Fall brings with it two ugly tasks for most professionals involved in the accounts payable world. The first is B-Notices, those awful notices from the IRS telling you the name/TIN match on your 1099 did not match the IRS records. As you probably know, there are precise rules on how you have to respond to these notices, and the rules change depending on whether it is the first B-Notice or a subsequent one. The first step when receiving a B-Notice is to check your records to make sure you did not make an error when preparing the 1099. Unfortunately, that's rarely the problem.

In a worst-case scenario, which happens more frequently than anyone would like, there are the times when due to a lack of response from your supplier you may have to start withholding - now that's a real treat. This is one of those intricate IRS issues you don't want to get wrong. That's why we've invited Cyrus Daftry back to share his considerable expertise on this issue. Please join us on Monday, September 22 as he explains the ins and outs of B-Notices.

By the way, the best defense against B-Notices is to have an iron-clad best practice TIN solicitation process. Our W-9 Basics CD will provide you with information on how to do that. And, while we're talking about best practices, let's not overlook the classification issue. The IRS is taking a long hard look at the way organizations of all sorts are classifying their independent contractors. So we've invited Greta Hicks to present a special Webinar on this issue. Of course, CDs will be available two weeks after her October 16th presentation.

B-Notices aren't the only regulatory issue we face in the fall. Roughly three-quarters of all the states have fall reporting deadlines for unclaimed property. What concerns me for our readers is that most experts estimate that less than one-third of those who are supposed to report actually do. While I'm sure our readers have a better track record, it is still an issue to be concerned about. And what's more, from talking to readers and professionals in the field we realize that many who are complying are actually not fully compliant. They may report for one property type but not for another.

We also understand it's a sensitive issue for some and as such we don't give out name badges at our unclaimed property seminars. While attendees are free to exchange business cards-if both parties want-we provide an atmosphere where anonymity is supported. No name badges and we won't go around the room asking you to share your name and/or company.

There's still time to sign up for our events in Cincinnati on October 3 and Los Angeles on September 26.

If you haven't already entered our AP Celebration Week contest-where everyone is a winner, please refer to the August 25 issue or drop me a note. Speaking of dropping me a note, please do not respond to this e-mail to write me. Those e-mails get mixed in with the Out of the Office responses and I sometimes miss them. Use marys@ap-now.com to write me personally.

While we've got our AP celebration special (details link below) we'd like to go on the record also recommending something more personal for the staff - a small present, a staff lunch, a donuts and bagel surprise breakfast, gift certificates etc. If the choice comes down to spending the funds on AP Now products or giving everyone a gift certificate, we recommend the latter (sigh). Of course, we're hoping it doesn't come down to that.

One of the concepts related to duplicate payments, one that has all but disappeared, is the notion of an original invoice. Only a few short years ago organizations had a safeguard against duplicate payments by insisting they would pay only from an original invoice. That safety net is gone. This fact was brought home to us in resounding tones when we brought in the mail recently. There sat two original invoices from one of our vendors. They were identical and both looked great. What really dramatized the point for us is that they came in the same mail!

With new technology, laser printers, PDF files and the like, you can have as many duplicate payments as you like. This is just one of a myriad of changes that prompted us to declare October as Obliterate Duplicate Payment month. We're working on an online resource center with articles, diagnostic tools, and resource links to help with the duplicate payment battle in your shop. It will be completely free of charge. It is set to launch October 1 but if it's ready earlier we'll let you know.

It's this concern that led us to schedule four Webinars in October, all focusing on different aspects of duplicate payment annihilation. I'll kick off the first session on October 10 talking about tactics you can use to Prevent Duplicate Payments. The following week, Rich Lanza will show you how to use Excel to find duplicate payments. Then he and I will join forces in the third session to provide insights on hiring a duplicate payment audit firm. I'll close off the extravaganza on Halloween with a 25-step, low-tech plan you can use to find your duplicates.

Each of the sessions is our usual low $159-or you can attend all four for the price of three, $477. CDs are available at the same pricing-and if you want to go hog-wild, attend all the sessions and get the CDs for only $777.

This e-zine readership is certainly a group interested in furthering their skills. There was interest in both the CFO article containing advanced Excel tips as well as the BBC site offering foreign language online courses. Here are last week's top clicks (not including job listings).

• Advanced Excel Tips article
• BBC's Learn a Foreign Language
• Account s Payable Appreciation Week Specials
• 15% off John Wiley Books (click on the Wiley link at the bottom of the page)
• Duplicate Payment Obliteration webinars and/or CDs

Career Tip: While we prefer the title AP associate or AP processor to the clerk title, we are cognizant that many organizations use the latter. Hence, whether looking for a job or looking for a suitable candidate to fill your own position, don't forget to search for AP clerks. A number of the positions I reviewed asked for a Bachelors degree for the AP clerk position.

Jobs Listings

• Accounts Payable Clerk
• Accounts Payable Clerk
• Accounts Payable Clerk
• Accounts Payable Clerk

How's this for a kick-in-the-you-know-what? As I write this, Amazon has sold out of my new book, Fraud in Accounts Payable: How to Prevent It. Hopefully, they'll get more copies in quickly. If you want the book, you can order it directly from the publisher at a 15% discount, by clicking here-they still have copies available. And, if you like the book, we certainly would appreciate a review on Amazon. If you do place a review, please drop me a line - we have a small thank you gift for you.

Until next week, thanks for listening.

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

CRYSTALLUS, Inc, publisher of Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow, is a woman-owned business and is registered as a Federal Government CCR vendor.