This document contains summaries of multiple articles from a publication about managing accounts payable. The main articles discuss how one company reduced check runs by implementing an electronic payments system using ACH; the importance of complying with unclaimed property laws and avoiding audits; ensuring accurate vendor data in the master vendor file; and recognizing outstanding AP managers and departments. It also previews upcoming AP conferences and trainings.

1. Our 16th
Year Serving the AP Profession
www.iofm.com/ap SEPTEMBER 2012ISSUE 12-09
CONTINUEDONPAGE10
Also in This Issue
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS
How One Company
Reduced Check
Runs With ACH
An organization’s payment process
can almost start to take care of itself
once an electronic payments system
is up and running. It becomes routine
and cost effective. The trick, however,
is getting to that point—building a
case for change, selling the idea to
upper management, getting vendors
and internal customers to sign on to
the idea, and working toward auto-
mating additional processes.
Here’s how one AP professional
took the initiative to find a solution
REGULATORY & TAX
Four Steps to Avoid the Risk
of Unclaimed Property Noncompliance
Revenue-strapped states will be on high alert when it comes to enforcing
unclaimed property (escheatment) laws this year, and are increasing the use
of aggressive audits. It is imperative that AP managers be up to date on any
state developments in unclaimed property regulations and develop adequate
control procedures to meet the compliance challenge.
Escheatment is governed by the 1995 Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, which,
for many states has become a lucrative source of income. State governments,
aiming to make up budget deficits, are actively enforcing their escheatment
MASTER VENDOR FILE
Understanding the
Issue of Accuracy in
Data Management
For AP professionals, good, clean data
is critical to maintaining an accurate
master vendor file.
To address the issue
of data errors, and to
ensure consistency in
the master vendor file,
AP needs to create a
detailed policy for data
entry. The standards
shouldbebasedonpre-
ferred data manage-
ment concepts. They
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
Join IOFM in Recognizing
Outstanding AP Managers
and Departments ........ 2
Accounts Payable
Conference Calendar.... 2
AP BENCHMARKS
The P-Card—Do the
Promises Mesh with
Reality?......................... 3
BEST PRACTICES
A S-l-o-w Approval
Process Can Be
Accelerated With
Assumed Receipt.......... 5
Case Study.................... 8
l Building Top Morale,
Teamwork, and
Performance
IOMA/IOFM Announces
New AP Certification
Recipients................... 13
News Briefs................ 15
l Pfizer Agrees to Pay $60
Million to Settle Charges
Brought Under the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
l 69 Year-Old AP Clerk Is
Accused of Embezzling
$1 Million from the
Archdiocese of New York
P-Card Program Size (No. of Cardholders)
In IOFM’s recent P-Card survey, 27.7 percent
of respondents had between 101 and 500
cardholders. For story, see page 2.
(Source: IOFM’s Master Guide to P-Card Policies
and Procedures Plus P-Card Best Practices Survey)
1 to 10 14.4%
11 to 25 13.9
26 to 50 9.9
51 to 100 10.9
101 to 500 27.7
501 to 1000 9.9
Over 1000 13.4

2. 2 www.iofm.com/ap SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE (ISSN 1080-5753) is published monthly for $437 per year by the Institute of Finance & Management, 1 Sound Shore
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e-mail: andrew.fitzpatrick@iofm.com. To renew, e-mail andrew.fitzpatrick@iofm.com.
Desktop Editor: MONIQUE NIJHOUT
Director of Marketing: JIM SESTITO
Chief Executive Officer: R.D. WHITNEY
Research Manager: JOHN PITSIOS
Editor-in-Chief, IOFM’s Accounts Payable
Publications; Education Director, IOFM’s Accounts
Payable Certification Program: PAM MILLER
Editor: ELAINE STATTLER, APM
Group Publisher: DAVID BECK
Co-Chairman: WAYNE COOPER
Co-Chairman: MARSHALL COOPER
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
DIANE YETTER
President, Yetter™
KAREN ANDERSON
Senior Compliance Advisor,
Abandoned Property Services
MARIANNE COUCH, ESQ.
Principal, Cokala
JON CASHER
Senior Consultant, AP Advisory Services
and Instructor AP Certification program;
President, Casher & Associates
Nominations for “AP Manager of the Year”
and “AP Department of the Year” are now
being accepted by the Institute of Financial
Management (IOFM). The winners will be
announced at the 11th
Annual Accounts
Payable 2012 Conference & Expo that will
be held October 14 to 16 at Caesars Palace
in Las Vegas, NV.
This year, the Expo coincides with the
celebration of AP Recognition Week, Octo-
ber 15 through 19. This is the perfect time
to recognize outstanding achievement by
AP managers and departments—during
the one week of the year when attention
is officially focused on accounts payable.
Accounts Payable Is the Unsung
Hero of Many Organizations
AP maintains its organization’s ability to
continue functioning by ensuring that pay-
ments for a myriad of goods and services
are made accurately and timely.
Join IOFM in recognizing the superb
job that these individuals and groups do
behind the scenes, generally with little or
no recognition or appreciation.
How to Participate
Nominations for AP Manager or
Director of the Year: These nominations
are open to any current AP manager or
director. Nominations may be submitted at
thislink:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/
S5P596M
Nominations for AP Department of
the Year: These nominations are open to
any AP Department, no matter what the
size. Nominations may be submitted at this
link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/
FLGPPGP
The deadline for submitting nominations
is Friday, September 21, 2012, so submit
your nominations now! q
Join IOFM in Recognizing Outstanding
AP Managers and Departments
IOFM’s 11th Annual Accounts Payable 2012 Conference & Expo,
Oct. 14-16,Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV. For more informa-
tion, go to www.iofm.com/conference/view/apconf12.
IOFM/TAPNAccountsPayableTraining&CertificationProgram,
live online video class via WebEx. Sept. 12. For registration,
contact Andrew Fitzpatrick, at 203-889-4977 or e-mail an-
drew.fitzpatrick@iofm.com.
IOFM Form 1099 Bootcamp & Certification Training Class, Las
Vegas, Oct. 14. For registration, contact Andrew Fitzpatrick,
at 203-889-4977 or e-mail andrew.fitzpatrick@iofm.com.
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE CALENDAR

3. www.iofm.com/ap 3SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
By Pam Miller
Card issuers consistently extol the virtues of
a p-card program—including its ability to
drivedownthecostofprocessinginaccounts
payable by decreasing the number of small
dollar invoices, increasing convenience for
the organization’s employees, and provid-
ing the opportunity for the organization to
obtain a rebate on the money spent via
the cards.
But do these promises hold true in real
life? AP professionals responding to an
IOFM survey about their organizations’
p-card programs answer this very ques-
tion,andtheresultsarereportedinIOFM’s
Master Guide to P-Card Policies and Pro-
cedures, Plus P-Card Best Practices Survey.
Who Responded to the Survey?
Most of the respondents to the survey
come from the finance side of their or-
ganizations rather than the procurement
side, so the study presents a clear picture
of how a p-card program affects AP (see
Exhibit 1).
The survey respondents represent a
broad spectrum of sizes of organizations,
from the smallest through mid-sized, and
even some very large organizations (see
Exhibit 2). Thus, what the respondents
reveal can be useful to organizations of
virtually any size.
NotonlydotheIOFMrespondentscome
fromawiderangeofsizesoforganizations,
their card programs run the gamut from
very small to extremely large. As a result,
the study offers a good representation of
several varieties of p-card programs (see
front page exhibit).
Top Benefits Chosen Line Up
with Card Issuers’ Promises
IOFM asked the survey respondents to
choose the top three benefits they derive
from their p-card programs.
Themost-oftenselectedchoiceofbenefit,
with a sizable lead over all other mentioned
benefits, is “reduction of AP processing
AP BENCHMARKS
The P-Card — Do the Promises
Mesh with Reality?
Exhibit 1. Respondents’ Titles
(Source: IOFM’s Master Guide to P-Card Policies and Procedures Plus P-Card
Best Practices Survey)
20.8%
19.6%
11.3%
8.9%
7.7%
7.1%
6.5%
5.4%
4.8%
2.4%
2.4%
3.0%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
AP Manager
P-card Administrator
Finance Manager
Accounting Other
Controller
AP Specialist
Procurement
AP Other
CFO
Accounting Manager
Asst. Controller
Other
Title
Exhibit 2. Number of Employees
(Source: IOFM’s Master Guide to P-Card Policies and Procedures Plus P-Card
Best Practices Survey)
23.5%
31.2%
17.6%
21.2%
6.5%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
5,000 or more
1,000-4,999
500-999
100-499
Up to 99
NumberofEmployees

4. 4 www.iofm.com/ap SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
costs.” This result indicates that one of the
primary selling points card issuers use to
encourageorganizationstoimplementcard
programs is a credible one. IOFM’s AP pros
areenjoyingsubstantialcostreductionsdue
to their p-card programs.
The way in which the p-card cuts costs
is relatively simple—the p-card removes
invoices from the AP process. When an
employee uses the card to purchase goods
or services for the organization, it not only
increases convenience (the second most
popular survey response), it enables the
purchaser to place the order and make the
payment at the same time.
This means that invoices for those goods
and services do not make it to AP. And since
in many organizations use of the p-card is
highly encouraged or even mandated, for
small dollar invoices in particular, the sce-
nario in which the cost to process an invoice
exceeds the value of the goods or services
purchased becomes a far less frequent
event.
Listed in third place (see Exhibit 3) is “re-
bates from card issuer for usage,” but this
benefit actually ties for second place with
“increasedconveniencetobuyer”inIOFM’s
2012 survey. AP pros recognize that obtain-
ing a rebate from the card issuer is a real
and tangible benefit. While the amount of
rebateavailablevariesconsiderablyfromis-
suertoissuerandfromprogramtoprogram,
rebates can be substantial, particularly for
larger card programs.
While the amount spent on the card is the
primarydriveroftheamountofrebate,there
are other requirements that must be met,
such as: average transaction size, number
of active cards, and how long it takes the
organizationtopayitsmonthlyp-cardstate-
ment. Ensuring that all the requirements
are met is an important part of managing
a card program.
The third most frequently cited benefit
(actually listed fourth on the chart because
of the tie in the two listings before it) is “de-
crease of Purchasing/PO costs.” While this
is not an AP-specific benefit, adding this cost
reduction to the one achieved in AP can save
an organization a substantial sum.
This benefit ties in with number two, or
the increased convenience to buyer. Not
only is the purchase and payment easily
Exhibit 3. The Most Important Benefits
of a P-card Program 2012
(Source: IOFM’s Master Guide to P-Card Policies and Procedures Plus P-Card
Best Practices Survey)
73.3%
49.5%
49.5%
45.5%
22.8%
20.8%
15.8%
8.9%
8.4%
5.4%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Reduction of AP process costs
Increased convenience to buyer
Rebates from card issuer for usage
Decrease of Purchasing/PO costs
Faster purchase-to-pay cycle
Enables us to extend payment terms
(enhances cash flow)
Detailed reporting
Reduction in the number of suppliers
Decentralized purchasing
Reduced or redeployed headcount
Exhibit 4. Annual P-Card Program Spending
(Source: IOFM’s Master Guide to P-Card Policies and Procedures Plus P-Card
Best Practices Survey)
8.6%
5.6%
7.6%
10.6%
27.8%
11.1%
10.1%
12.1%
4.0%
2.5%
0% 10% 20% 30%
<$100,000
$100,000 to $249,999
$250,000 to $499,999
$500,000 to $999,999
$1,000,000 to $4,999,999
$5,000,000 to $9,999,999
$10,000,000 to $24,999,999
$25,000,000 to $99,999,999
$100,000,000 to $500,000,000
Unlimited
P-CardProgramSpending

5. www.iofm.com/ap 5SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
and quickly accomplished, but the need to
generate requisition and PO paper work is
virtually eliminated, saving costs and time.
As card issuers put it, a p-card empowers
employeestogettheirjobsdoneeffectively.
Since rebates are so driven by spend, a
natural question is: Just how much spend-
ing are our respondents putting on the
card (see Exhibit 4)?
The range of between one and five mil-
lion dollars is the sweet spot for annual
p-card spend at IOFM’s respondent or-
ganizations, although it’s difficult to judge
howsuccessfulp-cardprogramsarebased
on this monetary figure alone.
It’s also important to understand—in
order to have an idea of how well the
program is working—just how much of
the card’s eligible spend is actually going
on the card. IOFM asked the respondents
about this figure as well (see Exhibit 5).
As you can see, the respondents’ p-card
programs are capturing approximately 70
percent (68 percent on average) of the
eligible spend. While this is a respectable
number, it is clear that most respondents
have room to grow their programs even
more. And as they do so, the benefits of
their program will grow as well. A well de-
signed,implemented,andmanagedp-card
program will indeed deliver on those card
issuer promises. q
Editor’sNote:Theinformationpresentedhere
is just a sampling of what can be found in
IOFM’s newly released manual, the Master
Guide to P-Card Policies and Procedures:
Plus P-Card Best Practices Survey. For infor-
mation on how to order the guide, go towww
.iofm.com/research/view/p-card-policies-
and-procedures-master-guide.
Exhibit 5. Actual P-Card Spending as a Percentage
of Eligible Spending, by Program Size
(Source: IOFM’s Master Guide to P-Card Policies and Procedures Plus P-Card
Best Practices Survey)
68.4%
76.7%
64.9%
73.6%
62.0%
62.6%
69.0%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
1 to 10
11 to 25
26 to 50
51 to 100
101 to 500
501 to 1000
Over 1000
NumberofCardholders
BEST PRACTICES
A S-l-o-w Approval Process Can
Be Accelerated With Assumed Receipt
By Pam Miller
Waiting for an invoice to be approved can
test the patience of any AP professional.
After all, who knows better than AP how
tardy approvals can hold up the entire pay-
ment process?
Not only does AP lose time waiting for
invoice approval, AP may lose the opportu-
nity to capture an early payment discount,
whichwillultimatelyimpactthebottomline.
That’s why the assumed receipt approval
process can be such a boon to AP. It can help
temperoneofAP’sbiggestheadaches—ob-
taining the proper approvals for invoices in
order to get them paid.

6. 6 www.iofm.com/ap SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
Dancing the ‘Hurry-Up
and Wait’ Tango
Waiting for an invoice approval can be-
come something like a tango. The process
usuallygoeslikethis:APreceivesaninvoice,
enters it into a “received” log—or puts it into
the system on hold—and then forwards it
to the approver.
Then AP waits. And waits. As the due
date for the invoice approaches, AP calls
the approver or sends a friendly reminder.
And then, AP waits some more.
During the wait, the vendor phones to
ask when payment can be expected. So AP
nudges the approver once again.
Annoying for Everyone Involved
Obviously, the invoice approval process
can be enormously frustrating for everyone
concerned. AP gets impatient with the ap-
prover, the approver gets annoyed with AP,
and ultimately the vendor resents having to
track down the status of the payment.
The truth is, while invoice approval is
high on the list of priorities for AP, it barely
makes top ten on the list of things to do for
most approvers. That means an invoice can
sit—andsit—untiltheapprovergetsaround
to reviewing it. The invoice processing sys-
tem breaks down because it is relying on a
relatively disinterested party to perform a
critical step.
Moving Toward Assumed Receipt
(or Negative Assurance)
There is another way to tango. Instead
of holding up the entire payment process
waitingforaresponse,APcanmovetoanas-
sumed receipt process, which is often called
negative assurance. That way, payment
is made without the traditional approval
process—unless the approver indicates
that the invoice should not be paid as is (or
at all).
With assumed receipt, the invoice is
received and entered into the system with
the proper payment date. The invoice is
not placed on hold or flagged in any way
to indicate approval is required to release
the payment. The invoice or invoice copy is
then forwarded to the approver. The pay-
ment is released on the due date unless the
approver specifically contacts AP to request
payment be held or adjusted.
This process is quite straightforward. It
eliminates all the reminders and follow-up
communication with the approver, results
in far fewer vendor calls looking for pay-
ment, and is likely to increase the number of
prompt payment discounts AP can capture.
Determining the Code
There are a few obvious downsides to this
process. For example, there is the issue of
invoice coding. In many organizations, cod-
ing invoices occurs as part of the approval
process. Setting the invoice up for payment
prior to obtaining the codes and approval
means AP must determine the code.
Thisisnotasdifficultasitmayseem.Many
AP departments routinely enter generic
codes into the system prior to requesting
invoice approval. But instead of entering
a generic or miscellaneous code, the code
based on the goods and services listed on
the invoice would be entered instead.
While charts of accounts are often long,
detailed,andcomplex,mostinvoicesfallinto
just a handful of commonly used codes. It is
relatively easy to create a simplified chart
for AP’s use that includes the most common
codes. Historic information in the system
can help determine the proper code to be
used when an invoice doesn’t appear to fit
into any particular code.
If an invoice is coded to the wrong cost
center—or is not split as the approver would
desire—a correction would be required.

7. www.iofm.com/ap 7SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
However,whilenumerouscorrectionscould
put a damper on AP efficiency, the likeli-
hood of mass corrections is not very high.
Paying in Error
What if AP pays an invoice it shouldn’t
pay? Or what if it pays an invoice amount as
stated even though it is the wrong amount?
Although it might seem that the risk of
payment errors would increase if AP did
not receive approval before issuing the
payment, the fact is that it increases only
slightly. One of the responsibilities of the
approveristoensurethattheinvoiceisvalid
and that AP is paying the proper amount.
In most cases, the approver does contact
AP prior to payment, which enables AP to
make the required correction prior to pay-
ment being issued.
In the cases in which a payment does go
outinerror,acorrectionwillberequired.AP
may find that the number of debit memos
might go up if it is overpaying vendors more
often. But the rate of increase is again likely
to be small.
Processing Exceptions
Moving from a process that requires
numerous approvers to provide feedback
on every invoice to a process that requires
approver feedback on just a few invoices
on an exception basis greatly simplifies
the approval process and eliminates time-
consuming back and forth.
A change in process also offers the op-
portunity to change the manner in which
exceptions are handled. Instead of sending
invoices(orcopies)allovertheorganization,
the fact that all the invoices are immedi-
ately entered into the system offers AP the
opportunity to stop circulating the invoices
and start circulating a report instead.
Many systems have reports that could
serve this purpose. For those that don’t,
customizing a report—or even writing a
new report—is a relatively inexpensive
project. It’s far easier to review a report
on a regular basis than plowing through
a stack of invoices that show up at various
times during the day.
Using Discretion: It’s Not a
Matter of All or Nothing
The assumed receipt approval process
may not be a good fit for all invoices. In-
voices over a certain high-dollar amount
or from strategic or troublesome vendors
may still require approval prior to issuing
payment.
However, most invoices that flow through
AP are candidates for this process, as the
dollar amounts are relatively low, the ven-
dors are used repeatedly, and the goods
or services provided are routine.
Changing the Approval Process
Presents No Big Risk
The“approvalbeforesystementryorpay-
mentissuance”processisnotasbulletproof
as we might think. Many approvers’ review
processes are cursory at best. So the ques-
tion to ask is: What are we really gaining
by requiring this preapproval? And what
would be lost by changing to the process
whereweassumethegoodsorserviceswere
received and proceed to issue payment?
Sometimes the best assurance is negative
assurance—which is the “no news is good
news” approach! q
Editor’s Note: Pam Miller is Education Di-
rector for IOFM. To learn about other best
practicesforstreamlininginvoiceprocessing,
attendIOFM’sAccountsPayableConference
& Expo, Oct. 14-16 at Caesars Palace in Las
Vegas, and look for the session: “AP Univer-
sity: Best Practices in Invoice Processing.” To
register for the conference, go to: www.iofm
.com/event/apconf12.

8. 8 www.iofm.com/ap SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
BUILDING TOP MORALE,
TEAMWORK, AND PERFORMANCE
Bymakingchangesinresponsibilitiesanddepartmental
structure and practices, this growing company discov-
ered that a more cohesive, cross-trained AP department
couldhandlestaffingsituationsandanyotherchallenges
that came along. Here is how the company, National
Oak, achieved its AP goals.
Debra L. Nielsen, AP Supervisor, CAPA, APM,
oversees an eight-person AP department for National
Oak Distributors, Inc. (West Palm Beach, Fla.), a ware-
house distributor for the PBE (Paint Body Equipment)
industry. The company has been in business for over
two decades and has more than 400 employees.
National Oak Distributors, Inc. is a wholesale
distribution company that services the automotive
refinishing market and related industries. “Our suc-
cess depends on working together harmoniously as
a team to help accomplish our goals,” says Nielsen.
There are currently seven people on the AP staff,
plus Nielsen. Six are full-time accounts payable as-
sociates (APAs) and one is the office administrator. “Of
the six APAs, two are certified,” she says.
The Challenge
When Nielsen started with the company in 2009,
there were 10 payables staff members, and yet AP’s
open-invoice report had more than 5,000 entries.
Multiple vendor payments were past due, and the de-
partment entered only approximately 40,000 invoices
in the year.
Part of the problem was that the AP department
was highly segmented. “Only one staff member was
inputting invoices, while all the others were coding
invoices.Thatmadeitdifficulttocoverforpeoplewhen
someone needed to be out or extra tasks needed to
be done,” says Nielsen. “Also, the one staff member
who was entering invoices was only entering invoices
that had a due date of the next day,” she says.
“All in all, communication was lacking, and morale
and teamwork were not where they needed to be for
the staff to perform at their best.”
The Solution
Nielsen and her supervisor, Accounting Manager
Karen Fielden, CAPA, recognized that in order to im-
prove staff management, AP needed to immediately
take the following steps (which will also work for most
AP supervisors):
1. Retrain and cross-train AP employees. “We
stopped coding invoices, and everyone learned how
to enter invoices. Also, in order to take advantage
of early-pay vendor discounts, we made sure that
invoices were entered as soon as they were ready,”
says Nielsen.
2. Designate accountability for specific loca-
tions. “Staff was made accountable for specific Na-
tionalOakDistributorlocations.Wehave14warehouse
locations around the United States, and they are now
divided among the APAs, who are responsible for all
invoices, credits, and employee expenses for their
respective assigned locations. The focus is on quality,
and they make sure the errors are minimized, the
invoices are in on time, and the locations are happy,”
says Nielsen.
3.Teamupwithpurchasing.“Wemadesurethat
the purchasing department and the payables depart-
ment began sitting down in the same room together
todiscusspertinentvendorinformation,”saysNielsen.
“It helps associates to put faces with the names of the
purchasing staff. When people have met and talked,
they work together better. It is much harder to be mad
at someone you have met and like, than if you have
only corresponded via e-mail. The meetings build
teamwork between the two departments.”
4. Establish and track performance metrics.
Nielsen began to quantify the parts of the workflow
processthatneededimprovement,andshedocumented
where staff training was needed. “Each person now
has individual goals and achievement levels set at the
beginning of the year, as well as department goals to
achieve,” says Nielsen.
5. Make it a priority to certify AP staffers.
Neilsenprovidedtrainingsothatherstaffcouldbecome
certified. “I currently have two certified staff members
on staff, and three more are ready to take the test. I
plan to have the entire accounts payable department
become certified so we can achieve continuous im-
provement in all we do,” says Nielsen.
6. Offer basic accounting training. “We began
training AP associates in ‘Accounting 101’ so that they
couldunderstandwhathappensoutsideofourAP‘box.’
Once employees understand accounting processes
and learn which general ledger accounts to use, they
pay more attention to ensuring that good information
goes into the general ledger, so good information can
come out of it,” she says.
7.Holdone-on-onemeetings.“Wenowdedicate
at least one hour a month for what I call ‘one-on-
one’ meetings. This is the time associates can discuss
such things as challenges they are experiencing with
AP MANAGER’S CASE STUDY

9. www.iofm.com/ap 9SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
AP MANAGER’S CASE STUDY
a particular vendor, questions on how to create or
manage a spreadsheet, or issues they are having with
their individual locations,” she says. “These meetings
are very important because with previous manage-
ment, employees did not get this kind of personal
attention. It also helps me take the temperature of
the department, so I know what is happening within
each location.”
8. Assign higher level responsibilities and
change staff titles accordingly. “We changed staff
members’ titles from ‘clerk’ to ‘associate,’ because
we were asking them to make decisions on invoices,
speak with the vendors, and manage the payables
process. These duties were more of an ‘associate’
than a ‘clerk’ level. The title change built self-esteem
and professionalism in the department, because the
staff realized that management recognized the level
of decisions they were making and actions they were
taking,” says Nielsen.
9.Recognizeexcellentperformance. Eachyear,
all the AP staff members are recognized during “Ac-
counts Payable Week” in October. This shows them
that the company recognizes the hard work and the
effort that is put into running a smooth department.
“Gifts, breakfast, lunches, and cake are always a big
hit,” says Nielsen.
The Results
“When we closed this last fiscal year, in June
2012, our open-invoice report had approximately
700 entries, we had eight payables staff members,
and no past-due vendors. In addition, the department
entered more than 70,000 invoices during the year.”
Nielsen also reports measurable benefits within
the department in terms of morale, confidence, and
efficiency. The AP department has improved substan-
tially in terms of:
• Skills and performance;
• Vendor relations (because invoices are paid on
time);
• Timely reconciliation of statements each month;
• Accuracy (and the ensuing trust from senior man-
agement) in the reported numbers; and
• A more streamlined workflow process.
Lessons Learned
Through making changes in responsibilities and
departmental structure and practices, Nielsen discov-
eredthatamorecohesive,cross-trainedAPdepartment
can handle any staffing situation that comes along.
“Forexample,recentlyastaffmemberhadtogoout
on medical leave for three months. During that time,
there was a scheduled AP expo with the purchasing
department as well as an annual audit and a quarterly
audit from our bank,” says Nielsen. “We were able
to adjust and have staff coverage throughout these
events.”
“Another time, one employee abruptly quit, one
went on medical leave, and one was terminated.
Consequently, we needed to hire and train new
employees. We were able to survive and function ef-
ficiently during all these hurdles. Not only that—we
became a stronger department for it,” says Nielsen.
Advice for Other AP Professionals
The key element in good management is com-
munication. “Talk to your staff about their concerns,
ideas, questions, thoughts, and issues,” Nielsen ad-
vises. “Also, listen to them. They are in the trenches
and can tell you things that you had no idea were
happening.”
“While it’s true that your staff has to conform to
what you decide, they will understand and receive
your decisions much better if you allow them to take
part in the decision-making process,” Nielsen points
out. “If employees feel valued, then their performance
output is going to be better,” she says.
In addition, get to know your staff personally.
Ask them about what is going on in their lives and
remember those things later. “You spend a lot of time
with these people, and it is helpful to occasionally talk
about something other than work,” says Nielsen.
“Just make sure to steer clear of personal subjects
that employment law precludes supervisors from
discussing. For example, it’s fine to ask an employee
how she enjoyed her vacation, but not what church
she attends. (Talk with your company’s HR experts if
you are in doubt about what topics are off limits.)
Above all else, be flexible with your staff. “Some-
thing is always going to happen to throw you off—that
is part of life, and part of AP. When you are flexible
with others, you stand a better chance of getting flex-
ibility from them in return,” says Nielsen.
Editor’s Note: IOFM is offering three certification
programs. At the Accounts Payable Conference &
Expo being held October 14-16 in Las Vegas. An AP
Certification Training Class and Exam is being offered,
as well as a 1099 Bootcamp and Certification Training
Class and Exam. For more information, contact andrew
.fitzpatrick@iofmonline.org.

10. 10 www.iofm.com/ap SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
also should be compatible with Internal
Revenue Service and U.S. Postal Service
standards. And, of course, they should be
compatible with the features of your par-
ticular accounting software.
“Thebestapproachtodatamanagement
is to establish and maintain top-grade data
quality from the start of the data entry pro-
cesstotheend,withusersfollowinginternal
data quality standards as they input and
updateinformation,”saysWilliamMcKnight,
president of McKnight Consulting Group in
Plano, Texas.
The 15 Best Practices of AP
Master Vendor File Data Entry
While not every AP department will be
able to adopt all of following best practice
recommendations, any concerted effort to
eliminate variations in data entry will lead
to fewer errors in the file.
Here are some helpful tips drawn from
IOFM’sCompleteGuidetoAPBestPractices:
1. Avoid punctuation. Periods, com-
mas, slashes, hyphens, and ampersands
may seem insignificant, but their effect
on a master vendor file can be enormous.
These marks are common triggers of du-
plicate vendor entries. If your software is
not set up to require punctuation, don’t use
punctuation at all. Compile a master list of
vendor abbreviations.
2. Determine the use of upper and
lower cases. Some accounting systems
are case sensitive. This means that the
system would not flag as duplicates the
same vendor name entered in all upper
case and then in mixed upper and lower
case. To avoid this situation, establish rules
about case and enforce them relentlessly.
3. Use dropdown boxes. It helps data
consistencywhenstaffersenteringthedata
can select from a pre-established list as
opposed to entering data free-form.
4. Makeapolicyaboutinitials.Some
vendor’s names contain initials. Eliminate
the punctuation if you can. The choice of a
standard for initials is arbitrary. But what-
ever standard you use, communicate it to
data entry staff, and make sure it is used
consistently.
5. Drop all titles. The use of personal
titles (Mr., Ms., Dr., etc.) can get compli-
cated—especiallyforinternationalvendors.
As a best practice, titles should be dropped
from the master vendor file.
6. Make rules for ‘the’ and ‘a.’ These
areproblematicbecauseitcanbedifficultto
ascertain whether they are officially part of
the vendor’s name. For companies that use
the IRS TIN/name matching system, every
effort should be made to use the vendor’s
official name, even if it begins with “The”
or “A.” If possible, a listing that begins with
“the”shouldbeindexedorcross-referenced
to the same company’s name without the
article, so that data entry personnel can
locate the correct record, even if they begin
to key in an invoice using the shorter ver-
sion of the name.
7. Develop a policy for ‘and’ and ‘&.’
When the word “and” occurs in a vendor’s
name, it’s common in data entry to use an
ampersand (&) in its place. However, keep
in mind that as with the word “the,” you
need to use the word “and” if it is part of
thecompany’sofficialnameandyouusethe
IRS TIN/name matching system. Similarly,
you need to use the ampersand if it is part
of the official name. The AP staff should be
instructed to use the ampersand only when
it appears on the vendor’s letterhead or
other official documentation and never to
substitute the symbol for the word “and.”
8. Use name of taxing authority.
Invoices for state and local taxes can have
Data Management Accuracy
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

11. www.iofm.com/ap 11SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
all sorts of names. The official name of the
jurisdictionshouldbeenteredasthevendor
name.Anyinformationthatisnecessaryfor
correct delivery, such as the department
name, should be added on a second line
elsewhere in the address. If the name of an
individual in the department or agency is
not absolutely required, it should be omit-
ted from the master vendor file.
9. Be wary of governmental enti-
ties. Cities and states are among the most
common duplicated vendor entries in most
vendorfiles,primarilybecauseyouarelikely
to pay many separate entities within them.
How exactly this is handled will depend
on how your system handles entities with
multiple remits, but a decision needs to be
made and the policy followed consistently.
10. Be judicious with the use of the
second line. Use of the second line for
vendor name information can cause dif-
ficulties down the line, so you want to
reserve the use of it for occasions when
it is truly necessary—when the lack of the
information contained in the second line
would cause a problem.
11. Manage multiple remits. Many
vendors require that payments be sent to
multipleplacesdependingonvariousrules.
Some accounting systems allow multiple
remittance sites for each vendor, and some
donot.Ifyoursystemallowsmultipleremits,
use them. If it does not, you will need to be
particularly careful that the vendor name
is entered identically for each remit. Be
sure that everyone in AP understands how
multiple remits work, stress the importance
of verifying that both the vendor and the
remit are correct when entering invoices
into the system, and review these vendors
regularly for errors.
12. Establish rules for entering ad-
dresses. It is important that the address
information in the file be accurate and as
completeaspossible.USPSaddressingrules
maybefoundinPublication28availableat:
http://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub28/
pub28.pdf. Comply with the rules of other
countriesaswell.TheUniversalPostalUnion
can provide guidance at www.upu.int.
13. Establish rules for other fields.
Telephone numbers should be entered
consistently. Decide whether you want to
use a period or a hyphen as a separator,
or no separator at all, within the number.
Yoursystemmaymakethisdecisionforyou.
Also decide how you will enter taxpayer
identifiers. Social security numbers have a
different format than employer identifica-
tion numbers. If you decide to eliminate
hyphens from these numbers, you will not
easily be able to tell what kind of TIN it is.
Somesystemshaveseparatefieldsforeach
type of TIN. You will need to determine
how to use them.
Make Your Policy Detailed
and Comprehensive
Include as many naming examples in
your policy as you can think of in order to
maintain data entry consistency, and add
to this list as you encounter something new.
The biggest trouble you’ll come across is if
there has been no policy or education about
the importance of naming conventions.
Unless people are fully aware of the
potential problems related to the naming
of vendors, you will likely get a very strong
negativereactionwhenyoutrytoimplement
a policy. AP must educate its staff and the
rest of the company as to why this is such
an important issue.
Youcan’texecuteadataentrypolicyhalf-
way,andifyourpolicyisnotcomprehensive,
you will leave the door open to allow for
duplicate vendors or fraud. “The enforce-
ment of business rules often conflicts with
the desire to get the job done,” says David

12. 12 www.iofm.com/ap SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
Reducing Check Runs
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
for eliminating volumes of paper invoices
throughtheimplementationofACH,apro-
cessinwhichsecureelectronictransactions
are sent to bank accounts within the U.S.
Checks, Checks and More
Checks at Freese and Nichols
“Paper check processing at my company
was causing problems for the AP depart-
mentandinconveniencesforvendors,”says
accounting specialist Becky Baze, APS, of
FreeseandNichols,aconsultingfirminFort
Worth, Texas. “Checks were delayed—or
on occasion lost—in the mail, making it
necessary for AP to void and reissue the
checks,”
In addition, AP was processing four
check runs per week. “It felt like we were
processing checks eight hours a day, four
days a week,” says Baze. AP spent at least
15 hours per week processing payments
and getting the checks mailed.
Movingtowardanelectronicsolutionwas
a big undertaking for AP and the company.
“We had been in business for more than
118 years, so making a major change re-
garding payments was a big undertaking.”
Here are the steps that Baze and her
company took to implement their ACH
program:
1. Educate yourself about automa-
tion and the opportunities it offers.
“AchievingmyAPCertificationempowered
me and informed me. I had the knowledge
and confidence to go to my controller and
ask that changes be made,” she says.
2. Get your documentation ducks
in a row. “Make sure you have all your
documentation ready to show how much
you can save your company in terms of
time and money,” she recommends. “This
will help you make your case to get the
support you need.”
3. Present your case. “The first step
was getting the controller on board for
approval of an ACH process and a reduc-
tion in the frequency of check runs. Once
we got the controller’s approval for the
changes,wewenttoourCFOforapproval,”
says Baze.
4. Develop new specs and proce-
dures.“APhadtocoordinatewiththebank
to get the specifications we would need to
get our accounting system in compliance,”
Baze explains. “Then we worked with the
IT group to get our security and account-
ing program in compliance with the bank’s
requirements for ACH.” AP also had to
come up with a new payment procedure
for the ACH process that had to be set up
in such a way that the auditors would to
be able to verify that AP was following the
proper protocols.
5. Take an interdepartmental team
approach. “AP worked with the controller
and the CFO to implement the process,”
says Baze. The group had to also select
vendors to target and participate in the
e-payment switchover, so they could get
the ACH process up and running.
Loshin, president of consultancy, Knowl-
edge Integrity Inc. But the job of undoing
incorrect data can be the most trying task
of all. q
Editor’s Note: To learn more about other
best practices for managing the master
vendor file, attend IOFM’s Accounts Payable
Conference & Expo, Oct. 14-16 at Caesars
Palace in Las Vegas and look for the ses-
sion, “Managing the Master Vendor File.”
To register for the conference, go to www
.iofm.com/event/apconf12.

13. www.iofm.com/ap 13SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
Big Cost and Time-Savings
Now that AP has gone to ACH payments
and check runs once a week, AP spends
aboutsixhoursperweekgettingcheckpay-
ments together and mailed. The controller
and CFO know what days they need to be
available to sign checks, but they are sign-
ing far fewer checks now than in the past.
“This frees up their time for more important
things,” Baze points out.
“Thee-mailnotificationofACHpayment
to the vendor results in substantial savings
in time and money.” says Baze. “Our ven-
dors are happier because they know when
to expect payment.”
Some Vendors Still Reluctant
AP is currently working on getting even
more of Freese and Nichols’s vendors set
up on the ACH payment process. “Even
though the ACH payments have been
available for a while, there are still some
vendors that are reluctant to receive their
payments through ACH,” says Baze.
IOFM recommends setting up an enroll-
mentwebsitethatallowsvendorstoregister
easily for e-payments. The site should also
give vendors the ability to access and make
changes to their online payment and re-
mittance profile. Empowering vendors to
easily report these changes helps prevent
rejected payments. q
Editor’s Note: Freese and Nichols, Inc. (Fort
Worth, Texas), is a consulting firm that pro-
vides services in engineering, architecture,
environmentalscience,constructionservices,
and planning. The firm has 15 locations and
employs 525 employees. Becky Baze, APS,
Accounting Specialist V, is a member IOFM,
and has been in her current job for 19 years.
Allegheny County
Jeanne Manski, APM
AMC Networks
Anna Iannarone, APM
Kathleen Stiene, APM
Luisa Robles, APM
Lynda Riheldaffer, APM
Sara Bass, APM
Amylin Pharm
Annette Escobedo, APS
ArmourEckrich Meats
Michelle Rieder, APM
Biomeasure
Michele Lewis, APS
Callanan Industries
Joann Huckins, APS
Carroll College
Kari Weber, APM
Central Washington Hospital
Kathy Nystrom, APM
Christus Health
Anitura Joseph, APM
Natonya Moore, APM
Cooper Standard
Automotive Inc.
Rhonda Blickenstaff, APM
Cross Country Healthcare
Sharon Tilles, APS
Davita, Inc.
Brenda Kelsch, APM
EMD Shared Services
America, Inc.
Sergio Valeiras, APM
EnovaPremier, LLC
Stacy Schultheis, APS
Enterprise Products Co
Mary Ford, APS
Robert Govella, APS
First Federal Bank Midwest
Jennifer Hanna, APS
Genpact
Akos Varga, APS
Balazs Eros, APS
Deeksha Sehgal, APS
Goodman Manufacturing
Montaya.Victor, APS
Hoosier Energy
Amy Parrish, APM
Tracy Monroe, APM
Imaging Office Systems
Aaron Sarber, APS
Lemo USA Inc
Cindi Le, APS
LinkedIn
Jung Park, APM
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer
District
Heather Davis, APS
National Marrow Donor
Program
Linda Rustemis, APM
Paula Fisher, APM
San Diego State University
Beth Dombrose, APS
Siemens Product Lifecycle
Management Soft
Kathy Puckett, APS
Syntel Inc.
Ajeet Kumar, APS
US Bank
Todd Sweders, APM
Vanguard Group, Inc.
John D’Angelo, APM
Karen Sanford, APM
Michele Legrande, APM
Parmashwarie (Ann) Singh, APS
Susan Glasgow, APS
Virginia Commonwealth
University VCU
Kelly McClurg, APM
Thomas Smith, APM
Congratulations to the AP Professionals Who Have Achieved Certification in
the IOMA/TAPN Accounts Payable Certification Program in July.
In July, the following AP professionals took the IOMA/TAPN one-day certification program and exam and earned an
Accredited Payables Specialist (APS) certification (for key AP staff), or an Accredited Payables Manager (APM) certification
(for AP department heads).
For more information on the certification program, please contact Andrew Fitzpatrick at 203-889-4977, e-mail Andrew
.fitzpatrick@iofm.com, or view our online video at www.iofm.com/products/view/accounts-payable-certification.

14. 14 www.iofm.com/ap SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
statutes, and are even deploying teams of
contracted examiners and outside audit-
ing firms to conduct audits. Since most
unclaimed property is never claimed by its
owner, organizations that don’t report the
unclaimed property become a target.
Unclaimed property must be reported to
each state annually. The majority of states
have a November 1 deadline, with March 1
being the filing date for another large group
ofstates.Thesefilingsmustbedoneontime,
since the states typically have a penalty for
late filing (in addition to a fine for not filing
at all). There are also rules for due diligence,
which means there is a process you must
go through to demonstrate you’ve made an
effort to track missing payees.
Many Organizations Are Poorly
Equipped to Meet the Challenge
Industry estimates indicate that just 20
percent to 25 percent of organizations are
fully compliant with unclaimed property
laws.
If your company holds money or property
that goes unclaimed for a specified period
of time without the owner being located (the
“dormancy period” is usually three to five
years), that property must be “escheated”
to the state government with jurisdiction.
Filing annual reports to states is manda-
tory. Not doing so will alert auditors and
expose your company to payments to the
state—plus interest and penalties.
Manage Your Potential Liability
Toavoidtheriskofincurringfines,APneeds
to put in place the four following procedures
for identifying unclaimed property and for
complying with reporting requirements:
1. First, AP must identify what is un-
claimed property and what is not. Many
items that appear to be unclaimed are really
the result of errors and omissions that need
to be corrected. This identification process
should be ongoing throughout the year.
2. The second task is following the
proper requirements for the property
thathasbeenidentifiedas“unclaimed.”
As in other regulatory areas, the existence
of written policies and procedures can help
in an audit by indicating your intention to
comply with regulations.
3. Third, research the states in which
you do business. The unclaimed property
regulations are different from state to state,
and many states have recently shortened
their dormancy periods. Go beyond tradi-
tional items like uncashed checks, aban-
doneddeposits,anddormantaccounts.And
go far back into your records—there is no
statuteoflimitationsonunclaimedproperty.
4.Finally,meetduediligencerequire-
ments. This requires making a good faith
effort to contact the owner/payee prior to
reportingandremittingunclaimedproperty
to the appropriate state. q
Editor’s Note: To help you with your un-
claimedpropertypreparationsandmaterials,
a sample IOFM unclaimed property checklist
can be downloaded from the following link:
www.iofm.com/resource/view/escheatment-
unclaimed-property-checklist. In addition, a
due diligence letter can be downloaded from
the following IOFM link: www.iofm.com/
resource/view/sample-due-diligence-letter.
Toprovidecomprehensiveadditionaltraining
on the topic, IOFM is presenting a special
in-depth workshop entitled “Unclaimed
Property:EvaluatingandMinimizingLiability”
at the Accounts Payable Conference & Expo
being held October 14-16 at Caesars Palace
in Las Vegas, NV. To register for the confer-
ence,gotowww.iofm.com/event/apconf12.
Unclaimed Property
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

15. www.iofm.com/ap 15SEPTEMBER 2012
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
NEWS BRIEFS
PFIZER AGREES TO PAY $60 MILLION TO
SETTLE CHARGES BROUGHT UNDER THE
FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT (FCPA)
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bars publicly traded
companies from bribing officials in other countries to
get or retain business. Under the books and records
provisions of the FCPA, organizations are required to
“make and keep books, records, and accounts that
accurately reflect the transactions and dispositions of
the assets of the company.”
Accounts payable professionals play a critical role
in establishing the types of controls that will prevent
individualsfromsubmittingandreceivingapprovalon
false T&E requisitions. AP staffers are in a position to
alert senior management about questionable reports
and potentially save the organization thousands of
dollars in fines and the loss of reputation.
A FCPA case in point demonstrates the kind of
T&E abuse that can be prevalent in FCPA cases. In
the recent case, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s sales
representatives tried to conceal their foreign bribes
by recording them as business expenses for travel,
entertainment, and marketing, reports the SEC.
Federal authorities announced in early August
that Pfizer will pay $60 million to settle charges that
its employees doled out millions in bribes to doc-
tors, healthcare workers, and other foreign officials
in China, Italy, Russia, Croatia, and other Eastern
European countries, report the Associated Press (AP)
and CNN.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
says that Pfizer paid the bribes to foreign govern-
ment officials to boost sales and obtain regulatory
approvals. “In China, for example, Pfizer employees
rewarded government doctors who prescribed large
amounts of the company’s drugs by inviting them to
meetings with “extensive recreational and entertain-
ment activities,” the SEC said. In Croatia, the agency
said, government doctors received a portion of the
proceeds from Pfizer’s drug sales to the doctors’ own
institutions, reports CNN.
Pfizer noted that there is no allegation that anyone
at the company’s corporate headquarters knew of the
conduct in question, which it voluntarily reported to
the government.
The SEC said the violations date as far back as
2001, and that Pfizer initially reported them in 2004,
and cooperated with the government’s investigation.
Pfizer neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
69 YEAR-OLD AP CLERK IS ACCUSED OF
EMBEZZLING $1 MILLION FROM THE
ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK
A “faithful and loyal” AP clerk was accused of embez-
zling $1 million from the Archdiocese of New York in
July. Although she was perceived as an exemplary
employee,shehadbeenstealingfromthearchdiocese
since she was hired in 2003.
The archdiocese never did a background check
when they hired her, authorities said, although it
was on record that she had been convicted of grand
larceny in 1999 for stealing from a previous employer.
The AP clerk stole the money by sending the church
false invoices, which she then paid by issuing 450
checks to bank accounts that she controlled. She was
careful to only issue herself checks in amounts less
than $2,500, since checks written above that amount
required supervisor approval.
What makes this case particularly surprising is that
the fraud took place in a religious institution. The
incidence of fraudsters in religious organizations is
rather rare, according to the results revealed in The
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE)
2012 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud
and Abuse.
The ACFE reports that banking and financial
services, government and public administration,
manufacturing, and health care are most frequently
victimized by fraud perpetrators. Industries suffering
the largest median losses at the hand of fraud perpe-
trators are mining, real estate, construction, oil and
gas, banking and financial services, manufacturing,
and health care.
The study reveals that billing schemes involving
accounts payable and vendors are the most prevalent
fraud schemes, especially in organizations with fewer
than 100 employees.
“Losses are significantly reduced with the presence
ofanti-fraudcontrols—controlslikehotlines,manage-
ment review, mandatory vacation, formal fraud risk
assessments, anti-fraud policies and surprise audits,”
reveals the report.
Interestingly, most perpetrators are first-time of-
fenders with clean employment histories, and nearly
halfofallorganizationsvictimizedbyfraudareunable
to recover any of the money, reveals the study.
To view the full study, visit www.acfe.com.

16. PERIODICALSMANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
IOMA’s Institute of Finance & Management
1 Sound Shore Drive, Suite 100
Greenwich, CT 06830
MANAGING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
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Membership/Subscription Department
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our content available to non-subscribers within your company or elsewhere.
2012 Master Guide to
Form 1099 Compliance
1099 reporting requirements continue to change!
As closing the tax gap continues to occupy both Congress
and the IRS, expect to see continued enforcement efforts
designed to increase reporting by payers, increase the
withholding of federal tax where required, and produce
more accurate reporting of income by taxpayers.
This completely updated guide will:
• clear up confusion about exactly what was updated and
what proposed changes were enacted
• clarify which types of corporations must be reported, and
which types are exempt from being reported
• provideyouwithinformationonabigchangethatremains
in effect for payments made in 2011 and 2012 through
P-cards and electronic purchasing networks
• provide advance information about changes the IRS will
soon be making in the Forms W-8 and W-9 you use to
document vendors and other payees
• take the mystery out of this annual headache and will
help you avoid increasing costly penalties.
• give you the peace of mind that right on your desktop,
organized in one place, is the help you need
• save you time by guiding you through those thorny
questions everyone gets and few people can answer,
such as:
»» Are you required to report payments to LLCs?
»» What is your next step if a payee refuses to provide
you with a Taxpayer Identification Number?
»» What are best practices to ensure you do not expose
your organization to substantial penalties?
Order your copy today on the coupon to the left or call
203-889-4977 and ask for report 12RA01. Or, you can
visit www.iofm.com/research/view/1099-compliance-
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