Course Outline
- The important role of Accounts Payable (AP)
- The meaning of managing accounts payable
- The functions of management
- The big picture: accounts payable and the financial health of organizations
- The functions of the accounts payable department and the role of AP staff
- Accounts payable impact on working capital and cash management
- Accounting essentials for accounts payable
- Accounts payable terminologies
- General ledger and sub-ledger
- Preparing for month-end close and accruals
- Accounts payable processes and best practices
- Invoice handling and routing
- The three-way matching
- Methods of payment processing
- Maintaining the vendor master file
- Travel and Entertainment (T&E)
- Procurement Cards (P-Cards)
- Electronic payment options
- Key topics in accounts payable management
- Operational analysis and benchmarking
- Continuous process improvement
- Developing performance metrics
- Applying best practices in your organization
- Identifying proper internal controls
- The annual audit as an added-value
- Impact of AP outsourcing
- Detecting fraud in accounts payable
- Disaster recovery planning
- The behavioral side of managing accounts payable department
- Improving the image of the AP department
- Ways to motivate AP staff
- Organizing the AP department
- Closing the communication gap
- Dealing with internal and external disputes
- Importance of internal customer service
- Providing customer service to vendors
- Accounts payable department as a real business partner
- When should we pay our suppliers
- Understanding cost of funds
- Evaluating early payment discount
- Pros and cons of early or late payments
- Relationship with the treasury department
- Using Microsoft Excel in managing accounts payable
- Interface between the accounts payable system and Excel
- Using pivot-tables to extract valuable information
- Preparing and analyzing accounts payable aging
- Accounts payable role in improving suppliers commercial terms