ‘Change Champions’
Department Management
Benchmark: Effects of Automation on AP Metrics
Resource on Benchmarks • posted 03/29/11
Consistent with past survey results, the 2010 AP Benchmarking Survey confirms that automation improves many of an AP department’s key performance metrics, depending on the level of automation. Continue…
- How One AP Pro Uses Process Mapping to Improve Operations
- AP Pros Reveal How to Boost Productivity Without Wrecking Morale
- 25 Best Practices for Planning an AP Automation Project
- Key Issues to Consider Before Outsourcing Any AP Process
- What Specific Tasks Does AP Handle—And Who Does What?
- New Study Reveals Salary for AP Directors Now Averages $98.5K, AP Managers $68K
- How to Upgrade Your AP Department’s Image
- 25 Ways to Reorg AP & Boost Productivity
Customer Relations
Sample Agreement to Help Improve Customer Service and Relations
Article • posted 11/13/10
AP departments, particularly in a centralized or shared-services setup, should use a service level agreement (SLA) to manage their operations. A very basic SLA is provided here as a sample—feel Continue…
- How One AP Manager Eased Her Company’s Cash Flow Woes
- New Demands of AP Can Mean a Bright Career Future
- Using Automation to Reduce Invoice Errors and Exceptions
- How to Upgrade Your AP Department’s Image
- How to Manage the Relationship With an AP Outsourcing Provider
- How to Set Up a Rock-Solid Vendor Verification Program
- How Closely Are Vendors Eyeing Your Invoice Deductions?
Cash Management
12 Ways Accounts Payable Can Ease Your Company’s Cash Flow Woes
Article • posted 02/09/11
Is money tight at your company? Here's how you can help preserve cash while still keeping your vendors happy. Continue…
- Which ACH Services Can You Get at Discount Prices?
- Aberdeen Research Reveals E-Payables Metrics and Trends
- IOMA Study Reveals AP Practices for Taking Invoice Discounts
- How One AP Manager Eased Her Company’s Cash Flow Woes
- RMA Study Examines Statistics for Days Payables Outstanding
- Which Bank Charges Can You Get at Markdown Prices?
- 50 Ways AP Can Cut Costs and Be More Efficient in 2009
- Cutting-Edge Way to Capture Elusive Invoice Discounts
- AP Pros Reveal How They Reap the Benefits of P-Cards
- How Does Your DPO Stack Up?
- CFO Study Reveals DPO Metrics Relatively Unchanged
Automation
New Survey Reveals the Effect of Automation on AP Operations
Article • posted 11/13/10
The reason that automation is the hottest topic in AP today is because of its power to cut costs, improve productivity, and reduce error rates. In our recent survey Continue…
- Aberdeen Research Reveals E-Payables Metrics and Trends
- 25 Best Practices for Planning an AP Automation Project
- Moving in Stages to Touchless Invoice Processing
- Assembling an Automation Toolkit to Revamp Your AP Department in 2010
- Aberdeen Study Reveals Best-in-Class T&E Management
- 10 Reasons Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Automate AP
- Using Automation to Reduce Invoice Errors and Exceptions
- Using ERS to Make a Huge Chunk of Your Invoices Vanish
- IOFM/IOMA Research Examines AP’s Use of Automated Workflow
Accounting
How Long Does It Take AP to Close the Books?
Article • posted 11/12/10
It takes AP eight days on average to close its books at year-end, reveals an IOMA report, Improving the Financial Close 2010. Naturally, the monthly and quarterly closes should take Continue…
