The most effective first step you can make as an AP Manager is to create a calendar and adhere to the deadlines. It sounds super easy, you’re creating your own deadlines! The challenge is that your AP calendar is not actually for AP, but for everyone else.
Think of it as the TV guide of the accounting world. Maybe I should explain what a TV guide is first because I’m old. A TV guide is a book that lists all the times shows will be showing on which channel. It was how I used to look for Little House on the Prairie or my parents used to find what was on Masterpiece Theatre… but I digress.
It’s a guide for your team about when their outputs are due to other departments. Generally, your accounting department will have their own calendar and this is the first place to start. When are they hoping to close AP? When is their last JE posting allowed? How often do they meet their deadlines? Can AP meet accounting’s deadline?
I found myself building calendars the first time I became accountable for the AP close process. It’s true that not all AP Managers or Supervisors will be doing anything with AP close except wait for the go ahead to change batch post date, but your team has other items they’ll need to adhere to a calendar if your group is to be successful.
For example, when does your team do payments? Weekly, bi-monthly, three times a week? By what day do all the invoices need to be entered and ready to go to meet the payment deadline? How long does it take your group to onboard a vendor?
Look at your TV guide- it’s got all the answers. First, on Tuesday, end of day, you’ll notice a reality show called “Where’s your W9?”. This compelling show brings real life vendor issues to the table and it coincides with when your Vendor Entries are due for the week.
Next! You’ll see that the new hit comedy “Enter the wrong GL” airs every Wednesday at noon. From there, the daytime Emmy winner “Pay pay pay”. The soap opera with the highest rated accountants on TV today!
Calendars can help create expectations around processes as well. If you have a report that only runs overnight, that means whatever process is associated with that report is a 24 hour process. If you have a part timer who does all your vendor adds, and they only come in on Tuesday and Thursday, then your vendor process is a 48-72 hour process.
Giving processes time values allows other departments to know how long it’s going to take to get the output they need from AP. If your company seems to associate AP as the blackhole of the accounting department, this can shed some light onto what is happening in your group and you might even get fewer follow ups as a result. Try building your own calendar for yourself before putting it on the group, it might make it easier to start with, then go from there!
What is Accounts Payable? 