Accounting Best Practices, Fifth Edition

Implementation Issues for Accounts Payable Best Practices

This section notes a number of issues related to the implementation of each best practice. The reader should peruse Exhibit 3.1 to ensure that the effort required to install a best practice is in agreement with the available constraints. For example, automating expense reporting is listed as requiring a long implementation period and being moderately expensive (all because of the programming required). If the reader has a large staff of traveling employees who constantly submit expense reports, this may be a viable option, despite the projected implementation barriers. However, if only a few expense reports are submitted, then perhaps this is a best practice that should be passed over in favor of more practical opportunities.

Exhibit 3.1. Summary of Accounts Payable Best Practices

	Best Practice	Cost	Install Time
Approvals
3–1	Pay based on receiving approval only
3–2	Reduce required approvals
3–3	Use negative assurance for invoice approvals ...