Putting the AP in hAPpy

We keep hearing in the news when companies have experienced a breach either due to malware, ransomware or social engineering. To reduce the potential for fraud some companies, may even yours, have removed vendor banking from the Accounting System/ERP completely. Can we do the same with Vendor SSNs? And how can you get help with your W-9’s and use a discount code to save? Keep listening. Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or...

Are you getting ready for the IRS B-Notices that are soon to be heading your way? Are you dreading that because you know your Vendor Master File is in need of some help? What steps should you take to Clean Your Vendor Master File? Keep listening. Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing authentication, internal controls and best practices to it from fraud. Subscribe today to be entered in the subscriber-only monthly...

You require and successfully collected the W-9. Yay! Are you performing the recommended validations? I have 7 to share with you. Keep listening. Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing authentication, internal controls and best practices to it from fraud. Subscribe today to be entered in the subscriber-only monthly drawing to win a free Putting the AP in hAPpy Coffee Mug. Links mentioned in the...

Ever thought of automating your W-9 collection process? Listen to the podcast where guest John Croyle, Founder, W9 Manager talks about how he solved what can be a year-end headache and get information on the IRS 1099-NEC. Stay tuned until the end for a listener only bonus! Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing authentication, internal controls and best practices to it from fraud. Subscribe today to be entered in...

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board PCAOB defined Segregation of Duties as “Assigning different people the responsibilities of authorizing transactions, recording transactions, and maintaining custody of assets is intended to reduce the opportunities to allow any person to be in a position to both perpetrate and conceal errors or fraud in the normal course of his or her duties.” So, what do you do if you company does not have enough employees to comply with Segregation of...

Each time I make a change to any of my personal accounts online, I receive a notification that at a minimum, says a change was made to my account and if I didn’t initiate the change, to contact them (hopefully not via a link in the email). Some sites go as far as preventing the change unless I confirm through email or go to the account and change a setting first (thanks Google :-)). Coming up next how you can implement the same in your Vendor Setup & Maintenance Process. Check out my...

Even though the IRS has revised the W-9 form again (the latest version dated October 2018), Accounts Payable (AP) professionals know that the form needs to be collected in order to add a new vendor or in some scenarios, to update existing vendors. And, according to a recent survey by an AP Solutions company, more than two-thirds of AP professionals are validating the Legal Name and Tax ID on the W-9 by performing an IRS TIN Match. What’s more, vendors know the IRS Form W-9 is a...

If you are a small or medium-sized business, you do not want to miss this episode. I have a guest and we are talking about how his company is bringing Robotic Process Automation to companies just like yours with a different investment strategy and outlook on automating your processes. Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing authentication, internal controls and best practices to it from fraud. Subscribe today to be...

If you are a small or medium-sized business, you do not want to miss this episode. I have a guest and we are talking about how his company is bringing Robotic Process Automation to companies just like yours with a different investment strategy and outlook on automating your processes. Stick around for a special offer only given to the Putting the AP in hAPpy Podcast listeners! Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing...

Based on my experience as an AP Manager for both medium and large-sized companies, I know firsthand that creating and updating desktop procedures can be a very tedious process. The benefits though, which include increased adoption of fraud prevention processes, do outweigh the drawbacks. Stick around until the end for bonus content on how creating or updating your desktop procedures can help reduce the potential for fraud. And talk about how to get a New Vendor Add Desktop Procedure...

Identifying the correct Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure can assist Accounts Payable in improving processes, identifying problem areas, and becoming more efficient. Well, I talk about 14 KPIs for AP Vendor Maintenance. Stick around until the end because the bonus KPI will help your ROI! Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing authentication, internal controls and best practices to it from...

Identifying the correct Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure can assist Accounts Payable in improving processes, identifying problem areas, and becoming more efficient. Well, I talk about 11 KPIs for AP Vendor Maintenance. Stick around until the end where I will recommend 6 KPIs from Vendor Master File Data that your Procurement or Sourcing team may be interested in. Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing...

In some ERPs like PeopleSoft and SAP, vendor addresses can be validated real-time, geocodes and tax code identifiers can be added to the vendor record. If you don’t use a system that has that capability, or even if you do, it does not standardize the address. This can result in a vendor master file where the addresses are based on which team member entered them such as “P.O. Box” vs “PO Box” or the non-standardized “Suite 500” being on the second address line vs “STE 500” on the first line...

It’s common practice for Accounts Payable (AP) Vendor Maintenance to call the vendor when there is a change requested to the vendor’s bank account. There is no shortage of fraud being reported, for AP teams not to know that additional validation protects companies from making fraudulent payments. The question is: Are AP teams driving up the volume of required vendor confirmations by not adding additional authentication processes because the vendor will be called to confirm the change...

In my last two blog posts “Check Payment Method? Still Needs to be Protected from Cybercriminals” and “4 Steps to Protect Your Vendors Banking from Being Changed by a Cybercriminal Includes a Critical Step Most Companies Leave Out” I identified additional steps that will need to be done when making changes to existing vendor data. In fact, many of the fraud prevention techniques I recommend to protect the vendor master file from fraud require additional steps. And, since less than 30% of...

In my last two blog posts “Check Payment Method? Still Needs to be Protected from Cybercriminals” and “4 Steps to Protect Your Vendors Banking from Being Changed by a Cybercriminal Includes a Critical Step Most Companies Leave Out” I identified additional steps that will need to be done when making changes to existing vendor data. In fact, many of the fraud prevention techniques I recommend to protect the vendor master file from fraud require additional steps. And, since less than 30% of...

Has your company experienced a fraudulent payment? Whether the answer is yes or no, you will want to implement these four (4) steps to prevent fraudulent payments resulting from cybercriminals redirecting legitimate vendor check payments to a fraudulent remit address. Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing authentication, internal controls and best practices to it from fraud. Subscribe today to be entered into the...

Has your company experienced a fraudulent payment? Whether the answer is yes or no, you will want to implement these four (4) steps to prevent fraudulent payments resulting from cybercriminals redirecting legitimate vendor payments to their bank account. Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing authentication, internal controls and best practices to it from fraud. Subscribe today to be entered into the subscriber-only...

Today I have a guest, Ashley Brinkley, Vice President of the Oklahoma Central Region IOFM Chapter, and we are talking about the chapter, her role, the benefits of being a leader, what happens at the meetings. Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing authentication, internal controls and best practices to it from fraud. Subscribe today to be entered into the subscriber-only monthly drawing to win a free Putting the AP in...

Perry Carpenter joins as a guest and he has written a book that is coming out in May called Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors that talks about driving secure behavior. The question that I have and probably you do too is - Can you really drive Secure Employee Behavior? Check out my website www.debrarrichardson.com if you need help cleaning your vendor master file or implementing authentication,...