Managing Change When You’re Change Averse
The IOFM Podcast
When Arecka Mather, APM, had to manage her team through a system conversion, she was particularly challenged. As a person who herself struggles with change, her leadership was essential to the success of the project, but she needed to overcome her own anxiety while getting everyone else on board as well. In this podcast, Arecka talks about her experiences with IOFM Managing Editor Royce Grayson Morse, discussing the obstacles and day-to-day setbacks she and her team encountered during the process, and offering tips for others in similar situations. Maintaining her composure, being brave enough...
info_outline
Revitalize, Optimize, Appreciate: Nurturing Morale, Efficiency, and the Value of Accounts Payable
The IOFM Podcast
With a team as important and hard-working as Accounts Payable, it is easy for members to feel overworked, overwhelmed, and unmotivated to come to work. As leaders, it’s important to build our teams up, help them utilize unique communication strategies, and think outside the box in order to be efficient. In this episode, we speak to Katie Noto, a Senior Manager of P2P at BDO USA, and delve into the intricacies of revitalizing team morale, optimizing efficiency without solely relying on automation, and appreciating the true value of your role in Accounts Payable. Whether you’re a team leader...
info_outline
Correcting 1099s — What You Need to Know
The IOFM Podcast
IOFM receives a lot of questions about the process for correcting 1099 filings, and even whether a correction is necessary in the first place. In this podcast, we speak to Jason Dinesen about the circumstances under which it might be necessary to issue one. What if the recipient’s name was spelled wrong? What if the dollar amount or a TIN number was incorrect? What if a check was never cashed? And what should your approach be for correcting a 1099 if the recipient simply requests it? Jason also explains the importance of filing a correction by the deadline, and the method by which it must...
info_outline
Is a Fraudster Romancing You? How to Know and What to Do About It!
The IOFM Podcast
It’s February, and romance is in the air! However, what you don’t want is for a scammer to woo you into doing something you shouldn’t. Unfortunately, fraudsters are always upping their game and developing new techniques to rip off unsuspecting AP professionals. Some of their latest gambits involve getting close to you on a personal level in order to get you to let your guard down. In this fascinating podcast with Debra R. Richardson, vendor master file expert and certified fraud examiner, and Royce Grayson Morse, IOFM’s managing editor, we explore sneaky new ways those looking to steal...
info_outline
Leadership vs. Management: How They Both Contribute to Workplace Success
The IOFM Podcast
While the terms leadership and management are sometimes used interchangeably, there are important differences. IOFM recently spoke with Tracy Zurcher, District Manager at FedEx Ground, to get her thoughts on how to advance both within your organization. She notes that while management tends to focus on process handling, leadership involves relationship building. Each practice requires different skills, but mastering both is the key to success. Focusing exclusively on management skills won’t inspire optimal results — staff members may lack engagement and their performance may suffer as a...
info_outline
How COVID Changed AP Forever, and Where We’re Headed Now
The IOFM Podcast
When COVID hit, many Accounts Payable teams were unprepared, particularly if they relied on paper invoices and checks. Lynn Tate, APM, Accounts Payable & Expense Report Analyst for Urban Science Applications Inc., found herself in a situation that required a significant degree of creativity: In order to get her invoices approved and paid in a timely fashion, she needed to quickly find a way to manage them remotely. What she settled on was a cloud-based file sharing service that enabled her to notify her teammates when there were invoices that needed review. She was able to alert them...
info_outline
Paving the Way to Automation
The IOFM Podcast
“Upper management knows what you do … but they really don’t know what you do.” So says Patrick Kurtz, Client AP Manager for HomeRiver Group. He explains that although executives understand in principle what accounts payable involves, it’s likely that they don’t comprehend the day-to-day challenges of AP. While collecting metrics to present to the C-suite when making a case for automation is a helpful strategy, you must also be able to explain in concrete terms how that will play into process improvement. Fear of change is also an important factor. Kurtz discusses how to...
info_outline
Do You Have Foreign Vendors Hiding in Your VMF?
The IOFM Podcast
Most organizations have non-U.S. vendors lurking in their vendor master files, but may not even realize it. Worse yet, some of those vendors may appear on the watchlists published by the U.S. government. Because doing business with these entities without proper due diligence regarding withholding — or even doing business with them at all — can result in steep fines and penalties, it’s important to identify those vendors in order to maintain compliance. But where to begin? Vendor master file expert consultant Debra R. Richardson discusses this issue with IOFM’s Managing Editor...
info_outline
How Educational Institutions Can Leverage Automation for Improved P2P Workflows
The IOFM Podcast
In his work as an educational consultant at Unimarket, Christopher Rust helps clients improve their P2P processes to realize cost savings while freeing up staff to make a greater contribution to the institution. He recommends taking a thorough look at the impact of change management, both to the department and the institution overall. Moving contract management, procurement and AP into an electronic P2P environment relieves a lot of stress on the team and the typically heavy volume of transactions they must manage. The end goal is improved control of spend management, and for institutions that...
info_outline
How AI Will Shape Accounts Payable
The IOFM Podcast
Accounts payable professionals have all undoubtedly heard of artificial intelligence and how it’s likely to change the business landscape. But how is AI expected to impact AP’s functions? In this podcast with David Glass, IOFM discusses the different types of what may be considered AI — from optical character recognition and robotic process automation, all the way to sophisticated machine learning capabilities. Glass discusses how these things differ, from simply reading in scanned fields on an invoice to having the technology interpret what it’s seeing, regardless of document...
info_outlineIOFM Editor of Special Projects Mark Brousseau speaks with Kevin Ryan of Hyland Software on the trends that are shaping accounts payable automation, including enterprise content management, cloud processing, mobile invoice review and approval, shared services automation, ERP integration and more!