May 2021

The Accounts Payable department is continually changing – whether it’s new technology, new staff or new suppliers, all of the factors can lead to additional risk of losses. Using our risk detection software, our experts perform an audit of the last 2-3 years of your transactional data. They identify and verify duplicates, overpayments and potential occurrences of fraud. The decision normal balance to outsource is a delicate one and should be carefully addressed on a company-to-company basis. What cannot be overlooked however, is the importance of conducting regular and comprehensive accounts payable audits regardless of the processing location or industry. Auditing outsourced payables is an essential practice for maintaining financial accuracy, compliance, and efficiency, while also mitigating risks and controlling costs effectively.

Identify The Root Cause Of The Leakage. Recommend System Improvements To Prevent Future Lost Profits.

The aim of an AP audit is to recover cash that has circumvented your financial controls, to protect your bottom line and support cash flow. It is an opportunity accounts payable audit to evaluate and strengthen your controls and streamline processes. It also ensures compliance with regulations, internal procedures and supplier contracts or agreements, and can even alert you to potential fraud. In short, contingency-based recovery auditing means that the fee you pay recovery auditing firms is a percentage of the revenue recovered.

Accounts payable recovery audits – the Transparent way

The process of integrating or “on-boarding” the acquired company increases the risk of duplicate and other forms of overpayments. A Procurement to Payment Recovery Audit of the acquired company data prior to on-boarding or “sunsetting” of the system, and the period immediately following the transition to a shared system, is highly recommended. The biggest risk of not recovering accounts payable overpayments is all the money left on the table. But even if you’re using an automated AP system, it’s still a good idea to conduct an AP recovery audit regularly, since even a single error can cost you money. We blend efficient processes, expert teams, and flexible technology to connect and correlate complex data bookkeeping for cleaning business sets that go beyond recoveries, turning data into dollars. With teams spanning across each major time zone, FlexTecs operates on a 24/7 global model for faster reviews and recoveries.

• Ian is a proactive leader who prioritises client satisfaction, drives expansion, and encourages innovation.
• Once this is complete, a data extract will take place and the software, if appropriate to your auditor, is set up.
• We alert you immediately, so your team can review and resolve any queries before the payment run.
• When outsourcing your AP audit, keep regular contact with your auditors to resolve issues quickly and create a smoother audit process.
• It is an opportunity to evaluate and strengthen your controls and streamline processes.
• Contact us today to learn how our accounts payable recovery audit services can help your business recover overpayments and realise savings.
• By identifying the root causes of issues, companies can improve their internal processes, reduce future errors, and increase profitability.

What’s the difference? Internal, external and recovery audits.

It safeguards the organisation’s financial health, ensures compliance with regulations, and promotes operational efficiency. It also gives peace of mind, as improved ledger accuracy means more precise calculations for investments and other spend. A recovery audit sets out to review transactions specifically with a focus on cash recovery. The cash recoveries will usually come from overpayments or duplicate payments, missing credits or supplier discounts. The AP audit can encompass a wider range of factors, including recovery, supplier errors and compliance issues. An accounts payable recovery audit is an audit used to identify and recover AP funds paid in error such as overpayments and duplicate payments.

• Even those Accounts Payable teams with industry-leading processes and controls make payment errors.
• Get access to a dedicated team of senior-level auditors who apply their decades of experience to elevate your financial processes.
• Quite simply, it is a review of your Accounts Payable historical data for the purpose of identifying and recovering funds paid to your vendors and suppliers resulting from overpayments and under-deductions.
• It’s best to consult with recovery audit firms to get a more accurate estimate of the cost based on the specific needs of the business.
• Full visibility to key areas and trends such as claim types, root causes and supplier metrics are available 24×7 for credentialed users.
• For organizations looking to grow and expand into more revenue-driving, strategic roles, conducting a recovery audit is an essential tool to both save money and identify gaps going forward.

Recovery Audit Cost

We have been providing comprehensive Accounts Payable Recovery Auditing services and solutions to companies of all sizes in all markets and industries. We perform regular self-audits to ensure we’re maximizing efficiency and effectiveness. Our expert global production team led by 25+ year-industry professionals know how to recover more money, faster, and more consistently. With over 300 senior-level auditors, we have the deep experience and deep knowledge that supercharges efficiency and accuracy. Deeper reviews, faster recoveries, and better mechanisms to enhance your payment integrity. Driven by a passion for people and excellence, James is a global HR leader with over 15 years of experience.

His expertise is dedicated to empowering both new and established clients to achieve their highest aspirations. We target 100% of your supplier statements, reconciling, scrutinising and recovering any outstanding credit entries. Our Statement DB™ tool efficiently oversees the audit and recovery process, offering comprehensive documentation and supplier agreement backups.

Generally, recovery audit firms work on a contingency basis, meaning that they only get paid a percentage of the recovered funds. This can range from 10% to 50% or more, depending on the specific agreement with the recovery audit firm. Some recovery audit firms also offer fixed-fee or hourly-rate pricing models, which may be more suitable for smaller or less complex audits. An accounts payable audit is a best practice because it ensures the accuracy and integrity of financial transactions.

This proactive approach to third-party communication prevents issues that could potentially harm the working relationship down the road. Identifying internal mistakes such as payment issues, contract noncompliance, or incorrect information, can help businesses correct the mistakes and take action to prevent future mistakes. A recovery audit involves reviewing a company’s financial transactions and records to identify and recover overpayments, duplicate payments, and other financial errors. Recovery audits help ensure a company is paying the correct amount for goods and services received and that it is not making duplicate payments. By identifying and recovering these funds, a recovery audit helps improve a company’s cash flow and profitability.

With a profound understanding of the industry, he drives the firm’s strategy, oversees its talented team, and ensures seamless operations. James’s impeccable expertise and leadership have consistently surpassed those of the largest global profit recovery providers, setting him apart as an industry leader. Our meticulous historical transaction review uncovers and reclaims overpayments made to suppliers. Our advanced systems and seasoned auditors detect and rectify processing errors swiftly, delivering immediate, bottom-line results. The data gets normalized and run through proprietary software to identify the potential overpayments.