So maybe your A/P department isn’t ready to receive electronic invoices from every entry in your master vendor file. There’s still a way e-mail can speed your payment process.
As soon as that invoice is received in Accounts Payable, the clock is ticking. And the longer that bill sits on an approving manager’s desk, the smaller your chances of snagging that prompt pay discount.
With summer vacation season in full swing, more of those invoices may be sitting longer and longer. (Did Mark forget to call A/P to say he’d be at the beach all week?)
For starters, you want to make sure that every approving manager has a back-up approver. If you already have such a list, it’s a good idea to make sure it’s current.
From there, think about switching to electronic invoice approvals. Any A/P department with a scanner and an e-mail system can do it.
Simply have A/P scan in invoices when they arrive and e-mail to the approver.
You’ll probably want to set up a special subject line so A/P’s mail stands out in the sea of messages in their in-boxes.
Worried that’s not a secure way to send sensitive purchasing and payment info? You can’t take it on faith that other departments log out of their mail every time they leave their desks.
Consider assigning each approver a special code that only they (and A/P) know.
No code when the OK comes back to Finance? No approval.
There’s a two-fold benefit: Those approvals should come back faster than ever and invoices stay where they belong.
