Managing the Cash Cycle: Accounts Payable Best Practices

Overview:

Introduction:

This 5-day program will provide a leading-edge forum for you to significantly improve your working capital management skills. You will gain a comprehensive range of very practical and highly effective tools and approaches that can be immediately implemented upon your return to work.

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

• Work effectively with the fundamentals of accounts payable.
• Understand and apply the fundamentals of effective transactional management systems
• Review and comment on payment methods and cash management
• Understand the need to incorporate risk and uncertainty into transactional processing and cash flow management
• Identify best practice across all industries by examining case studies from across the globe

Targeted Audience:

• Finance Executives
• Accountants
• Others who are working within Transactional Finance, Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable process or who wish to develop a practical toolkit to complement their existing professional or technical skills

Course Outlines:

Unit 1: Accounts Payable, Financial Accounting, and the Supply Chain:

• Accounting and financial information: Accounts Payable in context
• Sources of finance
• The supply chain
• Financial position and financial performance
• Cash flow and Working Capital
• Why is cash flow so important?

Unit 2: Achieving World Class in Accounts Payable Processes:

• Defining Best Practice in AP
• Moving beyond P2P
• Managing Risk
• Principles of Best Practice
• End to End AP Process
• Defining the issues in Accounts Payable

Unit 3: Improving Invoice Processing and Operational Management:

• Invoice Handling and Approval Processes
• Verifying invoice data
• Paying “low value” items
• How to avoid duplicate payments
• Making the best use of staff time: limiting telephone calls to AP
• Does Petty cash management belong in Accounts Payable?

Unit 4: Harnessing Technology in Accounts Payable Processes:

• Master Vendor File Management – getting it right from the start
• Travel & Entertainment
• Policy management
• Cash advances and employee reimbursement
• Process improvement through imaging and workflow
• Using the internet for AP effectiveness

Unit 5: Making the Payments and Maintaining the Relationships

• Communications & Customer Relations
• Payments status information for vendors and internal customers
• Improving Procure to Pay(P2P)Cycle
• Payments and Payment Solutions: Accounts Payable or Treasury?