Take the AP Now Payments and Remote work poll at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PayRWPoll

She begins with a quick overview of the state of remote working in accounts payable before COVID. She then compares that to where we stood in March/April of 2020 and where we stand in September 2020, based on some very preliminary results of a poll AP Now just started. She invites listeners to take part in the poll. The goal of the poll is not only to measure where we stand today as far a remote working is concerned, but also to identify common problems (and hopefully provide some solutions to those issues.

She then moved on to the issue of payments. Paper checks are still a popular payment method in the US. Many professionals wondered if the pandemic would be the final straw the US needed to finally move away from paper checks. The answer is not completely. Paper checks, while less popular than before, still have a stranglehold on the payment process in many organizations. The goal of this poll is to see just how much.

One last issue has emerged. The use of Instant Payments (long thought a consumer payment option) for B2B payments. The poll is measuring just how frequently they are being used. 

Your participation is needed – even if you are not doing anything different. That needs to be counted also in order to get an accurate reading.

The podcast ends with a reminder that 127 Best Practices for Accounts Payable was just released and an invitation to take part in the poll – and get the results. Take the poll at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PayRWPoll

Host: Mary Schaeffer (https://www.ap-now.com/)

Credit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com 

More information about 127 Best Practices for Accounts Payable https://www.ap-now.com/products/item195.cfm  

In this episode of the AP Now podcast, Mary Schaeffer discusses new best practices required to run an efficient and effective accounts payable function. She begins by explaining that while some of the new best practices recommended are a result of what happened during the COVID crisis, others were long in the making thanks to new frauds. 

Register for AP Week: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AcPayWk 

In this episode of the AP Now podcast, Mary Schaeffer is joined again by Lynn Larson of Recharged Education. This time they discuss how someone attempted to defraud Larson by sending her Keto supplements and charging her credit card for almost $200 for them. 

Register for AP Week: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AcPayWk

In this episode of the AP Now podcast, Mary Schaeffer is joined by Marie Mills of Clear Solutions by Marie. She is an expert in Documentation and helps companies of all sizes with that issue. She shared some useful information that will help all readers do a better job with their documentation as well as those who need to get started with this often-avoided task.

The podcast began with a discussion on how important documentation is for companies of all sizes – not just large companies. Marie than talked about common documentation problems. To help listeners with their documentation projects she offered several tips on making the documentation more user-friendly and how to make the process a little easier.

At the end of the presentation, there was a brief discussion about a new product being offered by Marie’s company, Clear Solutions by Marie, to help small businesses create a contingency plan. The link for that is above.

Before signing off, Schaeffer reminded the audience to register for AP Appreciation Week (link above) During that week AP Now shares one free resource each day with participants. They are really excited this year about the first graphic novelette, Life in Accounts Payable in 2020.  

Host: Mary Schaeffer (https://www.ap-now.com/)

Guest: Marie Mills (https://clearsolutionsbymarie.com/)

Credit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Register for AP Week at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AcPayWk

In this episode, Mary Schaeffer discusses AP Appreciation Week, sometimes referred to as AP Week. She begins by explaining exactly what AP Week and why AP Now chooses to run it each year. She offers that the company shares resources that should help listeners with their careers. AP Now runs this program every year as a way of saying thank you to the accounts payable community that has supported it for the last 15 years.

The company gives away, at no cost to the recipient, one resource every day. Typically, these are articles or quizzes (with answers) and one live webinar. As in prior years, a theme is selected for the week and most of the resources revolve around that issue. This year the theme is upskilling and the need for it in an age of automation and Tuesday’s webinar will focus on that issue. We’ve also added a graphic novelette to the mix.

The graphic novelette, a book with lots of pictures and some words, is entitled Life in Accounts Payable in 2020. The pictures are a combination of graphs and sketches and include the outlook for the future.

The podcast closes with an invitation to listeners to register to participate. Listeners are also urged to share the information with colleagues, staffers, their boss, and anyone else who might benefit from participating.

Host: Mary Schaeffer (https://www.ap-now.com/)

Credit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Retweet Tuesday: Details at https://www.ap-now.com/public/Retweet-Tuesday.cfm

In this episode, Mary Schaeffer is joined by Lynn Larson to discuss the new Apple credit card, which Larson recently obtained. The session began with a note that the cards are consumer cards, not business cards – although the similarities and possible applications are discussed later in the session. Larson explained how she had not requested a physical card because she used it through her iPhone and Apple wallet. An Apple iPhone is required.

Larson then discusses the many features of the card and the ease of use. She mentions that she makes the monthly card payment directly from her phone. She then mentions the Titanium card that has created a bit of a stir in the payment community. The issue on the host’s mind, what happens if you lose your phone, is finally addressed – and the answers allay many concerns.

Before the close, there is a discussion of whether or not Apple will roll the card out into the corporate market. While this does not appear to be on the horizon, Larson points out the features that might make it appealing to the business market. Of course, a possible alternative to that would be corporate issuers adopting some of the more attractive features to their own offerings.

The session closes with Schaeffer reminding Larson that AP Now has designated Tuesday, August 4th, as Retweet Tuesday for those with an interest in accounts payable issues. AP Now will retweet as many tweets as possible that day that include the hashtag,

Host: Mary Schaeffer (https://www.ap-now.com/)

Guest: Lynn Larson (https://www.recharged-education.com/)

Credit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

In this episode of the AP Now podcast, Mary Schaeffer is joined by Kelly Paxton, who is known as the Pink Collar Crime lady. And, yes they did discuss pink collar crime. The session starts with Kelly describing what Pink Collar Crime is. Most people assume that it is crime committed by women, but that is not the case and Paxton explains the full meaning and history of the phrase.

She then shared a brief history of how her experiences and how she came to focus on Pink Collar Crime. She says that some folks are often lulled into a false sense of security wrongly thinking that somehow the place on the organization chart collates with intelligence. They are then horrified to find out that their bookkeeper was able to figure out how to manipulate around their weak internal controls.

Before offering some advice on what every organization should do to protect itself against insidious embezzlements, Paxton shares a few of her more interesting/bizarre cases. She closes by cautioning the audience that “trust is not an internal control.”

Before signing off, Schaeffer reminded the audience that the Best Practices for Accounts Payable Project AP Now is currently running. Viewers can see more information about that project at https: //www.indiegogo.com/projects/127-best-practices-for-accounts-payable-project#/

Host: Mary Schaeffer (https://www.ap-now.com/)

Guest: Kelly Paxton (https://pinkcollarcrime.com/)

Credit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Link for Best Practices for Accounts Payable Project: https: //www.indiegogo.com/projects/127-best-practices-for-accounts-payable-project#/ 

Armed with metrics to back up her theses, Mary Schaeffer explains what she thinks the future of accounts payable and accounting will look like post-COVID on the remote working front. She notes that many companies were able to collapse change that might have taken five to ten years absent the coronavirus pandemic into a few days or in some cases 48 hours.

She then spends a few minutes discussing why working remotely did not happen more frequently prior to the COVID crisis. She hones in on the lack of trust issue. She then turns her attention to the metrics that build her case, noting that AP Now completed its first Remote Working in Accounts Payable 18 months prior to the crisis. This provides a baseline to compare other metrics to and to note changes in attitude.

The data comes from weekly sessions run for a large number of accounts payable professionals and accounting managers. She compares these with a final set from another poll done of accounting professionals and controllers. Schaeffer also discusses the employee benefits (and drawbacks) associated with remote working as well as the financial benefits many companies are likely to accrue.

She closes with her predictions for the Future of The Accounts Payable Workforce. She notes this will require some changes to best practices and gives a brief overview of the Best Practices for Accounts Payable Project AP Now is currently running. Viewers can see more information about that project at https: //www.indiegogo.com/projects/127-best-practices-for-accounts-payable-project#/

Host: Mary Schaeffer (https://www.ap-now.com/)

Credit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Find out how you can participate at

in AP

In this episode Mary Schaeffer, AP Now founder is joined by Jamie Radford, CEO of the AP Association to host a distinguished panel of experts. Although from a wide variety of companies, literary from around the globe, the experiences were often quite similar. 

The panel (going in very rough geographical order) was comprised of Sandra Firman from Australia, Maciej Boryslawski from the Netherlands, Patsy Christian from the UK, Louise Guigue from Canada and Regina Italiano from the US. They discussed how their teams had dealt with the COVID crisis and working remotely. Given the differing processes, each had slightly different challenges when it came to invoice handling. The same went for technology. And of course, the US team had more issues with paper checks.

But when it came to morale, what they missed, and the unexpected positives, they had many similar experiences. The group shared some fun things they had done with their teams during the crisis. The session ended on a high note as the co-host joked about the impact of the crisis on his hair (he shaves his head) and one of the panelists shared a friend’s comment about not knowing whether they should go to Weight Watchers or Alcoholics Anonymous first when this is over.

Host: Mary Schaeffer (https://www.ap-now.com/)

Co-host: Jamie Radford (www.ap-association.com)

Credit: Music: https://www.purple-planet.com