e-AP News
a short update on payment issues, news and products June 17, 2008

in this issue

Check Fraud Excerpt: Entire Article Available

AP Productivity Simplified

Tip of the Week: Excerpt

My Facebook Adventure

Top Clicks from Last Week's ezine

In Closing


 

Dear Colleague

Greetings from hot sweltering Delaware where we are praying for rain-something I know some of you have had far too much of. I had a note from a reader which reminded me I've been remiss in thanking our supporters. She wanted to know if we would be willing to add one of her staff to our distribution list of this e- zine. The answer is a big you betcha! We've had quite a few new readers sign up as a result of a recommendation from a colleague and offer a heartfelt thanks to those who took the time to introduce others to our e-zine.

In addition to a long list of accounts payable professionals, we've got controllers, CFOs, accounting folks and vendors' representatives on our distribution list. So, whether you chose to simply tell a peer about us, use the forward button at the bottom of this message or simply forward this e-mail to others in your organization or at other organizations, we THANK YOU -and encourage others to do the same.


  • Check Fraud Excerpt: Entire Article Available
  • In a recent edition of e-AP News 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 APTechnology's Richard Love.

    Shielding Your Business from Check Fraud

    Today, checks represent the largest dollar volume of all transactions, remaining as an extremely popular form of payment for business to business payments. Because checks are being used for high dollar transactions, they become more vulnerable than ever to fraud. Check-related fraud continues to rise, according to banks, industry groups, and fraud experts alike:

    � The latest Nilson report states that check fraud now exceeds $20 billion annually.
    � The Association of Financial Professionals Payments Fraud Survey (2007) states checks continue to be the preferred target of thieves, with 93% of organizations being victims of attempted check fraud.

    And, unlike electronic debit or credit card fraud, there is no consumer federal protection or standards for dealing with check fraud. The protocols for reporting, investigating, and recovering check fraud losses vary by state and by bank. In addition, prosecuting check fraud criminals can be difficult and costly, or impossible for lower dollar checks.

    The rest of this fine article can be had by sending an email to [email protected] with the words Check Fraud in the subject line.

    Subscribe to Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow
  • AP Productivity Simplified
  • I've just finished putting together the final material for Thursday's Webinar and I am pretty excited about it. It focuses on one of my pet peeves. Poor practices in accounts payable can cost organizations a lot more than they realize. It's that simple.

    I'm going to start the Webinar by quickly going through the math to show people just exactly how much the poor practices cost. We're going to show how to bring it right down to the bottom line-so that everyone gets the full impact. Then we'll go through the individual issues that are often ignored and demonstrate the financial impact wherever possible.

    One of the issues we'll address is invoices not going to AP first and what I call the cappuccino impact and of course, lots more.

    Okay, I realize I am starting to rant a bit, so I'll take this discussion to the blog-where my managing editor tells me it belongs. So, if you want to read more about my thoughts on simplifying productivity in AP please visit the AP blog. And, if you want to know how to do it, please join us on Thursday.

    To register or more information about the AP Productivity webinar
  • Tip of the Week: Excerpt
  • How closely do you look at your telecom bills? The following is excerpted from Preventing Fraud in Accounts Payable to be published in August by John Wiley & Sons. It is based on an interview with Bottaboom's Mark Evans, who will be our speaker on the June 26th Telecom Webinar.

    "Most organizations will at some time or another encounter nuisance fraud, otherwise known as slamming and cramming. Nuisance fraud usually cannot make or break a business when it strikes, but it can drain revenues if left unchecked on the phone bill.

    "Cramming occurs when a third-party provider charges for services or fees that the customer has not authorized. These charges are neither ordered nor desired by your company. These charges can include products and services such as bogus voice mail service charges, operator -assisted calls, calling card programs, monthly service fees, and credit check services. These charges are often assessed by dishonest third-party suppliers of data and communication service that phone companies are required, by law, to allow the third-party to place on the bill.

    "Also, bogus yellow pages and white pages advertising can also mysteriously appear on your business phone bills or be billed to you directly."

    There's less than 10 days left to sign up for Mark Evan's "Think You're Being Overcharged on Your Telecom Bills? Make Sure You're Not!" Webinar.

    To register or more information about the Telecom webinar
  • My Facebook Adventure
  • And boy, do I use the word adventure loosely- because to me anyway, adventure usually implies fun. As mentioned last week, my daughter came over to help me set up a page on Facebook for Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow. It's done-and all I can say is "I still don't get it." We're now directing some of our blog to Facebook and are open for "friends". For the time being, we will probably post most of our events there, as well. But, I'll tell you this much-I refuse to post when I go to sleep.

    I'm also on LinkedIn, something I understand only marginally better. If anyone is looking for friends on Facebook or to be connected on LinkedIn, feel free to contact me. Somehow, I think this adventure is just beginning and I'll keep you updated on our next steps. If any of our readers have any insights on using these two networks that they are willing to share, I'd really love to hear from you. Please drop me a note at [email protected]

  • Top Clicks from Last Week's ezine
  • In Closing
  • With all the attention unclaimed property issues have been getting from the states, I am quite excited about out two upcoming Unclaimed Property seminars in Los Angeles and Cincinnati. I hope to meet some of you there. Until next week, thanks for listening.

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

    :: 302 836 0540

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