Three tricks to manage accounts payable more effectively

Executive overview

Accounts payable is money your organisation owes to external vendors — from software subscriptions to utility bills. Without a documented, centralised process, errors compound, compliance risks grow, and small teams get buried in receipts.

Three practices cut through the noise: build toward audit-readiness, distribute responsibility to managers, and consolidate how money moves.

Treat your AP process as if an auditor will review it tomorrow — it forces the discipline that prevents most problems.

Start with the end in mind

• Run your AP as if a financial audit is imminent; it sets the right standard for documentation.
• Collect and organise all contracts, invoices, and agreements that represent money owed.
• Retrieve credit card statements, bank statements, payroll data, and cash transaction reports.
• Note known discrepancies upfront and attach supporting documents before any review.
• Consider hiring an accounting firm for an annual audit — private companies often skip this and pay for it later.
• GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) has 10 principles that apply to federal, state, and tribal compliance; apply them whenever you handle finances.
• Public companies are legally required to submit to an independent audit each year; small private companies are not, which creates risk.

Evaluate who is responsible for what

• Not every AP task must stay with HR — pass relevant expense duties to department or team managers.
• Create a reporting structure that places accountability on the people closest to the spend.
• Each team should maintain a documented list of their regular and annual expenses (subscriptions, background checks, etc.).
• Managers should proactively flag upcoming vendor payments rather than waiting for HR to chase them.
• Require receipts and expense reports to flow in real time — not months after the purchase.

Simplify and centralise processes

• Reduce the number of people who can spend: fewer payment methods means fewer statements to reconcile.
• Limit corporate card access to trusted individuals who operate within a set budget and organise their own invoices.
• Use a password manager to store payment credentials; grant access only to those authorised to make purchases.
• Centralising purchasing reduces rogue spend and cuts the time HR spends retrieving receipts and chasing approvals.
• The simpler the system, the easier it is to hand off if you're out — resilience is a byproduct of good design.