Its All about Your Bottom Line: Developing Accounts Payable Issues and Practices (Course Id 848)

Both the business world and more specifically, the accounts payable function are going through a massive upheaval. These changes, if not recognized and dealt with appropriately and in a timely manner can have a huge negative impact on any organization’s bottom line. This course takes a deep dive into the developing issues impacting the AP function of every company. The issues evaluated in this course are critical to those who want to run a cost-effective, efficient, fraud-resistant AP function.

Course Learning Objectives

• Pinpoint problems that arise when best practices are ignored in AP
• Implement a best practice AP policy
• Create procedures that address new issues impacting AP function
• Create a best practice policy to address new invoice receipt issues
• Develop an efficient process to handle emailed invoices
• Devise a plan to weed out duplicate copies of the same invoice
• Implement an ACH payment program
• Develop a policy to use ACH to handle all Rush payments
• Build a process to supply remittance information with ACH payments
• Expand an existing ACH payment program
• Develop strategies to convince suppliers to accept electronic payments
• Avoid the hidden surprises that can destroy an ACH payment program
• Create a best practice receipt requirement policy
• Use a new receipt policy to deter fraud and identify expense report abusers
• Identify common tricks used by some employees to pad their expense reports
• Develop procedures to prevent your company from being hurt by ACH fraud
• Implement a vendor portal to improve AP’s efficiency
• Utilize a self-service policy suppliers’ information
• Eliminate the possibility of change of account fraud
• Create a scoreboard to monitor AP activity
• Utilize big data to better analyze procurement data
• Take advantage of data analytics to improve payment and payables functions
• Pinpoint all the issues that need to be addressed in a BYOD policy
• Create a realistic BYOD policy that addresses your company’s needs
• Identify common BYOD concerns and develop policies to address them
• Pinpoint the reasons internal controls fail and address them
• Identify the control problems in the payment process
• Spot the control problems in the AP process
• Detect common control issues around personnel
• Recognize new terminology and technology in use in AP
• Reorganize the AP function to take advantage of new technology
• Implement procedures to ensure compliance with all the regulatory issues
• Create a Dynamic Discounting program
• Pinpoint the skill sets and personnel likely to be successful in AP in the future
• Implement a customer service approach in the AP department
• Identify the needed skills you or your staff might

Chapter 1
Changing Best Practices: No Longer a Static Set of Rules

• Pinpoint problems that arise when best practices are ignored in AP
• Implement a best practice AP policy
• Create procedures that address new issues impacting AP function

Chapter 2
The Evolution in the Invoice Environment

• Create a best practice policy to address new invoice receipt issues
• Develop an efficient process to handle emailed invoices
• Develop a game plan to stop vendors from sending multiple copies of the same invoice
• Devise a plan to weed out duplicate copies of the same invoice

Chapter 3
The Business Community Takes a Giant Step away from Paper Checks: Electronic Payments

• Implement an ACH payment program
• Develop a policy to use ACH to handle all Rush payments
• Build a process to effectively supply remittance information with electronic payments

Chapter 4
Electronic Payments: Expansion and Innovation

• Expand an existing ACH payment program
• Develop strategies to convince suppliers to accept electronic payments
• Avoid the hidden surprises that can destroy an ACH payment program

Chapter 5
Expense Reimbursement Receipts: The Bombshell Issue Many Don’t Expect

• Create a best practice receipt requirement policy
• Utilize the new meal receipt policy to combat fraud and abuse
• Use a new receipt policy to deter fraud and identify expense report abusers

Chapter 6
Emerging Payment Frauds, both Large and Small

• Identify common tricks used by some employees to pad their expense reports
• Develop procedures to prevent your organization from being hurt by electronic payment fraud
• Prevent employees from submitting the cost of gift cards for personal use on their expense reports

Chapter 7
Vendor Portals in Accounts Payable

• Implement a vendor portal to improve AP’s efficiency
• Utilize a self-service policy suppliers’ information
• Eliminate the possibility of change of account fraud

Chapter 8
Advances in Technologies Provide New Data Insights

• Create a scoreboard to monitor AP activity
• Utilize big data to better analyze procurement data
• Take advantage of data analytics to improve payment and payables functions

Chapter 9
Unique Challenges Created by Personal Devices (Smartphone, Tablets and Who Knows What Else)

• Pinpoint all the issues that need to be addressed in a BYOD policy
• Create a realistic BYOD policy that addresses your company’s needs
• Identify common BYOD concerns and develop policies to address them

Chapter 10
Often-Overlooked Internal Control Breakdowns

• Pinpoint the reasons internal controls fail and address them
• Identify the control problems in the payment process
• Spot the control problems in the AP process
• Detect common control issues around personnel

Chapter 11
The New Vocabulary in Use in Accounts Payable (and Elsewhere in the Business Community)

• Recognize new terminology and technology in use in AP

Chapter 12
The Accounts Payable Function of Tomorrow

• Reorganize the AP function to take advantage of new technology
• Implement new procedures to ensure the company can do comply with all the regulatory reporting required
• Create a Dynamic Discounting program

Chapter 13
The Future of the Professionals Working in and Managing the Accounts Payable Function

• Pinpoint the skill sets and personnel likely to be successful in AP in the future
• Implement a customer service approach in the AP department