• FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

CFO Daily News

  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Payroll
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Finance Technology
  • More
    • Employment Law
    • Strategy
    • Policy and Culture
    • Fraud
    • Payments and Transactions
    • Budgeting and Forecasting
    • Banking
    • Staff Management
    • Cost Control
    • Supply Chain
    • IT

The expensive error Finance is most vulnerable to in July

Alyssa Pedrick
by Alyssa Pedrick
June 28, 2019
  • Credit and Collections
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

Your finance staffers watch for duplicates and other payment slip-ups all year long. But why should they be especially cautious this month?

July represents the peak time of year in terms of invoices processed, according to research from Concur. And it was during July that the most duplicate invoices were found, too. That, as you know, can lead to major (often undetected) financial loss for your company.

To avoid errors, your staffers need to know the top reasons duplicates occur and get out in front of them. Pass along these three common causes of duplicates today, plus preventive controls from A/P expert Chris Doxey:

1. The master vendor file

Your master vendor file is chock-full of info, so duplicate vendor entries may sit there … unnoticed … until they spur duplicate payments. That’s why it’s a good idea to:

  • Remove inactive vendors. Doxey recommends using an 18-month timeframe. It’s long enough to retain vendors that only invoice once a year, but short enough to avoid a cluttered master vendor file. Whatever timeframe you decide on, make sure it’s spelled out in your policy and well known amongst finance and purchasing staffers alike.
  • Consolidate multiple remittance addresses. Some vendors may have multiple remittance locations, so A/P can end up sending the same payment twice. Have staffers take a second look at these entries and always consolidate when appropriate.

2. Invoice data entry

It’s easy for staffers to mistake a “1” for an “I,” or forget the leading zeros in an invoice. But that again can lead to payment errors. Of course, the first step is making sure your company’s operating under clear formatting standards for dashes, spaces, etc. Then you should also:

  • Promote continuous training and awareness. Doxey advises using real-life examples of duplicates and overpayments to show your staff the true impact of a tiny slip.
  • Track staffers’ performance. If you’re able to implement a process or tool that monitors specific staffers’ actions, it could inspire them to be more careful when keying data.

3. Card payments

You’ve heard the old story: Your company agrees to pay a supplier or contractor via card, but they still send an invoice. That can all too easily spur duplicate payments. Here are proactive and reactive tips:

  • Clarify and document vendor payment methods. Remind A/P that if you agree to pay a certain vendor via card, pay only by card so that vendor never has any reason to send an invoice. And check that the payment method is spelled out in your contract terms, too.
  • Conduct an annual review of card payments against other payments. This will help ensure that no duplicate payments were made. And if you find any duplicates were made, your finance staffers can work to recover that money. To conduct this review, ask your card provider to supply payment data, and, if wanted, you could bring in third party to assist, Doxey says.

 

Alyssa Pedrick
Alyssa Pedrick
Alyssa, a member of the CFO Daily News staff, has written extensively on business and finance for several years. She has produced content for accounts payable professionals and finance executives and has developed whitepapers and infographics for the finance and accounting industry.

Keep Up To Date with the Latest Finance News

With CFO Daily News arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on accounting, benefits, payroll & employment law strategies.

Sign up for a free CFO Daily News membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
CFO Daily News Logo
  • ABOUT CFO DAILY NEWS
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Payroll
  • Policy and Culture
  • Employment Law
  • Fraud
  • Finance Technology
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Strategy
  • Payments and Transactions
  • Budgeting and Forecasting
  • Banking
  • Staff Management
  • Cost Control
  • Supply Chain
  • IT

CFO Daily News, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest Finance and employment law news for Finance professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, CFO Daily News delivers actionable insights, helping Finance execs understand what Finance trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

preloader