A story in the news caught my eye the other day when I saw the magic words "internal controls" in the headlines. Those of you following our new AP Now blog know I've written about it a bit there. It struck me that the town in question got off easy. Its auditors identified some internal controls that were lacking and the town got to fix the problems before some fraudster figured it out and made off with the treasury.

As you know, I believe the lack of internal controls is a serious issue for some of our readers. Many organizations have really tight internal controls in most areas and then leave the door wide open in one or two key functions, negating all the good work they have done elsewhere. My pet peeve in this regard is those organizations that do not have very tight controls on who can enter data in the master vendor file.

There's tons more to be said about Internal Controls in AP. That's why we invited Diane Gee, a superstar when it comes to doing things right in AP, to address those interested in a one-hour Webinar on April 17. Attendees at that event will be able to earn 1CPE.

From Tips, Tactics and Strategies Section

Free sales and use tax classes offered by the Colorado Department of Revenue. The state of Colorado is offering several sales and use tax courses in several different locations in the state. Classes are held throughout the Metro Denver Area. There is no charge for these courses. To check the course titles and dates, go to www.revenue.state.co.us/TPs_ Dir/wrap.asp?incl=publiceducation From time to time, we find classes offered for free and we make our newsletter readers aware of these opportunities. We encourage anyone who knows of these events to share them with us so we can update our readers.

Yes, that's correct-if you attend the unclaimed property seminar in Chicago on April 25th, you will earn 7 CPEs. We're starting to put the final handout together and it looks incredible. As you may know, Tracey Reid of Reid Unclaimed Property has promised to share her State Due Diligence chart with attendees and it's quite impressive. Not only does it cover all the states, Puerto Rico, and Canada, it does so across 23 different payment types. The chart alone sells for $179.

Due to some staffing conflicts, the date for the p-card Webinar has been moved to May 28th. (It too, will qualify for 1 CPE.) Did you know that how you deal with your vendors can affect how much usage you get on your p-cards? Many organizations don't correctly address the question of p-cards with their vendors thus missing a huge opportunity to grow their program. In fact, some miss the fact that certain vendors take p-cards, really blowing that chance to grow their program.

This is just one of the issues Paul Bernstein will discuss on the May 28th Webinar when he explains how to Manage a P-card Program from a Best Practice Standpoint.

This 5+ hour online seminar is aimed at those concerned about the cash silently leaking out of their accounts payable function. My favorite example is lost early payment discounts. Another pet peeve-I believe people don't take this issue seriously enough. But, not to worry, although I am one of the speakers on this online seminar, I will not carry on too much about this issue. Joining me for the 5+ hours, is Rich Lanza, an accomplished speaker, technology expert, and extremely knowledgeable fellow when it comes to the issue of getting the most out of duplicate and erroneous payments-or should I say minimizing them.

Anyway, those who join us for this 5+ hour event on May 8th will earn 6 CPEs. A CD is available after the session (but no CPEs).

Thanks for listening.
Mary Schaeffer
Editorial Director
Accounts Payable & Tomorrow