FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
Q: 1. Why audit accounts payable for recoveries?
• To recover lost profits and to determine the root cause of those lost profits.
• Because errors occur regardless of the sophistication of staff and procedures in place.
• To highlight and then close communication gaps between accounts payable and purchasing departments and between accounts payable and shipping/receiving.
• To highlight problem vendors.
• To obtain recommendations to prevent future lost profits and enhance internal systems and controls.
Q: 2. What factors increase the chance of lost profits?
• Rapid growth
• System conversions
• Employee turnover
• Large disbursement volume
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Changing prices
Q: 3. What are typical recoveries?
• Duplicate payments
• Incorrect vendor payments
• Payments for products or services not received
• Unprocessed product returns
• Deductions (allowances/rebates/discounts) due but not taken
• Price protection claims not processed/calculated
• Unresolved price variances
• Overlapping bills
Q: 4. If we already perform similar audits, won't this be a waste of time?
Internal routines that develop over time can hide savings opportunities. A comprehensive examination of all transactions will identify opportunities for recovery. In fact, even if you have an outside audit firm performing this service, a secondary audit can yield significant results.
Q: 5. What level of involvement is required of our staff?
Our audits are individually planned and supervised to ensure minimal disruption to your staff. Most of the assistance needed is at the front end while we obtain the necessary data and gain an understanding of your systems and procedures. Following these steps, our staff performs all analysis, pulls and ACCURATELY re-files all documentation and follows up until recovery is complete.
Q: 6. What is the cost?
Moody Associates, P. A. gets paid on results. We get paid a percentage of actual recoveries so there is no net cost to you.
Q: 7. When should we have this service performed?
The best time to perform a recovery audit is now. As time passes, the opportunity for recovery decreases.
