The president’s newly-released budget proposal for fiscal year 2011 could have a direct impact on your accounts payable department.

Each year the president releases a document outlining policy initiatives that his office would like to see included in the finalized budget. This year, the “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2011 Revenue Proposals,” also called the president’s Green Book, includes two proposals that AP departments should be aware of.

It can sometimes feel like there is an invisible tug-of-war match going on between buyers and suppliers over payment card acceptance. While buyers want to use p-cards so they can save money on payment processing and improve cash flow, some vendors find that the costs of accepting cards outweigh the benefits.

Wow, the color! I especially love those fiery Maples this time of year and the breathtaking show nature puts on for its last gasp before we settle in for those cozy long winter naps.

While driving around your neighborhood, I’m sure you have neighbors who diligently rake their leaves on a sunny weekend day, open the windows, and engage in a little fall home detailing. They also do the same thing for their prized (or not so prized) automobiles.

Hundreds of AP professionals stopped to visit The Accounts Payable Network’s booth at October’s IOMA Accounts Payable Conference and Expo.

Visitors to the booth were treated to a real-time demonstration of the TAPN homepage by Manager, Marketing Operations Whitney Vail (left) and Director, e-Learning Gordon Bivens (right). The visitors learned about the many benefits of TAPN membership, including access to downloadable tools and policy manuals, timely benchmark surveys, and a wealth of articles on every aspect of the payables process.

I LOVE football, especially the NFL (and that catchy Monday Night Football theme song). I especially love my hometown team, The Washington Redskins - yes, I know it hasn’t been a good year for them, but that’s a blog for an entirely different site.

But, win or lose, they are my team and they do have three Super Bowl rings. Not as many as the Steelers, Patriots or Cowboys, but if you have even one Super Bowl ring, you did all the right things to get there. You know what it takes to be the best and how attention to detail yields results you can be proud of.

While the economy isn’t out of the woods yet, many organizations have started thinking about how they are going to come out of the recession stronger and more competitive than when they went in.

Several business surveys making their way around report that businesses are planning to start hiring again soon. According to the Employment Dynamics and Growth Expectations Report, 53 percent of employers expect to hire additional full-time staff during the next 12 months. Meanwhile, 40 percent plan to hire contract workers, and 39 percent expect to hire part-time staff.

For many organizations, outsourcing accounts payable operations is a great way to focus their efforts on primary business goals. A car manufacturer may want to concentrate on making cars and not on paying invoices.

Outsourcing accounts payable can also save money, as outsourcers have access to AP automation technology and can take advantage of economies of scale. For even more cost savings, many prominent AP outsource providers operate overseas in low-wage countries like India and the Philippines.

State governments are currently facing huge budget deficits. In fact, only two states – Montana and North Dakota – dot not have budget shortfalls. As a result, many states are looking for any way they can to boost revenue.

Rather than resort to unpopular tax increases, they are instead focusing on stricter enforcement of existing tax laws. One popular target for cash-starved states is sales tax.

Just because the accounts payable specialist job description mentions a lot about invoice handling duties and nothing about playing office basketball doesn’t mean there isn’t room for both in your department.

Employee motivation in AP is an issue very near and dear to my heart. After speaking with organizations that maintain dedicated employee motivation programs – often allocating funds for the programs as part of the yearly budget – and seeing the real benefit they have on productivity, it’s hard to imagine why any company wouldn’t have one.

Cutting costs is an essential part of staying competitive for any organization. While the current recession makes reducing costs all the more important, businesses should never stop looking for new efficiencies, regardless of the economic climate.

In accounts payable, finding places to cut costs can be extremely difficult considering the primary responsibility of AP is to pay bills. However, there are many ways AP can help their organization cut costs. AP can use its wealth of payment data to help the organization reduce spending.