Maximizing Accounts Payable Audits For Your Business With Managed Services
Accounts Payable Audit Recovery Firms
For executives working in the field of finance, proper accounts payable audits can have significant impact on their organizations bottom line. Despite the potential for gain, many business remain uncertain about making use of managed services for accounts payable audit recovery. This article presents comprehensive step-by-step guide for utilizing managed services to maximize return from accounts payable audits.
To begin, companies must consider the potential benefits of managed services. Generally, leveraging managed services offers cost savings in comparison to managing the process in-house. Additionally, the right managed services provider will provide greater efficiency and scale than an in-house team, especially with new technologies or specific expertise.
After deciding to outsource the accounts payable audit recovery process, the next step is finding an appropriate managed services provider. While searching for provider, executive should confirm the provider’s expertise and experience with accounts payable audits. Providers with special expertise, such as data analytics, may be particularly useful. It is also important to find provider that offers reliable, secure services and can provide reasonable timeline for audit completion.
Before engaging with managed services provider, organizations must ensure that the provider can work within their existing financial and holdout security requirements. Entities should also specify the communication and reporting requirements for their managed services provider. When determining their provider’s role in audit recovery, organizations should carefully delineate which portions are the responsibility of the managed services provider versus the organization. Depending on the audit objectives, this may include confirming the accuracy of supplier information, maintaining financial records, ensuring audit compliance, or verifying information for accounts receivable.
After clarifying the provider’s role, companies should create detailed budget that accounts for services associated with their chosen accounts payable audit provider. This should include any third party fees, processing fees, transaction fees, implementation fees, and labor costs.
Organizations should also provide their initial financial data set to their managed services provider prior to completing the audit. This data set should include key accounts payable figures, such as current liabilities and accounts receivable, as well as associated invoice information. Companies should also make sure to provide information related to accounts payable service level agreements, terms of payment waiver or dispute, and any other relevant information.
Finally, companies should work with their managed services provider to ensure that invoice information is accurate and up-to-date for use in the audit. This includes confirming vendor and supplier information, ensuring that open accounts are current, and ensuring compliance with documentation standards. Once all the necessary data is collected and updated, the managed services provider should be able to begin the accounts payable audit recovery process.
By following this step-by-step guide and understanding the potential operational benefits associated with managed services, organizations can maximize their success with accounts payable audit recovery. Through careful service selection and budgeting, executive can ensure that their accounts payable audits deliver the desired results.
