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APNow episodes

  • Purchase to Pay Quick Tip #1: The Lack of Budget Compliance Headache
    Purchase to pay quick tips are a series of short best practices tips designed to help the viewer run a more efficient P2P operation. The first focuses on lack of budget compliance in the P2P process. This #P2PQuickTip is designed for #accountspayable, P2P and #accounting professionals. Procurement professionals will benefit as well.
    Do you have employees who treat the budget as a suggestion rather than hard and fast guidelines for what they can spend? Do you only find out after the fact, that they’ve exceeded budget guidelines? Since they’ve already committed the organization, you’re stuck paying the bill. Stick around while we share some tips on how to rein in these rogue purchasers who are giving you a budget compliance headache.
    Lack of budget compliance creates a huge headache for purchase to pay, or procure to pay, professionals. This often includes accounts payable. The procurement team is focused on purchasing the products needed by the organization, sometimes without regard to budget. The creates budget compliance problems when there are budget variances. Spend and budget problems create additional headaches for accounting, when purchase ledger professionals produce reports on budget variances.
    Link to Purchase to Pay Quick Tips Playlist:https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtL6rWSXZ-Hci6r3HHsWJDv8tr1z9wKqP
    Learn more about Compleat:https://hubs.ly/Q01b1z2v0
    Host: Mary Schaeffer www.ap-now.com
    3 min
  • A New Fraud: Password Stupidity [Like You’ve Never Seen Before] + Tips
    Password stupidity relates not only to not using a strong word, it can also be not taking proper care of passwords as explained in this video. Password stupidity can facilitate fraud and can cost a company a lot. In this case it was an accounting manager who tookadvantage of a weak #password system to defraud the organization by impersonating various personnel in the #accountspayable and #accounting departments.
    This new fraud was due to unmitigated password stupidity that did not rely on weak passwords but rather mismanagement that resulted in total lack of controls and segregation of duties. The issue of passwords is an important one and yet not everyone takes it seriously. As you can see from this video, ignoring strong password practices can result in a costly disaster. You can protect your organization by making sure everyone sets strong passwords.
    While just about everyone knows not to use passwords like password, 123456, their pets name etc., you would think they wouldn’t have to be warned about what I am very tactlessly calling, one of the stupidest frauds of all time. Stick around until the end when we do a quick review of what to do and not to do when selecting a strong password.
    Link to Fraud and Employee Embezzlement: 5 FBI Caseshttps://youtu.be/etcOcZi0m_Y
    Host: Mary Schaeffer (www.ap-now.com)
    7 min
  • Wordle Excel and More: An Interesting Chat about All Things Wordle
    Wordle Excel and More: An Interesting Chat about all Things Wordle was supposed to simple focus on Excel. But I had so many questions about Wordle, it quickly became Excel and More. We discussed All Things Wordle. If you are an Excel geek, #Wordle and #Excel are a natural fit. #Wordlestrategy
    If you wonder if you can solve wordle in Excel, the answer is yes. This episode will explain exactly how to use excel to come up with the right wordle solution. In this wordle interview with MRExcel, he explains how using both Excel and wordle tips and tricks. The wordle interview with Bill Jelen was a lot of fun because in addition to discussing how to use excel to solve a wordle puzzle, we discussed a number of different issues related to Wordle including Best wordle words, whether plurals are a possible answer and more.
    If you are obsessed with how to win at wordle, this session might help. Whether lookin for wordle answers or wordle expert tips for the wordle game, this wordle game strategy, will help so you don’t have to make a wordle guess. Even if you don’t want to solve wordle with excel, I think you’ll find the conversation intriguing and full of wordle tips. This Wordle assistant will help those who are looking for a different approach when it comes to how to solve wordle using excel.
    Bill’s MRExcel YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/MrExcelcom
    Link to Wordle Expert Strategy Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtL6rWSXZ-Hc5DXw7YrnGSthw0Q3y1gf8
    Link to 8 Misconceptions about APhttps://youtu.be/1Cp_vfrkSSw
    Host: Mary Schaeffer www.ap-now.com
    Guest: Bill Jelen https://www.mrexcel.com/
    16 min
  • The Accounts Payable Function of Tomorrow: The Impact of Technology
    WOW has there been a lot of change in the standard way the accounts payable function operates in the last few years. Technology is changing the way we live; it’s making our lives easier (and occasionally more stressful) and we are doing things in ways we would never have imagined just a few short years ago. Words like Uber, Airbnb, robotics, and blockchain were not part of our everyday lingo. AI was something science fiction authors wrote about and shared workspaces was an alien concept. But that is the world we live in now. It would be unrealistic to not expect the same changes in our professional lives. And of course, remote or hybrid work is now common place, rather than a privilege for a special few.
    Back in the day, when there was a new innovation or technology for the accounts payable function, it was only the very largest companies that were able to afford it. That is no longer the case. Change now impacts all organizations of all sizes generally without a huge financial expenditure. That’s why it’s critical that every accounts payable and accounting professional learn all there is to know about the change coming.
    After this session you will be able to:-Recognize where your AP function is today-Identify the issues likely to hold your AP department back-Determine what the AP Department of Tomorrow will look like (including possible new jobs for AP and Accounting)-Assess where AP and Accounting will fit in-Identify the new technologies that will be used (including terminology)-Project your organization’s impact of the evolution of invoice handling-Make changes in your payment process based on the development in payment methodologies, including new ones that didn’t exist a few years ago.-Understand the needed metrics and what all this data will mean in a new technology-enhanced AP World
    Who Should Attend:Accountants, controllers, accounting managers, auditors (internal and external), Treasurers, CFOs, CEOs, accounts payable professionals, procure-to-pay professionals, and travel managers.
    About the Instructor:Mary Schaeffer, founder of AP Now, is a nationally recognized accounts payable and payments expert. She is the author of 20 business books, including 127 Best Practices for Accounts Payable, the host of the AP Now podcast and YouTube channel and recipient of the 2021 Accounts Payable Association’s Wellbeing for Others Award.
    Before starting AP Now, a B2B media firm focused on sharing the latest business intelligence on the accounts payable and payment functions, she worked in the corporate trenches of several large finance and treasury departments.  She was a Corporate Cash Manager at Continental Grain, a Financial Risk Manager at O&Y, and an Assistant Treasurer at Equitable Life (now part of AXA). She also held the position of Executive Editor for several business publications. Ms. Schaeffer has a BS in Mathematics from York College (CUNY) and a MBA in Finance from New York University.
    7 min
  • Ways to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out
    Ways to make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out reveals 5 LinkedIn hacks 2022. If you want to know how to make your LinkedIn profile stand out, use these simple tips. Effectively, they create a LinkedIn profile optimization checklist that makes your #LinkedinProfile stand out from the crowd. These LinkedIn tips work for #accounting, #accountspayable and all types of professionals. Using these tips will really make your LinkedIn profile pop.
    So, if you want to learn how to make your LinkedIn profile stand out, update your LinkedIn profile taking advantage of the advice and insights offered. They are really simple to implement. These LinkedIn profile tips for accounts payable work for anyone. The LinkedIn profile tips are useful if you want a great LinkedIn profile 2022, taking it from a good LinkedIn profile 2022. If you are interested in making your LinkedIn profile stand out, make sure you take a few minutes to fine tune your posting to make your LinkedIn profile stand out from the crowd.
    How can you stand out from the crowd, make your LinkedIn Profile jump to the top of the list, make sure your resume is included when potential top candidates are selected. In this broadcast we’ve got 5 quick fixes, or hacks, every professional can make to their LinkedInprofile to ensure they look anything but average. All are simple to execute.
    Link to Turn Your Real-life Skills into Resume Buildershttps://youtu.be/r_5lEnNrGO8
    Link to LinkedIn Profile Playlisthttps://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtL6rWSXZ-HfZzUUl9znqBZXbb33nJmQQ
    Learn about AP Now at ap-now.com
    Host: Mary Schaeffer www.ap-now.com
    7 min
  • Burnout in Accounts Payable [Why and How to Fix It]
    Burnout in your accounts payable staff is a real issue. We’ve identified 3 issues that, ifaddressed, might relieve some of the stress leading to burnout in your accounts payable department. They are discussed and suggestions made on how they can be changed to reduce the burnout in your accounts payable team. #Burnout in #Accounting is also a concern. #accountspayable
    While burnout has afflicted many people the last few years, few companies have taken the time to look at their accounts payable operations to see how their processes might be altered to impact that issue. Work has been increasing in accounts payable departments and few companies are taking the time to assess the full impact of that increase. The resulting burnout will not only mean people quitting, but more errors, mistake that will cause an increase in the expenses associated with running the accounts payable function.
    Burnout doesn’t have to happen. By taking the steps outlined in the video, the odds of burnout happening will go down. Burnout in accounts payable, treasury and accounting will negatively impact the bottom line.
    Link to Returning Checks: An AP Time Wasterhttps://youtu.be/IUhoVx47P_A
    Buy 127 Best Practices for Accounts Payable:https://www.amazon.com/127-Best-Practices-Accounts-Payable/dp/1735100021
    Link to 3 Reasons Why Invoices Get Paid Twicehttps://youtu.be/uIAJ5V-q028
    Learn more about AP Now at www.ap-now.com
    7 min
  • Fraud Employee Embezzlement: 5 FBI Cases [How to Protect]
    Fraud employee embezzlement and how to protect it is based on 5 FBI cases ofembezzlement. Employee embezzlement happens more frequently than most people realize and usually it is because basic internal controls are not in place. This episode looks at 5 real-life cases, shares how the crimes were committed and offers suggestions on practices that might have prevented the #embezzlement. #accountspayable teams are the first line of #fraud defense and companies everywhere should be cognizant of this fact.
    The Fraud Embezzlement cases include:The Enterprising ResellerThe Bank AccompliceThe Back-to-Basics caseThe Case of Spreadsheet ShenanigansThe Multi-Faceted Embezzler
    Employees who embezzle often have access to bank accounts, procurement activity, approvals and more making it easy for them to commit their crimes, especially when appropriate separation of duties is not employed. Segregation of duties is part of the basic foundation of any fraud protection protocols.
    Employee embezzlement often goes on for years, causing the amounts involved toskyrocket. Many of the cases discussed involve organizations getting large grants making it easy for employees to hide their frauds especially when controls are weak.
    Link to How Employees Maneuver Around Approval Limitshttps://youtu.be/yXqNV0F3B48
    Playlist of all Fraud Videoshttps://youtu.be/4z7UBwVA8Bw
    10 min
  • Duplicate Payments: 5 Surprises—Not Good Ones
    Duplicate payment surprises result at 5 unexpected times detailed in this broadcast. The 5 Unexpected Times When Duplicate Payments Skyrocket (for EVERY Company) are not fun. The discussion focuses on the 5 non-routine times when duplicate payments occur. Best practice #accountspayable groups actively look for #duplicatepayments.
    Because suppliers don’t automatically return duplicate payments, it is incumbent that best practice organizations automatically and as part of their best practices stay on top of the issue. This means that in addition to their normal protocols, they need to be aware that if one or more of the 5 unexpected scenarios spelled out in this broadcast are going on in their organization, they need to take extra precautions and monitor more closely.
    These unexpected scenarios will happen from time to time in any organization. Most have gone through some or even most of them in the last few years or expect to in the near future. Hence, it is critical that they know what they are and take appropriate action, auditing for duplicate payments.
    Alas, duplicate payments can and do occur at five unexpected times as explained in this broadcast. These unexpected occurrences of skyrocketing duplicate payments are not fun. And without fail, every company encounters them. This broadcast focuses on the 5 non-routine times when duplicate payments occur, these are in addition to the regular times.
    Link Returning Checks to Requisitionershttps://youtu.be/IUhoVx47P_A
    Buy 127 Best Practices for Accounts Payable:https://www.amazon.com/127-Best-Practices-Accounts-Payable/dp/1735100021
    Learn more about AP Now at www.ap-now.com
    6 min

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Discussions about trends, insights and emerging issues impacting the accounts payable and payment functions