Our Sponsors
Upcoming Conferences & Teleconference/Webinars
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Dear Colleague
As the holiday season fast approaches, we're hard at
work making arrangements for some fun-okay, not
necessarily fun but certainly informative-events for
next year. And we think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
We're working on arrangements with several vendors
to keep these events affordable-in fact, one will even
be free. (My daughter says that's my favorite word!).
We've got some preliminary details here and will have
more in the coming weeks. But first, news about the
mileage reimbursement rate for 2008.
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Mileage Reimbursement Rate |
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No, the Internal Revenue Service has not yet issued
the new reimbursement rate and we've been watching
closely for it for almost a month. We did some
investigating as the new rate has usually been
released by this point. We got in touch with our good
friend, Jerry Michael, who called one of his contacts at
the IRS and here's what he told us. The GSA has the
responsibility for setting the rate and has not decided
if a new rate should be established. A decision is
expected before the end of the year. We'll have an
update the moment we hear, so watch your e-mail box
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Subscribe to Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow |
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Special $9.95 Offer |
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Last December we ran an expanded 20-page issue of
Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow packed with
information to help you get through year end.
Specifically it contained articles on:
Now, for a limited time, we are making that issue
available to our readers for only $9.95. Click here to
order this issue for only $9.95-a $20 savings off the
normal $29.95 price. If you need an order form, send
an email to [email protected]
- The Essentials of the Year-End Close
- The Annual Information Reporting and Processing
Calendar
- An AP Year-End Check List
- Eight December Projects Guaranteed to Make AP
Run More Smoothly
- The Frequency of Duplicate Payments
- How to Reduce Duplicate Payments
- The Future of the Accounts Payable Department
and more.
Now, for a limited time, we are making that issue
available to our readers for only $9.95. Click here to
order this issue for only $9.95-a $20 savings off the
normal $29.95 price. If you need an order form, send
an email to [email protected]
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Order the $9.95 Issue |
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A Word about our Fraud Survey and a Hair-Raising Story |
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Perhaps we didn't make this clear, but we'd like to
hear from everyone in our survey-whether you've had
fraud in your organization or not. So far the majority of
our respondents have experienced fraud. I'm not sure
if this is because those who have not feel they have
nothing to report or fraud in the corporate world is
actually more prevalent than I thought. So, if you
haven't taken the survey, please do.
And now for the now-I've-seen-everything story of the
day straight from one of our readers. "The employee in
question purchased an audio course meant to be
completed anywhere and made it look like a
conference that he needed to attend. The purpose of
the deception was to get his company to reimburse
him for travel to Orlando (where he took his family).
When this was caught the organization went back
three years and found he had done the same thing
about two years before. This was presented to his VP
who called him on it and made him pay back the
previous travel expenses (we set up a payroll
deduction). This could have been prevented with
closer review of reimbursement requests by
management, human resources, and AP."
Readers might relay this story to managers who
routinely approve expense reports without reviewing
anything! We'll have additional believe-it-or-not stories
to share in the coming weeks.
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Take the Fraud Survey |
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Voided Invoices |
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I'm working with a company that more than
occasionally finds invoices have been entered in error.
Clearly these must be removed as the financials will
be incorrect if they are not. As they move forward with
strong adherence to coding standards a lot of the
problem will go away. My question to our readers is
how they address this issue. How are the invoices
removed from their system, what kind of
documentation is required, and finally, what do you do
if after removing the invoice, you discover the removal
was an error? Anyone willing to contribute their
thoughts on this issue should send a note to me at
[email protected] and as always, we'll share all
the responses with all the respondents.
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Last Chance to Register for Online Information Seminar Nov. 29th |
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There's still time to sign up for the online information
reporting seminar to be held on November 29 or to
order the CDs of the event. The cost is $949 and you
can bring the entire staff. This won't be one long
boring lecture. There will be plenty of time for you to
ask questions. If you can't make the event, CDs are
also available. Click here to order the
CDs or here to sign up
for the event and get the CD.
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Sign up for the November 29 six-hour online 1099 Webinar |
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Special Free Webinar Offer: Just for Our Readers |
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CRYSTALLUS, Inc., the publisher of this e-zine and
Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow has made
arrangements for readers of both publications to
attend a free Webinar. The topic is on a subject near
and dear to our hearts: Making the Move to Electronic
Payments and will be held on February 27. It will be
hosted by Bottomline Technologies.
Organizations of all sizes are frequently advised that a
leading AP best practice is to move away from paper
checks and use electronic means to make payments,
including ACH, wire transfers, and p-cards. Although
checks are still the dominant method for business-to-
business payments, companies are gradually
overcoming the behavioral and technical challenges
to increase their use of e-payments. This is supported
in the 2007 AFP Electronic Payments Survey, just
released by the Association for Financial
Professionals (AFP). The typical company now
makes 74% of its B2B payments by check, down from
81% in 2004, when the last survey was
conducted.
But why is the adoption curve not growing more
quickly, and what can your organization do to increase
its own use of e-payments and reap all the associated
benefits? Watch this space for more information on
the free, upcoming Webinar offered by Bottomline
Technologies that will offer both industry perspective
and practical advice on removing the barriers to e-
payment adoption for your company. If you would like
to register now, Bottomline will follow-up with all the
details for this early 2008 event.
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Register for the Making the Move to e-Payments webinar |
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In Closing |
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As mentioned earlier, we are working on a number of
events. We are especially pleased to be joining forces
with Rich Lanza to bring you a truly unique program
entitled Is Your Procure-to-Pay Function Leaking
Cash: A Best Practice Solution. We're preparing both
an online version and a live version. Watch next
week's issue for more details. Until then, thanks for
listening and have a GREAT Thanksgiving.
Mary Schaeffer
editorial director
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