Invoices are treasure troves of valuable data. With everything from product descriptions to contract terms, invoices feature a wealth of vital information that AP can leverage to improve the organization’s procure-to-pay cycle.

Unfortunately, many departments are not doing this. Mining data from a paper invoice is a daunting task. It requires organizations to devote staff resources and time to a job that doesn’t help pay the bills any faster. The key to getting access to this data is to go electronic.

The TAPN/IOMA certification program has been very successful since first introduced at Johnson & Johnson.

A major contributing factor to the success of this program has been the recognition an A/P professional receives having successfully met the standards for the most comprehensive certification program available today. This recognition comes not only from their management, but also from their peers.

In addition to the other benefits afforded by certification, two additional benefits were recently cited by TAPN member A/P organizations.

There are only a few vertebrae of difference between a "Pat on the Back" and a "Kick in the Butt."

As I conduct Certification training, one issue that accounts payable professionals continually share with me is their frustration of how their contributions go unrecognized and unrewarded by management. In many cases, accounts payable personnel are the lowest paid group within financial organizations. A/P is also way down on the priority list of organizations' capital funding.