Articles and updates on accounts payable automation, invoice processing and finance operations.
Segregation of duties splits the AP tasks that let one person both create a payee and pay them. The five duties, the risky pairs, and controls for small teams.
Read articlePurchase price variance is the gap between what you agreed to pay and what you were billed. Here is the formula, a worked example, and how AP catches it.
Read articleThe next 1099 deadline: 1099-NEC for tax year 2026 is due February 1, 2027. For tax year 2025 the NEC deadline was February 2, 2026. Full due date table, e-file rules, and penalties.
Read articleA proforma invoice is a quote dressed as an invoice. Here is what it is for, how it differs from a commercial invoice, and why booking or paying one is an AP control failure.
Read articleForm 1096 only transmits paper 1099s. Since the IRS e-file threshold dropped to 10 returns, most businesses never file one. Here is who still does, and the deadlines.
Read articleCapEx is capitalized and depreciated. OpEx hits the P&L now. Here is how to tell which an invoice is, the IRS de minimis safe harbor, and where AP teams get it wrong.
Read articlePetty cash is a small cash fund for minor business expenses. Here is how the imprest system works, the journal entries, the controls, and when to shut the fund down.
Read articleAn expense accrual records a cost you incurred but have not been invoiced for. See the journal entries, the reversal, and how AP finds the invoices that have not arrived.
Read articleCheck fraud is the most common payment fraud hitting US businesses. Here is how check washing and altered checks work, and the controls that actually stop them.
Read articleW-8BEN is for foreign individuals, W-8BEN-E is for foreign entities. Collect the right one before you pay, or you must withhold 30% and file Form 1042-S.
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