Accounts Payable Management - Week 5 PDF

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE WEEK 5- MANAGING YOUR FIRST ACCOUNTS PAYABLE DEPARTMENT MANAGING YOUR FIRST ACCOUNTS PAYABLE DEPARTMENT Eventually, most of the associates will be given the opportunity to take the next step to manage their own accounts payable department...

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE WEEK 5- MANAGING YOUR FIRST ACCOUNTS PAYABLE DEPARTMENT MANAGING YOUR FIRST ACCOUNTS PAYABLE DEPARTMENT Eventually, most of the associates will be given the opportunity to take the next step to manage their own accounts payable department. In many cases, the first promotion will be to the supervisor title working under the supervision of a manager. You will be responsible for hiring, training, motivating, and devising the most effective policies and procedures for the accounts payable staff. It is a big responsibility. Your Frist Day as a Manager: What to Expect The good news when it comes to hiring is that you probably won’t have to do it immediately. The bad news is that you will likely inherit a staff. This means you will be taking on problems created by others and may also have to supervise some of your former peers. Initially, there may be some resentment, especially if some of your new subordinates felt that they should have been given the spot. Also, they will not be accustomed to taking direction from you. So tread lightly. You may be tempted to immediately go in and change things around to suit your own style. Immediate action may be seen as disruptive, so unless you have strict instructions from management, wait a bit and observe the team in action.You may see matters differently from your new perch as leader. There is one exception to this piece of advice. If management has given you a directive to go in and make radical changes, you will not have the luxury of observing before making changes. After all, if you don’t follow your boss’s directions, you may be out of a job. Departmental Reputation This is a difficult issue to address. Be forewarned: In most companies it will take time. In a good number of companies, the accounts payable department has a lousy reputation. It’s not because the department does a poor job, it’s because it is such an easy scapegoat. It is just too easy to blame accounts payable for everything that goes wrong along the way. When a vendor doesn’t get paid on time, it is much easier for the purchasing manager to blame it on accounts payable than to admit that he sat on the invoice for six weeks before approving it. Do all purchasing managers do this? Absolutely not! But, more than a few do. And the purchasing manager isn’t the only culprit of this type of behavior. Departmental Reputation Similarly, others within the company are also quick to point a finger at accounts payable. Executives who are not reimbursed for their expenses in time to pay their Credit Card bill will not remember that they turned in their expense reports late. Most will prefer to blame it on accounts payable. The list is endless. Turning the other cheek and ignoring the problem is not a good idea, for several reasons: If bad work habits are not corrected, they will continue. The purchasing manager will never approve invoices for payments in a timely manner if not reminded of the consequences of his actions. Departmental Reputation The accounts payable department isn’t the only one tainted by these remarks. The reputation of everyone who works in the department is also trashed. When one of the hard-working accounts payable associates applies for a position in another department, most are rejected outright because it is believed that they are poor workers, when just the opposite is usually the case. It will be difficult to recruit others within the company to join the department if it is believed to be an ineffective department. We know of one company that had to force an accountant to takethe position of the department manager because no one within the company would post for the position. Departmental Reputation It will be next to impossible to elevate people within the department, upgrade the jobs, or get the necessary money for training and conferences. The company will deem it a poor investment to spend its money on the employees in accounts payable. Your own upward mobility and salary increases will be limited if the reputation of the department is not improved. MOTIVATION One of the hardest tasks a manager faces is to motivate the staff. It is a problem in many accounts payable department. There are some things you cannot change. If the company puts on a salary freeze, an accounts payable manager or supervisor is unlikely to be able to change that. However, there are accounts payable managers everywhere, working under tight circumstances, short staffed, who manage to have a happy, productive staff. Motivating the Staff Have good work habits and a positive outlook yourself. The staff will pick up on your mood. Lead by example. Set high but realistic standards. Use praise abundantly and criticism meagerly and always in private. Never, ever, criticize an employee in public. Be careful how you praise remembering that it is possible to motivate one employee while demotivating the rest of the staff when one person is singled out for applause. Motivating the Staff Share credit for a successful project. When a new procedure, technology, or strategy is implemented, don’t take all the credit for yourself. Make sure that everyone who worked on the project is included in the praise. Sending a thank-you note to all participants with a carbon copy to management will work. Set up each employee to succeed. Assign work according to ability, but do this carefully. No one likes to get the lion’s share of the work but only an average amount of credit for successfully achieving an extraordinary goal. Motivating the Staff Reward your top performers accordingly. Giving everyone the same raise is not a good idea. Get the staff the equipment it needs to do the best job possible. Is the accounts payable department always at the bottom of the new technology list? Does it only get computers already used in other departments when others get new machines? Negotiate with management to move accounts payable up on the technology list. Be honest with the staff. When there is bad news, such as upcoming layoffs, be upfront with them. Better that they hear the news from you than they hear it through the grapevine, where you know it will be exaggerated. Motivating the Staff If possible, assign the more tedious tasks to temporary workers reserving the “fun” projects for the full time staff. Don’t assign all the “fun” projects to the same person; share the wealth. Don’t, under any circumstances, show favoritism. Ask the staff for suggestions and recommendations. They have great ideas. If you really want to make a positive impact, get the company to spring for a pizza lunch where their ideas can be discussed. Hiring the Right People Hiring is a tricky proposition. Not only do you have to get the best person for the position, but it is also a good idea to make sure that the new hire will fit in with the rest of the staff. Here are a few tips to get you on the right track. Write a job description. List the must-have skills and the skills and attributes you would like to have, but are willing to either train for or live without. Hiring the Right People Set a realistic salary target. This should be in line with the salaries in the industry and region. By realistically setting grade levels for the position, you will be well situated to get management to agree to a competitive salary. Set the compensation too low and you will not be able to attract qualified candidates. Post the position internally, if required. Hiring the Right People List the position with the appropriate employment agencies. Your human resources area may handle this function.Work with them to make sure they understand your requirements. A bad hire is not an easy problem to rectify Make a list of the questions you would like the potential candidates to answer. If possible, couch them in this context: “How would you solve this problem or address this situation?” Conduct your interviews. Do as little talking and as much listening as possible. Hiring the Right People When you’ve narrowed down your choice to the final three candidates, invite them back to meet the staff and your boss. Let several people on the staff talk to the potential new hire without you. Get feedback from all parties. Remember, the new hire will be part of a team so carefully listen to what your staff has to say. If you hire someone they are adamantly opposed to, it will be a demotivating experience for them. Also, they will be reluctant to speak honestly in the future. Check references, check references, check references. Some people interview exceedingly well—but that is where their skill set ends. This also means that if someone is a little nervous or doesn’t interview well, that person should not be immediately crossed off your list. Hiring the Right People When you are satisfied, make an offer. Expect your new hire to give notice of at least two weeks. If the employee is willing to walk out on a current employer, what do you think he or she will do, should the person decide to leave your employment? On the new employee’s first day, make sure that the work space is ready. Introduce the employee to the staff and proceed. Summary Running an accounts payable department is a challenge. You will probably make some mistakes—virtually all of which can be fixed. If your staff sees that you have their best interests at heart and are doing your best on their behalf, half the battle will be won.