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10.29.08 Metrics Reveal How P-Cards Enhance AP
The average administrative cost of the traditional purchase order (PO) process (sourcing, purchasing, and payment activities) is $89. For purchasing card (p-card) transactions, that cost drops to around $19—a $70 savings per transaction. This is revealed in the 2007 Purchasing Card Benchmark Survey from RPMG Research Corporation.
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09.16.08 Issue a P-Card to AP
Don’t limit your notion to who can have a purchasing card (p-card). A cardholder doesn’t necessarily have to be in purchasing or in the business units. It doesn’t even have to be someone who does any purchasing—just as long as they’re in a position to increase usage.
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08.14.08 >>> AP Benchmarking Survey Now Open <<<
How much does it cost AP departments to process an invoice? How many invoices should AP staffers be able to process in a month? What is the average error rate for payments? You will get the answers to these questions--and a lot more—if you take part in our AP Benchmarking Survey. We’ll send you the results so you can see how your AP department stacks up against all the others.
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07.23.08 MCC Mapping of P-Card Transactions
About one in five (19 percent) of organizations we polled say they automatically map purchasing card (p-card) spending to the general ledger using MCCs, or merchant category codes. Under this method, for example, a transaction is automatically coded to an office supply account when an employee uses the p-card at Staples or Office Depot.
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07.02.08 Fighting P-Card Fraud
Slightly more than one in ten (13 percent) of organizations that use purchasing cards (p-cards) report that they experienced attempted or actual payments fraud through the use of these cards, according to the 2008 Payments Fraud and Control Survey from the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP). This is a concern, especially if you are considering growing your p-card program.
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06.20.08 Test Your AP IQ: One-Card Program
How familiar are you with AP rules, regulations, and best practices? Here’s a question to test your knowledge: What is the primary advantage of a “one-card” program (combined procurement card, travel card, and sometimes a fleet card)?
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04.15.08 Mandate Use of P-Cards
If your organization has a purchasing card (p-card) program in place—make cardholders use the cards! That’s the most important way AP and p-card pros say their organizations will grow their p-card programs, reveals our new research. Over half (56 percent) of the almost 300 respondents to our recent p-card survey said that “mandating the use of the p-card for certain transactions” was the most important factor to drive future growth of the p-card program.
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03.18.08 P-Card Blocks and Limits
As part of a program of internal controls for purchasing cards (p-cards), most organizations block transactions to certain Merchant Category Codes (MCCs). According to preliminary results of our latest survey on p-card usage, 63% of organizations polled use MCC blocking. A quarter of respondents block specific vendors. And almost all (95%) block ATMs to prevent access to cash. more...
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03.10.08 What Can Go Wrong With P-Cards?
At the Accounts Payable Town Hall meeting at our AP conference in Ft. Lauderdale last week, an attendee asked this question: “We’re interested in starting up a purchasing card program. What are the potential pitfalls?” Someone replied: “Take a look at what’s happening in Knoxville!”
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02.12.08 Watch That Plastic
Two employees used corporate debit cards as part of their overall scheme to steal $200,000 from a New York elementary school, investigators charge. The employees, who worked for the Department of Education, allegedly used four school-issued debit cards to buy $19,000 worth of “school supplies” that included cigarettes and beer, according to news reports. Investigators faulted the school’s principal and DOE supervisors for “poor oversight.”
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12.28.07 Test Your AP IQ: Sales and Use Tax on P-Card Activity
How familiar are you with AP rules, regulations, and best practices? Here’s a multiple-choice question to test your knowledge: Which of the following methods is NOT acceptable as a way to figure sales and use tax liability on p-card transactions?
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12.11.07 Improving Your P-Card Program
The benefits of a corporate purchasing card program are well documented—the elimination of invoices, lower processing costs, faster procure-to-pay cycle, and so on. So enhancing the program should be the order of the day. One way to do this is to think of the program as a consumer service with you as the provider. Out in the marketplace, how would a provider of a service make it better for consumers? One simple way: Ask them.
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11.20.07 The “Gomer Pyle” Audit Strategy
One of the most beloved characters in TV history was Gomer Pyle—that wide-eyed, good-natured country boy from the fictional town of Mayberry. One of his catchphrases was: "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" Well, that should be the policy of your audit program—partricularly for expense report filers and purchasing card holders. Just the mere thought of being selected for audit is enough to put the kibosh on fraud.
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11.19.07 Concerns Voiced Over Proposed QPCA Rules
Speakers at a Nov. 7 Internal Revenue Service hearing on proposed rules (REG-163195-05) on the Qualified Payment Card Agent program (QPCA) commented on the rules. However, most of their comments were directed to the consent rules.
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11.06.07 IOMA Launches On-Site Training for Accounts Payable
New York, NY (November 6, 2007)—The Institute of Management & Administration (IOMA) has announced the full roll-out of its on-site training programs to help organizations large and small efficiently meet their management and professional development objectives when it's convenient.
IOMA experts will work one-on-one with organizations to identify and address their specific needs. After agreeing on an organization's objectives, IOMA will pair the organization with one or more IOMA Advisory Services consultants, comprised of the nation's leading payables management authorities.
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10.31.07 Don’t Be Afraid of Ghost Cards
Happy Halloween! Today is a good day to talk about a certain kind of purchasing card—the “ghost” card. We recently asked AP pros: What has been the best idea you’ve used over the past year to improve your AP department’s operations? Here’s one answer: “We implemented paying some of our largest vendors via credit cards called ‘ghost’ cards,” reports an AP manager at a manufacturing company (19 full-time employees in AP). more...
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10.30.07 Shift to E-Payments Gains Steam--Somewhat
A best practice in AP is to move away from paper checks—and use electronic means to make payments, including ACH, wire transfers, and p-cards. This is happening—but it’s happening slowly--according to a new survey.
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10.23.07 Elements of a Best-In-Class P-Card Program
Purchasing Magazine recently conducted interviews with executives at American Express, Visa, MasterCard as well as some financial institutions that issue p-cards. One question: What makes a p-card program best-in-class? Based on the interviews, such programs:
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10.09.07 Key Factor in P-Card Success at Disney
Disney Worldwide Shared Services is considered one of the top shared services groups in the U.S. This group handles the company’s purchasing card program. In 2006, 3,500 domestic p-cards handled $74 million in purchases via 233,000 transactions. Four administrators handle all aspects of the p-card program and the T&E card program.
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09.14.07 Test Your AP IQ: P-Card Controls
To control p-card usage in order to prevent abuse and misuse, companies impose restrictions on p-card usage. What is the most commonly used restriction?
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09.11.07 Growing Global P-Card Programs
Mandating the usage of corporate cards is the key to driving growth of global card programs, reveals a report from the Aberdeen Group. Two-thirds (66%) of survey respondents cited this strategy, according to the report, Global Commercial Payment Cards.
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07.23.07 New Proposed P-Card Regulations
The Internal Revenue Service has issued new proposed regulations concerning the Qualified Payment Card Agent (QPCA) program. Among other things, the proposed regulations [REG-163195-05] say that a merchant or payee can continue to accept a qualified payment card even if that party opts out of the QPCA program.
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07.19.07 Call for Presentations: Advanced AP 2008
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07.06.07 Test Your AP IQ: P-Card Usage
Which of the following spend categories is the one most frequently handled via p-cards?
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06.12.07 P-Cards for Big-Ticket Buys
Corporate purchasing cards (p-cards) have been a best practice way to eliminate small-dollar invoices. But p-cards are now finding their place as a means for larger, recurring purchases such as temporary labor, computers, software and corporate travel.
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06.05.07 Taking Your P-Card Global
Rolling out a p-card program internationally can be a problem. That’s because each country has its own special rules and regulations. That’s what Virginia Pope, global corporate card manager at BP plc, found out. BP is in six countries and is starting to take its p-card international. Here, she gives some excellent tips on making the global move.
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05.22.07 Advancing to Best-in-Class P-Card Operations
At the recent annual conference of the National Association of Purchasing Card Professionals (NAPCP) in Palm Springs, many best practices were presented concerning purchasing card operations. But in one session, the focus was on advancing beyond best practices—into the realm of best-in-class.
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05.16.07 New P-Card Tech Tools
At the recent annual conference of the National Association of Purchasing Card Professionals (NAPCP) in Palm Springs, several new technology enhancements to p-cards were announced. While these developments may not apply to your specific p-card program, it gives you an idea of what enhancements are out there that you may want to request of your own provider.
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05.04.07 Test Your AP IQ: Ghost Cards
How familiar are you with AP best practices, rules, and regulations? Here’s a question to test your knowledge: Which of the following purchasing scenarios describes the best usage for a ghost card?
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05.02.07 Prevalence of Online P-Card Reconciliation
Companies that require purchasing card users to complete a manual reconciliation form typically find that this procedure is not well accepted. That’s why they are moving to an online p-card reconciliation tool. Half of companies say they make such a tool available to cardholders. more...
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