Authors: Schaeffer, Institute of Management and Administrati
ISBN-13: 9780471636953, ISBN-10: 0471636959
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
Date Published: April 2004
Edition: 1st Edition
Mary S. Schaeffer is the Editorial Director and Publisher of Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow, a newsletter devoted to payment issues. She also pens, e-News from the AP Front, a complimentary e-zine for the payment community. She's the author of ten books and numerous magazine, newsletter and newspaper articles. Her books have been used in several certification programs. She is a member of the New York Financial Writers Association. She is currently working on two additional books for John Wiley & Sons.
The fundamental structure of the accounts payable function reflects a companys financial integrity, yet so many payable operations in companies arent running at peak efficiency. Overlooking only a few weak accounts payable operations can adversely affect a companys bottom line in a number of ways, from incurring costs to resolve discrepancies and fix errors to receiving fines for failing to comply with escheat or sales and tax rules.
Accounts Payable Best Practices provides businesses and other organizations with a strong sense of where they stand against industry leaders and shows them how to take their services and organizational processes to state-of-the-art levels. Documented strategies and tactics employed by highly admired companies are presentedboth successful and unsuccessfulto illustrate the real-world functionality of each process and approach.
Every chapter features a brief explanation of the process or topic being addressed to accompany the discussion of best practices. However, for a variety of reasons, some firms arent in a position to employ best practices. To bridge the gap between the latest theory and practice, Accounts Payable Best Practices identifies "Almost Best Practices." These special sections consider that not all practices will work at every company, and they offer successful alternatives to best practices. Also included are discussions on practices that absolutely should not be used, but may be practiced at other companies.
To address the renewed interest in internal audit and controls, such as the Sarbanes-Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the mundane operational aspects of accounts payable are reviewed in a way that focuses attention on issues that are sometimes ignored, such as the master vendor file. Other coverage in Accounts Payable Best Practices includes:
Accounts Payable Best Practices is an essential resource for accounts payable managers, controllers, and CFOs at every size company.
Introduction | ||
Ch. 1 | Invoices | 1 |
Ch. 2 | Checks | 29 |
Ch. 3 | Operational | 57 |
Ch. 4 | Master vendor file | 77 |
Ch. 5 | P-cards | 97 |
Ch. 6 | Travel and entertainment | 119 |
Ch. 7 | Regulatory issues | 151 |
Ch. 8 | Cash management | 167 |
Ch. 9 | Technology | 181 |
Ch. 10 | Communications/customer relations | 209 |
Index | 229 |