Get Started

Introduction

We often see spikes in duplicate payments and unclaimed rebates from vendors following disruptive events like eInvoice/ERP migrations and major staffing changes. Client engagements have even uncovered fraud in the aftermath.

Disruption comes in many forms. Three common ones we see are below. If you would like a more specific conversation about disruptive events facing your AP process, speak with a member of our team.

Even with ERP and manual controls, overpayments slip through. An outsourced recovery audit can be a great way to ‘clean up’ after the fact.

An image of the cloud

Software Migrations


Introducing or changing software solutions (from eInvoicing all the way to ERP migrations) introduces process and configuration changes. These could expose your business to greater risk of duplicate payments, mistakes and fraud.

Information icon

Staffing Changes


Offshoring, outsourcing, and layoffs can weaken institutional knowledge/supplier relationships. During these times, duplicate payments often spike. Staff turnover contributes to unapplied credits or vendor discounts.

Sustainability & ESG Risk

Mergers and Acquisitions


Even if you don’t integrate AP functions post-acquisition; M&A activity introduces new suppliers, people and processes to your world. This is a great time to conduct an audit with the goal of protecting value and strengthening.

Even with ERP and manual controls, overpayments slip through.
An outsourced recovery audit can be a great way to ‘clean up’ after the fact.

The Impact of Disruption on Payables

In this example, a client transitioned from an on-premise ERP to a cloud instance. This led to a spike of 1600% in possible overpayments (which were prevented in this case because the client uses our overpayment prevention solution).

disruption graphic

Engaging a professional, experienced provider such as apexanalytix doesn’t need to add further strain to the situation. Jeff Heinrich, Global Process Lead for P2P at General Mills, shared in a webinar that their audit only requires an hour per week from the team.

 

Case Study

Closing Control Gaps

When CommScope acquired an apexanalytix recovery audit client.

 

While in the process of merging their shared service centers, they expanded the scope to include the broader CommScope supplier base.

 

They have continued their recovery audit, providing confidence that their processes remain robust, even through natural change such as normal staff turnover.

Closing the Control Gaps with CommScope

Recover Value Lost Through Disruption

A thorough audit covering duplicate payments and unapplied credits is an effective way to ‘clean up’ following disruptive events. Profit recovery audits can be delivered on a contingency basis. This means you can recover lost value without introducing more financial risk to your business.

Statements Audit

Discover unapplied credits or rebates across suppliers. This often represents the majority of value unlocked by a recovery audit. When auditing over six million invoices for a single client, 96% of our recoveries were attributable to vendor statement reviews.

You can read that case study here.

Following disruption – particularly involving staffing changes – loss of institutional/vendor knowledge can exacerbate the problem.

 

Case Study

Statements Audits

General Mills’ AP recoveries are well below the industry average because of good process controls.

 

Issues often aren’t caused by individuals within AP making a mistake. Instead, it’s the things you don’t know about. Statement audits add value because they provide visibility into these areas. Engaging in our audit partnership demands very minimal internal resources (approximately an hour per week).

 

In this webinar, Jeff Heinrich (General Process Lead for P2P) shared that they had recovered over $2m to the bottom line.

Statement Audits for General Mills

Duplicate Payment Audit

Although they account for fewer recoveries than vendor statements, duplicate payment audits are an effective way to return cash to the bottom line. We typically perform both audit types simultaneously.

In our experience, duplicate payments are commonly linked to a combination of errors in data entry, duplicate vendor records, and a lack of unified invoice processing systems.

Regardless of cause, duplicate payments are ultimately made because ERP controls don’t prevent them. Following any disruption in which configurations are changed (ERP migrations, for example), we often see a spike in errors.

A recovery audit here serves two purposes: recover the cash and close control gaps.

 

Case Study

Duplicate Payments

In a previous webinar; Pete Erdner, our VP of Commercial Operations shared his insight into the common causes of duplicate payments – including the technology which has been introduced to the process, and acquisitions.

 

He shared that often the blame for duplicate payments tends to fall with accounts payable but this shouldn’t be the case.

 

The multitude of ways invoices an enter a system, as well as inherent weaknesses in ERP controls can lead to duplicates.

Prevent duplicate payments with apexanalytix

Strengthen Your Controls Through Technology

 

Disruption, although sometimes necessary, can be damaging to the AP function in the short term. This impact to the bottom line can be mitigated by a ‘clean-up’ recovery audit after the fact, but the true opportunity lies in automated controls which prevent overpayment in the future.

Our recovery audits include a post-audit report which highlights the control gaps identified. Often, these do not reflect poorly on the individuals within an AP team, instead presenting opportunities to improve:

  • The quality, visibility, and application of supplier data within Accounts Payable (and beyond)
  • The automated controls in place to prevent overpayments and protect the bottom line

In the period following major disruption, it can seem undesirable to introduce more change.

Our experience (over 35 years) working with the world’s largest companies helps us find the balance between implementing best practices and supporting the needs of your people & processes. Technology-enabled controls can be implemented sympathetically; to benefit stakeholders rather than disrupt them.

This video, featuring representatives of Spirit Airlines, Dignity Health, Verizon, SunTrust, and Delta, shows how apexanalytix’s technology can prevent overpayments in global AP functions.

Video Player

Case Study: JetBlue

Learn how the airline…

  1. Verifies Supplier Data
  2. Prevents Duplicate Payments
  3. Protects Against Fraud
  4. Maximizes Vendor Credits and Rebates

When Joni Geurts joined the JetBlue AP department, she discovered it was a struggle to get even the most basic information about the company’s suppliers.

As she searched for solutions, she discovered an apexanalytix technology platform that has transformed how her organization operates. The JetBlue AP team now has instant access to information and the tools it needs to protect the company from payment errors, fraud, compliance risks – and more.

Joni, who was then a Director in JetBlue’s AP function, joined us for a webinar to discuss these implementations. In it, she shared how JetBlue verifies supplier information, prevents duplicate payments, protects against fraud, and maximizes vendor credits/rebates.

You can watch the whole webinar here or enjoy the highlights below.

Case Study

Supplier Data Validation

JetBlue embraced our solution to automate the process of collecting and validating supplier data. Tare now able to gather everything they need to feel comfortable working with (and paying) a vendor.

 

Through their apexanalytix Portal, this information is validated for them. Prohibited lists are checked and monitored. Bank accounts and tax IDs are validated. They even track supplier diversity data.

 

Many validations are carried out in real-time so accidental typos don’t lead to invalid bank routing numbers which could cause problems down the road. 

Supplier Date Validation with apexanalytix
Case Study

Duplicate Payment Prevention

JetBlue struggled to find duplicates in their ERP system. Some of these issues were caused by invoices with added dashes or mis-typed characters, meaning the system thinks it’s a different invoice despite being a duplicate.

 

Even with their ERP system’s warnings in place, they found that frontline users can click right through without double checking to see that the invoice was in-fact duplicated.

 

The apexanalytix solution catches and prevents these duplicates despite attempts (intentional or otherwise) to push them through.

Duplicate payment prevention with apexanalytix
Case Study

Fraud Prevention

Joni shared examples of attempted invoice fraud against JetBlue. Whilst highly complex scams do exist, the simple ones are still a big risk for businesses.

 

Real attempts to defraud JetBlue have included lookalike email addresses sending invoices with false remittance information. For example, adding underscores or similar-looking letters to the email address.

 

With apexanalytix’s fraud prevention solution in place, attempts at invoice fraud (sophisticated otherwise) can be automatically identified and halted before the money ever leaves your company’s account.

Fraud prevention with apexanalytix
Case Study

Profit Recovery Audit

Even with our technology in place, Joni shared why JetBlue continued to use use our profit recovery audit service.

 

Our audits benefit from cutting-edge technology as well as our decades of experience – guiding us efficiently to overpayments and recovery. Joni pointed out that a lot of the findings come from credits or cash rebates that vendors forget to apply on statements.

 

In cases such as goods being returned without AP being notified, the results of these audits can be highly beneficial without casting doubt over the strength of the AP team.

Profit recovery with apex analytix

Conclusion

Disruption to the AP function can have a direct impact on your company’s bottom line. Technology migrations, changes to the org chart, and M&A/divestitures introduce the opportunity for excess cash to exit your business.

Ideally, you would already have technology in place to prevent this. However, among the competing demands of the function, you aren’t alone by not having this in place. A post-disruption recovery audit can restore value lost through the transition without adding significantly to the burden on your teams.

Moving forward, best-in-class AP teams adopt robust controls through technology that extends beyond their existing ERPs while integrating seamlessly. From verified bank account details through to real-time duplicate and fraud prevention, your cash can be safeguarded efficiently.

In some cases, a post-disruption recovery audit can even fund the initiative. Rolling vendor statement audits ensure no value is left behind. Meanwhile, configurable dashboards demonstrate ROI in a click.

To explore ways of recovering and protecting value in your AP function, speak to a member of our team.