P-card rebates — like the cash-back deals consumers get from their personal credit cards –  can secure your firm anywhere from 1%-3% in savings off of purchases. But the amount of savings varies depending on four main factors:

• the volume and amount of the purchases and the number of p-cards issued
• the speed of your payment
• the average transaction size, and
• whether or not your company purchases certain high-priced goods.

Of course, depending on how much you’ll earlier have to pay your p-card bill — and how much you’ll actually save — it may not be worthwhile from your firm to take advantage of a rebate.

A quick cost-benefit analysis of the available rebate or rebates let you know if it’s a good idea to expedite the payment of your p-card bill.

Readers, does your company cash-in on p-card rebates? Tell us about it in the Comment Section.

Many of peers appear to be doing just that. A new benchmark report from CAPS Research revealed some troubling findings about supplier dependency.

Here’s what the report discovered:

• Only 18% of companies have a formal policy that limits how much business they can give to one supplier, and
• Less than 50% of companies track supplier dependency.

To avoid becoming too dependent on a single supplier, experts suggest that companies draft a policy which limits the amount of business you can give one supplier to around 35%.

Readers, does your company have a limit on how much business you can give a single supplier?

Why? Regulatory agencies such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve have ramped up their analysis of small lenders in attempt to uncover trouble assets and keep the local banks in good financial health.

Agencies are asking lenders to increase capital and loan-reserves. This in turn means that they must be more discerning when it comes to doling out loans.

However, community banks are still lending to small businesses. Lenders just expect more info — on a more frequent basis.

So, if you’re looking for a loan, be prepared to provide more than routine financial info (sales figures, etc.), as well as info about your customers’ financial health.

Best best: Forge a partnership with your lender and check-in often — even when things are going smoothly and there’s no problems to report. Providing additional info may be time consuming — but it may help the lender defend your credit line should a regulatory agency question it.

Huntington National Bank has committed to doling out $4 billion in new small business loans over the next three years.

The loans are expected to affect 27,000 customers – with an average loan of around $150,000.

So how do you find out if you qualify?

The good news is that Huntington is willing to lend – even if your firm hasn’t been consistently profitable. Just don’t expect the process to be a snap.

Huntington plans to take enough time to understand the innerworkings of an applicant’s business to make its decision – instead of relying just on credit scores, industry/geographical trends, etc., like most loan programs.

The many hard-hit firms looking to capitalize on these “turnaround loans,” will need to provide detailed answers to the following questions:

1. What factors caused your problem?

2. How did your company respond?

3. What is your firm’s current outlook?

If you’re unable to cash in on loans from any of Huntington’s 600 mid-western branches, it’s still a good a idea to keep an eye on the program. If it’s successful, other banks are likely to offer similar opportunities.

In addition, recommending this option to your hard-hit customers is a great way to bolster loyalty and good will.

Simple, right? Your company orders goods, they arrive, the bill comes, you pay it. Not always.

Sometimes things get a little – or even a lot – muddier. Payment disputes can be tricky and when not handled properly, can land your company in court.

So how good are you at knowing when to pay and when not to pay an invoice?

Check out the facts of the three payment disputes below and decide whether you would pay the bill or not. Then see how the court actually ruled.

Scenario #1

A company wasn’t satisfied with the quality of a supplier’s goods, so it let them know in a series of e-mail exchanges with the vendor. When the company finally decided it had had enough, it announced it was terminating the relationship, despite an outstanding balance. The vendor cried foul, saying the company had to cancel the contract in writing, by mail, as per the contract. The company maintained that the supplier was well aware of the problems and that the dozens of e-mails were sufficient notice.

Would you pay this invoice?

You should have – a court ordered the company to pay the outstanding balance. The contract was clear: The relationship had to be terminated by a written, mailed notice. It didn’t matter how many previous e-mails crossed back and forth. That didn’t change the requirements.

Cite: Valspar Refinish Inc. v. Gaylord’s Inc.

Scenario #2

This company received and accepted a shipment of products from its supplier. It was only after the standard window for disputes passed that the buyer’s customers started complaining that the supplier’s products were defective. The company contacted its supplier and refused to pay the outstanding balance. But the supplier insisted it was too late to object.

Would you pay this invoice?

You should not have. The court ruled the company was justified in holding back the final payment. Not only that, but it ruled the company was owed a full refund plus damages. The judge’s stance: It was certainly reasonable that the company (or its customers) would have to try out the products before it noticed some defects.

Cite: Courey International, Inc. v. Designer Floors of Texas, Inc.

Scenario #3

A company promptly notified its vendor of a defective shipment. The supplier billed them anyway. When the company said it wouldn’t pay the balance, the supplier argued that there were two recourses in case of a defective shipment:

• Let the supplier correct the problem, or
• Request a credit to the account.

Nonpayment was not an option, maintained the supplier. But the customer disagreed.

Would you pay this invoice?

You probably shouldn’t have … as long as your company is willing to fight it out in court. The court refused to make the customer pay the outstanding balance. But it also wouldn’t rule the company was correct in not paying – the case will either have to go to trial or be settled out of court.

Cite: Holley Performance Products, Inc. v. Smith-CNC China Network, Co., et al.

That’s according to the latest research by The Aberdeen Group.

Here are the three greatest sources of improper payments, as well as how to keep your firm from falling victim to them.

1. Billing/invoice errors. Here’s where the bulk (70%) of improper payments arise. While simple keying mistakes are very common, no company wants to pay hand over fist for these errors.
   To limit your risk: Automate whenever possible. This includes everything from electronic invoicing to automating recurring payments and everything in between.
2. Supplier/vendor errors. From a sales rep writing down the wrong amount to an AR rep being unaware of a certain discount, there is no shortage of communication errors that can occur with a supplier.
   To limit your risk: Even though it requires some extra legwork, it may be worth it have purchasers look over invoices — line item by line item — to make sure you’re getting exactly what was agreed upon.
3. Duplicate bills. Forty-four percent of the companies that made an improper payment say they paid the bill twice.
   To limit your risk: Make sure your master vendor file is spotless — each vendor is only entered once, the system is periodically purged, etc. It may also be worthwhile to institute a standardized way for staffers to enter vendors into the master file.

Sure, master vendor files need vital info like addresses, contact info, TINs (Tax Identification Numbers) and paid invoices, so everything AP staffers need is right there when they need it.

But these materials are guaranteed to save AP time — and headaches — should a vendor problem or question come up.

• Contract. When pricing errors or disputes occur, your written contract has the potential to clear up a problem before it even starts.
• Dates and terms of discounts. How long does your company have to take advantage of an early-pay discount? Does the discount only apply to certain purchases?
• Limits and restrictions. Making sure your firm has minimum/maximum purchase limits in place for vendors can prevent inaccurate or duplicate-payment info from leaving your AP department.
• G/L info. Including General Ledger numbers in master vendor files can help out come month-end close.
• Sale tax items. It’s a good idea to check if any purchases from the vendor are exempt and include related certificates. Also, there’s possible tax implications if your company ever moves items purchased across state lines or uses them in its facilities.
• AP Comments. Taking the time to let employees know if a certain vendor happens to make the same invoice mistakes over and over again can be very helpful down the line.

According to Ernst & Young, over two-thirds (67%) of execs said they’d suffer if one of their top three suppliers went under.

What’s worse, by the time most firms catch wind of any trouble with their top suppliers, it’s already too late.

In the past, you’d get six months – sometimes even 12 – from the time a business started showing red flags or dangers ’til the time the business actually failed.

Given the current economic climate, that time frame has been reduced to weeks or, in worst cases, days.

Best bet: Frequently check on key suppliers — the same way you check on key customers — by looking at their most current financial info.

While this may be a little extreme, Ernst & Young believes businesses should have audit authority over key suppliers’ books.

PC Magazine recently dubbed three business desktops as “green bargains.” The winning PCs offer a mix of good value and energy saving features for a greener office.

While the energy-saving features of these computers are sure to please more Eco-aware staffers, it’s the value that’ll make finance chiefs happy. Due to recent cuts by manufacturers, some of the prices have been slashed by nearly 40%.

The criteria for a “green” computer includes a mix of fast processing power, which lowers power demand and heat; ample hard-drive space; and compact size.

The PC Magazine-winning PCs, with bargain prices ranging from $553 to $1,373, are:

1. HP Compaq’s dc7900 Ultra-slim
2. Lenovo’s ThinCentre M57p, and
3. Lenovo’s ThinkCentre A62.

These PCs work great in offices where workers don’t need extra juice and space for music and video — i.e., the majority of finance offices.

The number of newly approved 7(a) loans (the most popular SBA loan program) sold on the secondary market shot up to 35% in Feb. — the latest month that figures were available. That’s an 11% increase from January’s figures.

These figures come from the Government Accounting Office. And the future numbers are projecting even higher.

Why? President Obama’s speech about using $15 billion of federal funds to free-up the secondary market, as well as two rule changes that occurred in March and temporarily cut fees for small-biz owners and boosted the maximum guarantee put up by the feds on certain small-business loans (from 85% to 90%) are cited as major factors in the thaw.

But there are still major concerns. For example, the Small Business Administration has been dragging its heels when it comes to implementing measures to stimulate lending and loans on the secondary market.

Examples: The SBA missed a March 4th deadline to create a secondary market for 504 loans and failed to honor a March 19th deadline to create regulations for SBA-backed loans on broker-dealers in the secondary market.

Small business experts fear that if these issues aren’t resolved in a timely manner, the secondary market could freeze up again — in an even worse way than before.