When it comes to working accounts payable, there are a dozen things that can happen to turn a good day into a bad one, and these things are often actions that only took a second or two to happen. These mistakes often occur not because of lack of training or bad practices, but because people are unaware of ways to improve the employment situation.

Fortunately, there are many actions that can be taken to ensure that your business uses the best available accounts payable processing practices. By doing this, you can minimize the risk and exposure that result from not having a fully secure system and effective recovery process. While there are many different steps you can take, one of the most important things is that you keep track of a number of items in the accounts payable processing department.

· Keep up with the number of invoices entering the accounts payable department in a given period of time. The bigger your company, the more of these there will be. Tracking these will give you a baseline and make it easier to track other items within your department.

How many invoices are processed as a percentage of the total number of invoices during a specific time period. Tracking this helps measure how effectively and efficiently your department is getting work done. If you feel that the work being done is not enough, sit down and figure out what can be done to make your department more efficient.

· Pay attention to the rate of incorrect payments as a percentage of total payments. You should be aware of any over or under charges. Using a HER program can minimize occurrences like these.

Calculate how much it is costing you per invoice processed. Be sure to write down such things as software costs, IT support, hardware, and any other types of overhead costs. There are a number of tools that can help you be effective and still keep the bottom line in the black.

· Track how many invoices are electronic versus paper. It is cheaper to process an electronic invoice than a paper one. Additionally, electronic invoices require less processing time. Therefore, the more electronic processing and storage of information is a better way to improve your budget and the efficiency of your work.

With the best accounts payable processing steps, you can be sure you’re doing everything you can to protect your business. Speak with a team of business management specialists and find out how you can start to better protect your business.