I directed an Accounts Payable Services group for many years and was continually surprised by suppliers /vendors who failed to provide basic information that would allow my team to pay their invoice.  Many times, disagreements would occur as a result of poorly prepared invoices, with clerical and/or calculation errors and the vendor insisting that we pay it anyway.

Our internal control policies prohibited us from making corrections to invoices, so errors required that we get a new invoice from the vendor.  That always raised a whole other set of problems which included, duplicate billings, multiple inaccurate invoices, and numerous communications to resolve the issues.   Oftentimes, the suppliers own billing department had problems removing the original, incorrect invoice from their system.

“No, not your company, I’m talking about that other company”.

I have seen invoices held up for weeks as the AP team and the person who ordered the service worked to resolve such errors. 

Here are the Top 10 Things that you can do to prevent these problems and get your invoices paid quickly.

1.   Prepare a cover page – an invoice cover page with some basic information will help expedite processing. Make sure that the detail page is attached and all numbers tie to the cover page. Include your company name, vendor number (if you can get it), Invoice number, Invoice date, amount due and services rendered/products ordered.

2.   Vendor Name – Your name should be clearly visible, seems like an obvious thing, but you should see some of the invoices that I’ve seen!

3.   Vendor Number – This is the internal number used by your customer to identify your company. If you can get this information, it will reduce processing time because the AP services team won’t have to look it up.

4.   Invoice Number – It is very important to us a UNIQUE invoice number. If you use the same number over and over, it may cause problems for your customers AP processing team.  Sorry, 010108 can only be used once!

5.   Invoice Date –  Do not advance bill.  Advance bills (unless areed in advance) could be placed in a pending file and the likelihood that they will be overlooked greatly increases. 

6.   Amount Due – This should be on the cover page and a detailed breakdown should be attached. Please make sure the numbers all tie!

7.   Services Rendered -  Information should include products acquired or services performed in summary on the cover page and in detail on the invoice attached.

8.   Approval –  Most companies have an internal limits of authority process.  These approval limits may vary by title, so if the organization that you are working with requires, lets say, a senior level approval for all invoices over $50k, then you may want to bill in smaller increments if you can. This way, your invoice doesn’t have to take a company tour before it reaches AP.

9.   Send to the correct person, get a contact in the AP department and treat them well. Often times, invoices require approval from the person who ordered the service. Sending the invoice to the correct person can reduce delays up to I week. Also, try to find out all of the internal procedures and follow them.  A lot of time, this one thing will expedite the handling of your invoice by days!  Don’t forget to communicate your appreciation for getting it turned around so quickly.

10.  Work with your internal billing department to establish procedures that address issues and expedite processing.  The last thing that you need is to have your own billing team creating your cash flow problems!

Adhering to these suggestions can help you to get paid quickly and establish you as a vendor that the AP group will look out for.  My team definitely had its favorite vendors and I know that they gave them special attention and processed their invoices without delay.

Let’s face it, our work/life balance issues aren’t about too much life and not enough work. That wouldn’t be a problem for most people and this would be an article about hanging out at the beach so long that I got dehydrated! Work/life balance is totally about too much work and not enough beach-dehydration time.

For women, juggling the expectations of your personal life with that of your job is no less than acrobatics. Just like the sport, it’s a full-body activity, requiring balance, control and agility. Without even realizing it, you have become a lion tamer, human cannon ball and a magician, by keeping up with critical issues, keeping yourself moving at an extremely fast pace and creating the illusion of handling everything perfectly.

“Look, five balls in one hand, throw them into the air and, “ta-da”, ten completed assignments land skillfully and organized in the other hand.”

But wait, take a closer look and you’ll see the barely visible rope, tape and glue holding everything together. While the act was very entertaining, it was just that, an act. Yes, you have become a skillful magician creating illusions of the impossible. But I hope that you don’t believe your own press. It was “just an act” after all, and some of what you attempted to do was done poorly, partially or not at all. So, why are you pretending that it’s all getting done?

If you have children, I’m sure that you have missed an event or important commitment, and if you’re married, not being home to keep the relationship bonded has surely had an effect. Your house is probably in total disarray and your family is lost in the chaos, not a pretty sight! Also, arguments may have arose with your spouse, causing you to feel misunderstood and lonley. The few people who do understand jump ship as soon as this life imbalance directly impacts them.

At work, certainly the major work is being done, but you may have a backlog of return phone calls, a slew of missed meetings and a host of other missteps that litter the path behind.

Finally, after all is said and done, you are left stressed out with little to no support from loved ones and a list of things to do that would scare the President.

Been there, done that!

Interestingly enough, a lot of managers perceive you to be inefficient if you have to work so much. Also, it’s better to ask for help and not work the hours so that he or she can see that you really do need the help. As long as you continue to do the work, they will never feel the pain of the work not getting done.  Remember, most change comes out of a pain that you need to address. Why do people quit smoking, diet, etc.? It’s because they’re uncomfortable with their current situation (pain) and are compelled to change. So, your manager needs to feel the pain!

If you think that you have to put in extra hours at work, it would be in your best interest to look at what is realty going on: The underlying issues that are making you feel like you have to work the hours. For many years I worked an extreme amount of hours and my work/life balance looked more like a sea-saw with my life firmly on the ground, than a balanced scale.  It wasn’t until I left that job and gave myself some down time that I realized why I was working so hard. I discovered that I was running from loneliness. At that time, my husband worked nights, so when I went home, I was alone. So staying at work late became the way that I dealt with it. It would have been better for me to go out with friends or something like that, which would have increased my “life” time, but I just worked and worked.

So, if you look deeper within to see what’s really going on, you may find that you are running from something too. Give yourself some time and why not try meditating on you. It’s time to retire the magic act and embrace the life that God gave you. Love yourself enough to explore what is really going on with you. Once you do that, you will catch a glimpse of the life that you have left behind and hopefully be inspired to press forward.  

Check out this great work/life balance calculator from CNN.com, which will help you to see a visual of how you are spending your time.  These days, my chart is showing a lot more leisure time .

Handling decisions that conflict with your religious beliefs can be a real challenge for corporate managers. Often times it’s a real rope tug between your values and the choices on the table. Many of my Christian colleagues have expressed that they have had many times when their values made decision-making a more difficult and thoughtful process.  

When this happens, you may feel that your job is at risk and the conflict becomes even more stressful. Knowing what the right decision is usually isn’t the hard part. Having the courage to stand behind that decision, even if your job is at risk, is where the challenge lies. This is when your faith has to be greater than your fear (no small thing).

I have had to make a few really “tug of war” decisions in my career. One of the hardest decisions involved the termination of four of my most valuable employees all at once.  I labored with the decision and couldn’t sleep for days.  I prayed and looked at all of the options relentlessly. To make matters worse, the perception that this would create with my boss was not going to be good.  To help me with the decision, I studied scriptures, called on friends in the faith for guidance, and prayed, prayed, prayed. 

In the end, I did release all of them and lost a few friendships in the process, but I just couldn’t find any other acceptable option. This was a time that I really had to allow my faith lead the way! 

Do you have any experiences that you would like to share? Your comments would be appreciated and could be of help to some of my readers.

Some of the resources that I use are:

Christian Leadership Alliance
http://www.christianleadershipalliance.com/

Servant Leadership 
By Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears

Christian Leadership World
The Tea Trust – http://www.teal.org.uk/

If you are one of the people who made the move from working for someone to starting your own business, what prompted you to make the change? 

The current state of the economy has created a buzz among those who are dissatisfied with their current position, or are unemployed, to look for ways to create their own opportunities.

In a time where starting a business has never been easier because of sites like Elance.com and Guru.com, one can get someone to research everything that they need to know to launch their business idea.

One friend took the opportunity to launch a business that helps companies track their projects in a fun and effective way. I wish that I had had this product when I implemented our ERP system.  It would have helped me to identify any problems with deliverables long before I found out! Check them out – Capability Alignment Professionals, Inc.  http://companyalign.com/. 

Another friend, already in the commercial real-estate business is now moving into the foreclosure market, which I’m sure many are as well.

Many of my friends and colleagues have started to look outside of their corporate windows to find a blue ocean opportunity and no longer rely on the large fortune 500’s to find success. Others around the nation are doing the same (Going green boosts economy, new businesses, Oconee man says)

The point being, you don’t have to sit by quietly wishing that you could break free from the corporate grind.  That business idea that has been lurking in the back of your mind may be ready to get its wings. 

How do you feel about your work environment?  Is the corporate culture one that fits your values and work ethics? 

You may be at ABC Company in a dark windowless space with old, mismatched furniture.  In this environment, you may find that many people hate their jobs and show it everyday. Your senior managers may not show any concern for the employees and everyone is looking out for himself or herself.  

Or, you may be in at XYZ Company, which is bright and open, with coordinated furniture and your senior managers have made sure that the benefits programs reflects their desire to reward employees.  In this environment, employees may be very competitive and “counting ceiling tiles” may be the norm.    

A corporation is a community with it’s own social, legal and economic values and pressures which dictate it’s overall culture.  We have all stumbled into great corporate cultures, but many of us are working in a corporate culture that, given the choice, we would choose something different. 

Do you work in the “Burbs” or the “Ghetto”? 

Some corporations, like ABC Company, are really like a “Ghetto” where you find yourself at a disadvantage due to a mismatch in your values and beliefs verses that of the mainstream corporate culture.

My experience in this environment was to bring a sense of strength and integrity that allowed my team to develop pride about the organization and a place of security from the cultural pressures through open communication, clear expectations and rewards. With my colleagues, this provided me with the reputation of being a strategic partner who provided consistent and reliable information and support. 

If you find yourself at XYZ Company, which I call the “Burbs”, you have a different set of issues and cultural dynamics.  Snobbery and intense competition are a few of the challenges that I have found in this corporate environment.  

Some of the ways that I was able to manage through this culture was to focus on being authentic. Focusing on honesty and collaboration had a diffusing effect and allowed my team to break away from the overarching “Burbs” culture and establish a subculture that thrived.  It also allowed me to work with my colleagues in a non-competitive way, which provided me with positive working relationships across the company.

You can get information about a corporation’s culture by researching the company on the internet, looking at their website, calling on some of the employees who are currently working there and many other ways.

Today there are many types of corporate cultures out there.  I have identified two cultures that exist in corporate and some of the ways that I survived them.  Hopefully, I have provided some strategies to help you as well. 

Let me know how you feel about your culture and what you are doing to fit in.  What name would you use to describe your culture?