Anticipating Objections to Groundbreaking AP Projects

Payment Technologies, Fraud and the Tools to Handle Both;
Anticipating Objections to Groundbreaking AP Projects;
SOX: Internal Control Reporting When Can Outside Auditors Rely on Work of AP?;
How Radio Frequency ID Tags Will Impact AP;
Special Invitation for AP Pros to Meet Their Suppliers’ Credit Mgr.;
How to Hire Smart … and Spend Less Time Doing It;
Accounts Payable Miscellany;
Accounts Payable Calendar;
Accounts Payable Managers’ Forum;

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Check fraud continues to be a major problem for companies that rely on paper checks. Speaking at several recent accounts payable conferences (IOMA and Recap) and IOMA audio conferences, BankAmerica’s Barbara Weiss offered strategies that companies can use to combat this growing problem. She addressed steps companies can take with regard to the paper checks they use as well as strategies they can employ when they make payments through means other than paper checks.
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Identifying the objections you are likely to run into is the first step toward getting a controversial groundbreaking AP project approved. Why? By identifying the objections people may have to the project, you can devise strategies to either allay their concerns or refute their complaints. However, the real trick is zeroing in on those issues before they are raised. Often, people’s objections are simply not what you expected. To help accounts payable professionals with this matter, GE, in conjunction with the running of the Advanced AP Institute, conducted a survey to determine what initiatives attendees were undertaking and the roadblocks they were running into. While the initiatives were all over the place, proving once again that accounts payable professionals are an innovative group, the objections they encountered were not. They fell into three classes: change management, resource constraints, and other.
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Companies everywhere are struggling to find ways to cope with the mounting costs of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley. In some instances, accounts payable may be able to assist in keeping those expenses under control. Here’s how.
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Radio frequency identification tags have been trumpeted to be the answer to inventory control issues. But how does it impact AP and how can you make sure you get this information from receiving in the first place? What makes this all the more urgent is the fact that Wal-Mart has required certain vendors to use these tags by the end of April. MAP believes that these tags will ultimately become the de facto method for tracking inventory in large warehouse situations. That day does not appear to be at hand—although it is only a matter of time. What follows is an update on the progress this technology is making into the corporate landscape.
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Twice a year, the Riemer Reporting Service brings together accounts payable managers from retailers to meet with credit managers from their suppliers. At the larger of the two meetings, which occurs each September as part of the larger Riemer credit gatherings, between 12 and 20 AP pros have the opportunity to discuss issues with approximately 100 credit managers.
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Most accounts payable managers have heard the advice about working smarter, not harder. In theory, the idea sounds wonderful, but in practice, it can be another story. This is especially true when it comes to hiring. With the average company experiencing turnover rates in the high teens, most managers will end up devoting more time than they’d like to the all-important interviewing and hiring process. While some managers have the process nailed down, others spend countless hours poring over resumes, interviewing, and then agonizing over that final decision. What can you do to minimize the amount of time you spend on this crucial task without adversely affecting the result? Robert Half International, in its publication How to Hire Smart, offers some practical guidance. What follows is a six-stage plan of that advice focused on accounts payable.
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• Want to reduce the phone calls coming into AP? Many companies make payment and claim data available to their suppliers on their Web sites. Of course, these are usually password protected. Yet this does not seem to have an impact on the calls coming into AP. Unfortunately, suppliers are not always aware of this recourse.
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Problem: A difficult economy typically means that companies focus more intently than ever on the bottom line. Basell USA Inc. was no different in this regard, reports accounts payable manager Jeff Sepp.
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Managing Accounts Payable