Right now, A/P is probably scrambling to get all of those leftover invoices off of their desks before year-end. So now’s a good time to revisit the most efficient way to get it done.
Here are some best practices that experts suggest A/P follow when distributing checks:
Avoid sending checks back to the requestor. Always mail checks to the payee. Why? First, there’s the time element. More often than not, sending checks to the requestor is a time-consuming and inefficient process.
Plus, when checks are mailed to anyone besides the payee, employee fraud can become another factor to worry about. And finally, sending checks to the requestor increases the chances the checks are lost, misplaced, undelivered, etc., which can lead to duplicate payments.
Take extra care during the mailing process. Errors crop up often during the payment process. To avoid this, checks should always be sealed before going to the final destination — post office, mailroom, etc.
Key: Make sure staffers know not to leave checks in any part of the mailroom where it’s easy for people to walk by and swipe them — especially during year-end when everything tends to be a little crazier than normal.
Keep a log with all the necessary info included. If people are physically picking up their checks, info such as check number, amount, payee, date issued, date picked up, etc., should be noted in a log.
