Oh my goodness, did we get questions regarding the introduction of our new Top 100 Most Wanted Duplicates products. They broke down into two groups: the auditors wanted to know why we offer such a product and deprive them of some of the cream of their income while their potential customers wanted to know why the auditors wouldn't cap their recoveries at, say $10,000 per item. I'll address all these concerns on the AP Now blog for those who are interested; otherwise we could take up this entire e- zine. And, please, feel free to jump in on the blog and add your two cents.

There was a slightly different question that may be of interest to many of our readers. The questioner thought that our use of the term "fuzzy logic" meant we were not using accepted analytical strategies. So I did a little research to try to provide a clearer description of what fuzzy logic is.

The concept of fuzzy logic was conceived by University of California at Berkley professor, Lotfi Zadeh. It is a problem-solving control system methodology that lends itself to implementation in systems ranging from simple, small, embedded micro-controllers to large, networked, multi-channel PC or workstation- based data acquisition and control systems. The mathematicians would tell you that it is a way of processing data by allowing partial set membership rather than crisp set membership or non- membership.

To put it in simple English, it is a complicated analytical tool used by those who know what they are doing (not me) to analyze data.

Recently we mentioned the Spring marketing issue we mailed-which is different than our Spring Journal. We've got an excerpt from that issue for those who may not have received a copy. It was written by Anybill's Peter Bepler.

Successful businesses understand the Pareto Principle, also known as the "80/20 rule" or the "law of the vital few." Yet when it comes to business operations in finance and accounting, most companies give little, if any, thought to this rule. In the case of accounts payable (AP), most businesses don't handle high-value invoices differently than routine payables-mainly because they don't recognize what invoices are high value or don't have a process to treat them with priority.

Background

Instead, the conventional thinking in payables processing is that an invoice is just an invoice, regardless of its possible impact on the bottom line. As a result, many organizations miss an important opportunity to minimize cost and maximize revenue. They don't focus on invoices that matter most, resulting in higher costs due to pricing errors, fraud, late penalties, and the inability to identify maverick spending. Handling all AP the same-the "big bucket" approach-creates a cascading effect that leads to:

� Inadequate operational control,
� Inefficient business processes,
� And perhaps most critical, excessive transaction costs.

There is a better way. AP Segmentation is an approach that involves separating and prioritizing invoices based on their type, characteristics and level of importance. AP Segmentation is also the process by which companies consistently identify "Critical AP" - the 20 percent of payables that are most strategic or problematic to the operation of the business.

The rest of this fine article can be had by sending an email to publisher@ap-now.com with the words AP Segmentation in the subject line.

1) We have a reader who is looking for some data that documents the entire process a company must go through to perform sales tax from beginning to remittance of returns. If anyone has this and is willing to share it, please send to publisher@ap-now.com. If we get several I'll combine them into a comprehensive document and share it with all who contribute.

2) Three-way match questions and answers arising from a post on the AP-Now blog can be sent directly to marys@ap-now.com or posted on the blog. Again, all responses will be shared with all respondents. A reader in the healthcare industry whose company is considering the purchase of a new computer system asks, "According to the demos I have attended most of the work and verification is done in purchasing. This is going to be a big change for that department and for accounts payable.

"I am wondering," she continues, "how other companies divide job duties and how they went about implementing procedures/systems the first time around. Right now in our company, purchasing places the order and receives the shipment. AP gets a copy of the PO and when the packing slip comes in purchasing verifies and codes what they know then passes it along to AP. I then verify what they have done and key it into the system. I correct any errors and hold items that are questionable until a manager can verify them."

I responded that typically - and I use that word loosely - there are three parties involved. The receiving is not done in purchasing but in a separate receiving unit. I hope that the person purchasing is not the one receiving the goods and verifying the packing slip. If so that would be a serious slip in internal controls. The verification and matching of the three documents is almost always done in accounts payable. I also said I'd ask readers how they handled this issue.

We're happy to try and get answers to reader questions. If you are reading someone else's copy of this publication and would like to receive your own, either send a note to publisher@ap-now.com or use the link below to register.

I've really yammered on quite a bit this week. I just wanted to let you know that we've added a Special Offers page to ap-now.com, which we will use for - special offers. Typically these are offers that will run until we sell out. Right now we've put three of our special issue newsletters on there and are offering them for $9.95 each. Our Future of Accounts Payable publication is there also.

On a totally different note, I'm quite excited because my daughter is coming tonight to visit and for the first time in our lives she is going to help me with a work project. I've been tasked with setting up Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow on Facebook. I've done that but now have to get some friends. Right now, the only friend AP Now has on Facebook is Kathie Fitzgerald, our managing editor, and to be perfectly honest, I am not sure how that happened (and neither is she!).

So, if you know what you're doing on Facebook, please friend us. My daughter tells me that's the right terminology. She also told me she's a pro at this and we will NOT be looking at her page-just what every mother wants to hear. I'll have more about both these ventures next week

• The Top 100 Most Wanted Duplicates - The broken link to the Simple Ways to Improve AP Productivity (another proud moment)
• The AP Now Blog
• How to Create an Effective TIN Solicitation Program CD
• Are You Being Overcharged on Your Telecom Bills? How to Make Sure You're Not! Webinar on June 26th

Thanks for listening-really, if you stayed this long, a big thanks for listening to me blather on.

Mary Schaeffer
Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow, a CRYSTALLUS, Inc. publication