Handling Your Accounts Payable Function in Times of Crisis

This brand-new session was created by AP Now’s founder, Mary Schaeffer and is based on the real-life experiences of many of her readers, who are accounting and accounts payable professionals as well as interviews with experts. They shared practices that are working, those that are not and lessons learned.

• Identify areas where your current accounts payable function might need adjustment
• Develop practices that will help handle the masses of paper invoices that many are still receiving
• Manage staff and a management team working remotely
• Convert many of your vendors to receiving electronic payments instead of paper

• Identify areas where your current accounts payable function might need adjustment to deal with a crisis, like the coronavirus
• Develop practices that will help handle the masses of paper invoices that many are still receiving
• Manage staff and a management team working remotely
• Convert many of your vendors to receiving electronic payments instead of paper checks
• Create processes for those who must go into the office
• Deal with potentially fraudulent “change of bank account requests.”
• Keep up morale of staff not used to working remotely
• Plan for future crisis.

Many organizations take their accounts payable function (along with most others) for granted until suddenly, they can’t get an invoice to a critical vendor paid. Or, as many are finding out the hard way, their accounts payable team can’t get into the office to pick up all the paper invoices that need to be processed. This has happened for a few days in the past, mainly due to weather-related incidents. But they pass fairly quickly and it’s easy to play catch up. This time is different and it has highlighted the areas where the current process is not sufficient.

Accountants, controllers, accounting managers, auditors (internal and external), Treasurers, CFOs, CEOs, accounts payable professionals, procure-to-pay professionals, and travel managers.

Mary S. Schaeffer is the founder of AP Now, a B2B organization focused on creating business intelligence around the accounts payable and payment functions. She has written 18 business books and is a frequent and popular speaker at both online and live events. Schaeffer has created a number of CPE self-study courses, customized training and online training events. She is the developer of the Accounts Payable Best Practice Certificate program. Previously she held positions as an Assistant Treasurer for the Equitable Life Assurance Society, a Financial Risk Manager for O&Y and a Corporate Cash Manager for Continental Grain. She has an MBA in Finance from NYU and a BS in Mathematics from York College (CUNY).