Stepping Into Chaos: What To Prioritize When Everything is Broken

By Chris Dritsas, Longtime AP Leader 

You’ve just been hired to “fix” the AP department. Stakeholder confidence is low, processes appear to be broken, and a variety of other issues are causing internal mayhem.   

Before you run away screaming, take a deep breath and realize the problems can usually be traced back to immature or inconsistently followed processes. This breakdown is not uncommon and can be overcome with the right plan. 

With 25+ years of AP management experience, I have seen all kinds of workplace challenges. Regardless of the specific situations, the following 30-day plan has enabled me to address the issues, overcome deficiencies, regain stakeholder confidence, and establish best practices.  

Day 1 Goals: 

As a precursor, establish your baseline before you change anything. Pull 90 days of whatever quality data you can gather. Ideally, you want invoice volume, cycle time from receipt to approval, past-due balances, supplier inquiry volume, etc. (If data takes long to compile and/or the data quality is problematic, that alone tells you a lot.) Remember, improvement can’t be documented without a starting benchmark.  

Week 1 Goals: 

• Identify the players: your team, peers, stakeholders in the business, etc. 
• Determine what the various deliverables are in your AP arena. 
• Make your initial presence known through emails, personal calls, etc. 
• Schedule/conduct one-on-one calls with the “players” to get their feel for what’s working well and what their pain points are. Document these calls well and focus on your immediate staff first! 

Ask for existing documentation: SOPs, desk procedures, DOA/approval matrices, and the most recent internal or external audit findings. Note every place where the written process and actual practice diverge; that gap is usually where the dysfunction lives. 

Week 2 Goals: 

• Resume and conclude the one-on-one calls. 
• Meet individually with staff members to learn the key aspects of their roles and tasks. Perform some of these functions on your own for first-hand experience. 
• Repeat this process for the entire week. 

Review controls and system configuration: duplicate-payment detection, segregation of duties between vendor master maintenance and payment release, and your bank-detail change verification process. Fraud exposure outranks efficiency in the priority queue. 

Week 3 Goals: 

• Evaluate your findings to highlight items/areas needing attention. 
• Identify “quick wins” and start on those first. This should help build momentum and begin to restore lost confidence with your stakeholders. 
• Remember to communicate those wins to your stakeholders! 

Prioritize these items in order of criticality. Separate symptoms from root causes before you commit to fixes. Late payments are a symptom; an approval workflow with no escalation path is the cause. Solving symptoms guarantees rework. 

Week 4 Goals: 

• Continue your pursuit of the quick wins. 
• Perform a deep dive into the critical items that will require more time and attention. Include your team, peers and stakeholders as needed. They play a vital role in this phase of the process. Document this phase in as much detail as possible. 
• Develop a game plan to address these items and begin the improvement process. 

At this point, you may be tempted to reorganize the team or replace technology inside the first 30 days — you are still gathering facts. Resist the urge. Second, never let a quick win go uncommunicated; confidence is rebuilt in small, visible increments. 

Week 5 Goals: 

• Deliver a one-page closeout: baseline metrics, the top five issues with their root causes, quick wins already banked, and a 90-day roadmap with named owners and dates.  
• Establish a monthly metrics review so progress stays visible without you having to sell it. 

AP chaos is rarely about people. It’s more commonly about a process that was never built or fully followed. Thirty days won't fix everything, but a disciplined approach gives you facts instead of assumptions, early wins instead of excuses, and a roadmap your stakeholders can hold you to. Start there and good things will follow.