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Featuring articles chosen with YOU in mind...
11.01.08 Explore the Uncharted Waters of Contract Compliance for New Cost Savings
Now that many AP departments have become more automated, there’s more time to focus on analytical tasks. One of the next big unexplored areas for cost-savings is contract compliance. AP professionals looking to expand their role within the organization should consider focusing on contract compliance—especially if no one else is. more...
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11.07.08 10 Questions Help Nail Down All the P-Card Rebates You Deserve
One of the main sources of cost savings associated with the use of purchasing cards (p-cards) is in the form of rebates from the issuer in exchange for certain levels of card usage. Rebates are similar to the cash-back deals or bonus points or credits you get from your personal credit card company. Rebates for p-card purchases generally range from about 1 percent to 3 percent. So it’s no wonder that in a recent survey we conducted, over a third (39 percent) of respondents said that rebates were one of the most important benefits of their p-card programs. more...
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10.01.08 ACFE Report Says AP-Related Insider Fraud Is Costing a Bundle
Dishonest employees cost U.S. organizations an estimated $994 billion a year in occupational fraud losses. The average company loses 7 percent of its annual revenues to this type of fraud, according to the 2008 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud & Abuse, from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). Occupational fraud that affects AP includes creating phony invoices, tampering with checks, and padding expense reports.
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10.01.08 Sorting Out the IRS Forms for Payments to Nonresident Aliens
All payments made to nonresident aliens must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Plus, the payments are subject to federal income tax withholding unless they are specifically exempt. The reporting and withholding rules can be complicated, but a basic knowledge of the forms you need to fill out can help cut through some of the confusion.
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08.13.08 Telling the Difference Between a U.S. and Non-U.S. Payee
All payments made to non-U.S. payees (nonresident aliens) require special attention and handling. The tax laws and regulations concerning the reporting of these payments are extremely complex. To help you prepare for this year’s reporting, we’ll present a series of articles that explain the essentials of this complicated issue. more...
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08.13.08 IOMA Data Reveal P-Card Inroads Into the P2P Process
The more organizations make their p-card programs accessible, the higher will be the level of p-card spending. And that’s good, because p-card usage decreases AP’s invoice processing costs. In IOMA’s recent survey of over 250 AP and p-card pros, we asked about card program size and accessibility. That is, the survey inquired about the number of cardholders in the program, the types of employees who have been issued p-cards, and the percentage of total employees who have been issued p-cards. more...
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07.15.08 Take a P2P Perspective to Help Achieve World-Class AP Performance
How do AP departments attain world-class status in terms of costs and efficiency? One way is to take a different perspective. Don’t simply look at AP—look at the entire process, from initial purchase through to payment. This means breaking down the silos between AP and purchasing in order to work together to save the organization a bundle—and make your job easier. more...
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07.15.08 AP TECHNOLOGY: Manageable Steps Tackle a Complex AP Automation Project
The implementation of a new, automated AP system can be complex and confusing—unless it is broken down into manageable steps. At the recent RECAP/IOMA AP Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Darren Pate, director of Financial Operations at Sonepar USA, talked about some of the hard-learned lessons he acquired while implementing automated AP processes at Cameron & Barkley Co. and Hughes Supply. more...
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06.18.08 TECHNOLOGY: How to Sell Your AP Dream Project and Leverage Its Success
In the last article featured here, a veteran AP pro explained how to lay the groundwork to get the budget you deserve for your dream projects. The next challenge is to sell the project. And if you get the green light, you’re not done. There are several important steps to take that will help you leverage the success of the project into getting the OK for more.
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05.12.08 How to Get the Budget You Deserve for All Your AP Dream Projects
Does this sound familiar? You read about all of the impressive things that other AP departments are doing. Or you go to a conference and see all of the exciting new solutions designed to make your AP department run at peak efficiency. You get all pumped up to tackle a new project and shake things up, and then reality hits you smack in the face. You’re back at work, bogged down by day-to-day tasks, and you begin to think, "What’s the point of making new plans? AP never gets any money, anyway." So your dream fades away. But it doesn’t have to be that way, says one AP pro. more...
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06.18.08 AP Dept. Upgrades Its Invoice Imaging to ‘Intelligent Scanning'
Technology is advancing so rapidly that what was a perfectly adequate system a few years ago can now be antiquated. Plus, AP departments are being asked to do more with less, so a system upgrade may be just what the doctor ordered.
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12.10.08 How to Set Up a Rock-Solid Vendor Verification Program
Because AP is the gatekeeper of an organization’s disbursements, it is in the best position to screen vendors. The purpose is to make sure a vendor is legitimate in order to reduce fraud. The best way to handle this is by setting up a formal vendor verification program.
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07.15.08 P-CARDS: IOMA Benchmark Data Helps Set P-Card Audit Policies
Almost two-thirds of organizations MAP recently polled say they audit 100 percent of the monthly purchasing card (p-card) statements for all cardholders. However, this varies significantly by size of the p-card program and by industry. Of those organizations that do not audit 100 percent of the statements, the most prevalent method to use is the random, or surprise, audit. more...
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11.07.08 1099 WORKERS: Court Nixes IRS’s KO of Firm’s Plea for Sec. 530 Relief
If the Internal Revenue Service decides that workers paid as independent contractors should be treated as employees, the agency can reclassify them and hit the employer with back payroll taxes and penalties. But the IRS cannot reclassify the workers if the organization has a "reasonable basis" for treating them as independent contractors. This is what "Section 530" relief is all about. However, what constitutes a "reasonable basis" can sometimes be a bone of contention, as a new case illustrates. more...
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11.01.08 Lessons Learned From AT&T’s Switch to Paperless Invoice Processing
If you want to take the paper out of your invoice processing, take a step back and look to your overall procure-to-pay process. That’s what AT&T’s AP department did—and they converted almost all of their paper invoices to electronic form. more...
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10.01.08 Being Prepared Is the Proven Way to Survive an AP Audit
One of those horrible words every AP manager hates to hear is "audit." It means extra work and some young hotshot going through things with a fine-tooth comb, looking for something wrong. AP can be subject to government audits from the Internal Revenue Service and state revenue departments, and you may also undergo internal audits and audits by outside accounting firms. Here are some tips on what to do and what not to do during an audit.
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08.13.08 Most Important Management Issues for a Centralized AP
Moving from a decentralized AP operation into a shared services center can be a management nightmare. First, you have to be concerned about getting it up and running. Once that’s done, you have to keep it going smoothly. And then you need to move it forward. Fortunately, there are many AP pros who have gone through this—and you can learn from their experiences so that your job can be a lot easier. more...
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11.07.07 Year-End: 25 Ways to Make Form 1099 Filing Headache-Free
What is AP’s biggest nuisance at year-end? The hands-down winner is likely to be the preparation and filing of Form 1099 for your company’s independent contractors and other reportable vendors. And if you make any mistake in complying with the complicated rules and deadlines, you could trigger penalties from the Internal Revenue Service.
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07.15.08 IRS Crackdown Points Up Importance of Form 1099 Filing
The Internal Revenue Service is salivating over the prospect of finding that many employers are misclassifying employees as independent contractors. When that happens, employers can owe back payroll taxes plus stiff fines. To fend off trouble, one of the most important things an employer that classifies workers as independent contractors must do is issue Form 1099s that report the income to
those individuals. more...
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06.18.08 P-CARDS: New IOMA Research Reveals What Drives P-Card Growth the Most
A purchasing card (p-card) program benefits AP by cutting the cost of invoice processing. That’s because the p-card is used to purchase low-dollar items, eliminating all those small-dollar invoices that would otherwise have to be processed. Therefore, growing your p-card program to its optimal size—which will be different for all organizations—is the order of the day.
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01.01.08 101 Ideas to Improve Every Area of Your AP Dept.
Over 500 AP professionals responded to our recent questionnaire that asked: What was the best idea you used over the past year to enhance your AP department’s operations? more...
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11.07.07 Independent Contractors: Avoid the Hassle & Expense of Worker Status Disputes
The misclassification of employees as independent contractors has reached “epidemic” proportions, said attorney Robert W. Wood, a partner at Wood & Porter (San Francisco). more...
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05.12.08 Global AP: 14 Tips Ease the Challenges of Managing Int’l AP
When an organization goes global, AP has to go global right along with it. But you’ll fare just fine no matter what country your organization lands in if you follow the advice of Cherry Donnelly, APM, accounting operations manager at Aegon Direct Marketing Services Inc. For the last six of her 19 years at the company, Donnelly has been responsible for the AP, treasury, and cash control areas. more...
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11.07.07 Exclusive Research: Top 5 Ways to Improve Your AP Department in 2008
Improving systems and procedures is the leading strategy AP departments use to enhance their performance. This is revealed in IOMA’s latest survey of over 500 readers who told us the ideas they used over the past year that were the most successful in changing or improving their AP operations.
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11.07.07 "Big Bang" Theory a Bust For AP Automation
Washington Mutual had grown from a small, Seattle bank into a national financial powerhouse with more than 2,600 retail outlets and 50,000 employees working in four strategic business units. The company wanted to move its suppliers to electronic invoicing. In addition to the technology challenge, the company’s organizational dynamics also presented an obstacle—the company had a fractious and complex political situation.
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04.28.08 Latest Cost Benchmarks Help AP Analyze and Control T&E
One of the ways AP can add value to the organization is in the area of spend analysis. And in these tough times, one great area to focus on is T&E. After all, T&E is the second-largest category of controllable costs, after payroll. And AP is in the catbird’s seat with respect to T&E analysis. Why? Because all of the T&E cost data resides in AP. more...
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11.01.07 Exclusive Research: What Metrics Do AP Shared Service Depts. Track Most?
The key word in the term AP shared service is "service." To make sure service levels are up to par, AP managers need to monitor performance using key performance indicators (KPIs). For example, are AP staffers processing their fair share of invoices? How can you determine this if you don’t track how many invoices they process per month? Also, every AP manager wants to improve departmental performance. You can’t do this without tracking KPIs through a benchmarking initiative. more...
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11.01.07 Paper-Free AP: How One AP Dept. Went From Zero to 86% E-Payments
Best-practice AP departments seek to move their disbursements from paper checks to electronic payments. This reduces costs and eliminates the possibility of check fraud. There are a number of key considerations in moving from paper checks to e-payments. One AP department’s story should serve as a model and inspiration to other U.S. companies that are prepared to go global with e-payments. more...
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10.01.07 New T&E System: Build or Buy?
When Iowa State University (ISU) went shopping for an electronic employee reimbursement system, most of the off-the-shelf products did not meet the school’s requirements.
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10.01.07 Research Identifies New Paradigm for AP Automation
In the pages of MAP, we have presented cutting-edge ways AP managers have leveraged automation to trigger benefits far beyond those of merely improving invoice processing. These ideas include advanced discount management, spend analysis, cash management, and strengthening ties with the purchasing area and vendors.
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04.01.08 Rule Makers Look to Ease Tax Treatment of Biz Cell Phones
The Treasury Department is interested in a Congressional proposal to update and liberalize the rules governing the taxability of cell phones and other mobile communication devices provided by employers, according to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. more...
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10.01.07 How LaSalle Moved Its Paper Invoices to Front-End Imaging
It was the dawn of the new millennium, and LaSalle Bank was in the dark ages in the way it handled its invoices—it was paper-based and decentralized. In 2001, the AP department decided to move from paper invoices to imaging. But they did not go directly to their current front-end imaging setup—they first went to a back-end imaging program. Along the way, AP realized that going paperless is not just about transitioning to electronic documents—it’s about improving workflow. In the end, AP gained centralized real-time control over its invoices, streamlined processing, reduced AP staff, and significantly lowered its expenses. more...
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03.01.08 10 Best Tips for Moving AP to a Centralized Setup
Virtually all world-class organizations have moved their AP operations into a shared-services environment, according to the Hackett Group. The benefits of centralizing AP are clear—and substantial. What’s more, according to our recent research, 92% of AP shared services pros we surveyed said the actual benefit met or exceeded their expectations. The trick is making the transition. more...
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03.01.08 AP Managers’ Forum: How AP Can Cash In On 'Treasury Bonds'
AP has many ongoing problems that have to be dealt with—from preventing check fraud to eliminating rush checks. Wouldn’t it be great to find an ally in the organization who wants the same thing as you do—to make the payment process as efficient and effective as possible? more...
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08.17.07 Exclusive Research: Eight Key Trends in Electronic Invoicing
Here are preliminary results from new research we’ve conducted on electronic invoicing. This research will serve as the basis for an update to our research report, Paperless Accounts Payable: The AP Department’s Complete Guide to Electronic Invoicing. more...
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10.01.07 5 Best Practices AP Pros Use to Make Shared Services a Success
The main reason that decentralized AP operations are consolidated into a single shared services center is to reduce costs and improve customer service. Are these benefits actually being realized? And what are the keys to success? That’s what we recently asked AP pros who have had success in transitioning to shared services.
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08.17.07 AP Manager's Forum: Benchmarking Helps AP Dept. Do More With Less
When Power/mation Inc., a high-tech distributor, went through a downsizing, the accounting staff was cut in half. But it still had to eke out more cost savings and improve efficiency. more...
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08.01.07 How to Use Salary Surveys to Lure—and Keep—Good AP Workers
Salary surveys are extremely useful because they help make sure you are offering salaries that are competitive in the marketplace. Otherwise, you risk losing good AP workers, and you can have trouble recruiting additional staff. In addition, organizations use salary surveys to plan their annual merit and pay increase budgets. more...
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08.01.07 Boost Your Invoice Imaging With Data Capture Technology
At our recent conference in Chicago dealing with AP technology, several AP managers related positive experiences they have had with data capture tools—technology that reads the invoice once it’s scanned so that the data does not have to be input manually. more...
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08.01.07 REL/CFO Study: How Does Your DPO Stack Up?
Monitoring your days payables outstanding (DPO) metric is important because it is a key component in your company’s formula for calculating working capital. Companies must maintain the proper amount of working capital to pay for daily operations and to finance future growth. So if your DPO is out of whack, it will throw your company’s working capital out of whack, too—and you’ll get someone from the CFO’s office knocking on your door. more...
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02.23.06 Questionnaire Gets AP Internal Controls Into Shape for the New Year
Now's the time to kick off the new year with a checkup on AP internal controls. Corporate financial misdeeds have routinely been in the news, so it has become more important than ever to have mechanisms in place to ensure adequate corporate governance. Since AP is the gatekeeper with respect to a company’s cash outflow, it is a key player in the internal controls arena.
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01.01.07 Coping With the 5 Top Problems of a New Imaging System
The use of imaging to automate the invoice process is gaining steam, according to several surveys IOMA has conducted. Our research reveals the main problems you can expect to encounter if you implement a new imaging system--and how to overcome them. more...
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03.01.07 AP Pros and Consultants Say Automate—or Perish
At our recent 5th Annual AP Conference and Expo, MAP caught up with several AP professionals and consultants, and we asked them this question: What do you see as the major trends in AP and what does the future hold? From their remarks, one thing was very clear—and startling: AP departments must evolve from a transactional orientation to providing more value-added services. Otherwise, they will vanish. more...
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01.01.08 AP Managers’ Forum: How AP Pros Upgrade Staff Skills
In AP today, there is a lot of attention given to upgrading processes through automation. Plus, AP is evolving into more of a strategic business partner. But what about upgrading your staff? They must have the skills that match the advances you implement and support AP’s new strategic role. Savvy AP pros offered some good ideas in response to our latest AP Management Survey. more...
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06.13.07 1099 Workers: Court Nixes Company's Plea to Use Safe Harbor Over Freelance Payments
Companies have been put on the hook for millions of dollars in back taxes for paying workers as 1099 independent contractors when they should have been classified as employees subject to income tax withholding. Plus, the Internal Revenue Service is stepping up its efforts to ferret out noncompliance in this area (see the accompanying sidebar). more...
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