Finance & Accounting
Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices
A five-day programme covering best practice across receivables and payables, from credit assessment, cash application and collections to invoice matching, payment runs and discounts, plus reconciliation, controls, fraud prevention, and working capital reporting.
Introduction
Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices Training Course covers both sides of the working capital equation in one programme. Receivables bring cash in, payables send cash out, and the gap between them decides how much an organisation must fund itself. Managing each side well in isolation therefore misses the real opportunity. This course applies proven practices across both cycles. It covers credit control, invoicing, cash application, and collections on one side, and invoice matching, payment runs, and vendor management on the other. Furthermore, it applies reconciliation, internal controls, fraud prevention, and performance measurement. In addition, it links both cycles to cash forecasting. As a result, participants improve working capital from both directions.
Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices Course Objectives
- Explain the order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay cycles and where they connect.
- Apply credit assessment, credit limits, and customer onboarding controls.
- Apply three-way matching and exception handling to supplier invoices.
- Manage cash application, unallocated receipts, and collections routines.
- Prepare payment runs and capture early settlement discounts.
- Reconcile receivables and payables subledgers with the general ledger.
- Apply segregation of duties and authorisation controls to both cycles.
- Detect duplicate payments, credit fraud, and bank detail manipulation.
- Apply ageing analysis and working capital performance indicators.
- Integrate both cycles into cash forecasting and reporting.
Course Methodology
- Interactive lectures with working capital and cycle case studies.
- Invoice matching, cash application, and payment run workshops.
- Ageing, reconciliation, and dispute resolution exercises.
- Control and fraud indicator testing on sample transaction data.
- Structured peer review with facilitator feedback on process improvements.
Who Should Take This Course
- Accounts receivable and payable officers and supervisors.
- Credit controllers and collections staff.
- Accountants responsible for receivables, payables, and provisions.
- Finance controllers and shared services staff.
- Treasury and working capital professionals.
- Internal auditors reviewing both cycle controls.
Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices Course Outlines
The Two Cycles and Working Capital
- • Order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay cycles compared.
- • Working capital components and the cash conversion cycle.
- • Subledger structures and control accounts for both cycles.
- • Shared services and centralised transaction processing.
- • Key documents, records, and control points.
- • Roles, responsibilities, and separation of duties.
- • Case study: mapping both cycles for one organisation.
Receivables Best Practices
- • Customer onboarding, credit assessment, and scoring.
- • Credit limits, blocks, and release approval rules.
- • Billing accuracy, invoice delivery, and e-invoicing.
- • Cash application, unallocated receipts, and matching rules.
- • Ageing analysis, dunning cycles, and escalation steps.
- • Disputes, deductions, and short payment resolution.
- • Workshop: clearing a backlog of unapplied receipts.
Payables Best Practices
- • Invoice receipt, validation, and duplicate screening.
- • Three-way matching and tolerance rules.
- • Exception handling, price variances, and disputes.
- • Payment run preparation and approval workflows.
- • Early settlement discount capture and payment timing.
- • Vendor master data and bank detail change controls.
- • Workshop: processing and matching a mixed invoice batch.
Controls, Fraud Prevention, and Compliance
- • Segregation of duties across both cycles.
- • Authorisation limits and approval hierarchies.
- • Duplicate payment and duplicate credit detection.
- • Bank detail fraud and callback verification.
- • Continuous control monitoring and exception reports.
- • VAT treatment on both sides and withholding tax basics.
- • Workshop: reviewing transactions for fraud red flags.
Reconciliation, Reporting, and Cash Discipline
- • Receivables and payables ageing analysis and reporting.
- • Subledger to general ledger reconciliation for both cycles.
- • Days sales outstanding and days payable outstanding.
- • Provisions, write-offs, and expected credit loss basics.
- • Cash forecasting using both cycles.
- • Key performance indicators and process improvement.
- • Course review, assessment, and action planning.
Conclusion
By successfully completing Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices, participants will gain a thorough understanding of both transaction cycles, credit control and collections, invoice matching and payment processing, reconciliation, internal controls, fraud prevention, tax treatment, and working capital measurement. They will also acquire practical skills in credit and collections management, invoice matching and payment processing, reconciliation and control design, and working capital performance measurement. In addition, the course prepares them to improve cash flow from both sides of the ledger. Gentex Training Center delivers this programme with a strong focus on practical execution and measurable working capital improvement.
FAQs for Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices course
— What is the "Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices" course about?
It is a five-day programme covering best practice across both transaction cycles. On the receivables side it covers credit assessment, billing, cash application, ageing and collections; on the payables side it covers invoice matching, payment runs, discounts, and vendor management, plus controls, reconciliation, and working capital reporting.
— What are the key benefits of the "Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices" course?
Participants improve cash flow from both directions rather than one. The course lowers days sales outstanding and overdue balances, reduces duplicate payments and late penalties, improves discount capture and cash application accuracy, strengthens fraud defences on both sides, tightens reconciliation, and produces working capital indicators management can act on.
— What skills will I gain from the "Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices" course?
Participants gain credit control and collections management, invoice matching and payment processing, reconciliation, control design and fraud prevention, and working capital performance measurement and cash forecasting. These four skills cover the practical core of both transaction cycles.
— What tools, methods, or standards are covered in the "Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices" course?
The course covers the order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay cycles, working capital components and the cash conversion cycle, subledger and control account structures, credit assessment and scoring, credit limits, blocks and release rules, billing accuracy and e-invoicing, cash application with unallocated receipt resolution, ageing analysis, dunning cycles and escalation steps, dispute and deduction handling, invoice validation and duplicate screening, three-way matching with tolerance rules, payment run preparation and approval workflows, early settlement discount capture, vendor master and bank detail change controls, segregation of duties matrices, authorisation limits and approval hierarchies, duplicate payment and duplicate credit detection, continuous control monitoring and exception reports, VAT treatment on both sides, withholding tax basics, subledger to general ledger reconciliation, days sales outstanding and days payable outstanding, provisions, write-offs and expected credit loss basics, cash forecasting across both cycles, and working capital key performance indicators.
— How is the "Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices" course applied in real-world practice?
Participants apply the methods in their daily work. They assess customer credit, run ageing and collection lists, apply and allocate receipts, resolve disputes, validate and match supplier invoices, prepare payment runs, capture discounts, reconcile both subledgers, verify bank detail changes, run duplicate checks, and feed both cycles into cash forecasts. Many leave with an ageing report template, a matching checklist, and a working capital dashboard ready to use.
Scheduling in Progress | Training Arranged Around Your Needs
Our team can coordinate this program based on available dates and locations. Contact us to explore training options that best fit your needs.
Introduction
Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices Training Course covers both sides of the working capital equation in one programme. Receivables bring cash in, payables send cash out, and the gap between them decides how much an organisation must fund itself. Managing each side well in isolation therefore misses the real opportunity. This course applies proven practices across both cycles. It covers credit control, invoicing, cash application, and collections on one side, and invoice matching, payment runs, and vendor management on the other. Furthermore, it applies reconciliation, internal controls, fraud prevention, and performance measurement. In addition, it links both cycles to cash forecasting. As a result, participants improve working capital from both directions.
Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices Course Objectives
- Explain the order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay cycles and where they connect.
- Apply credit assessment, credit limits, and customer onboarding controls.
- Apply three-way matching and exception handling to supplier invoices.
- Manage cash application, unallocated receipts, and collections routines.
- Prepare payment runs and capture early settlement discounts.
- Reconcile receivables and payables subledgers with the general ledger.
- Apply segregation of duties and authorisation controls to both cycles.
- Detect duplicate payments, credit fraud, and bank detail manipulation.
- Apply ageing analysis and working capital performance indicators.
- Integrate both cycles into cash forecasting and reporting.
Course Methodology
- Interactive lectures with working capital and cycle case studies.
- Invoice matching, cash application, and payment run workshops.
- Ageing, reconciliation, and dispute resolution exercises.
- Control and fraud indicator testing on sample transaction data.
- Structured peer review with facilitator feedback on process improvements.
Who Should Take This Course
- Accounts receivable and payable officers and supervisors.
- Credit controllers and collections staff.
- Accountants responsible for receivables, payables, and provisions.
- Finance controllers and shared services staff.
- Treasury and working capital professionals.
- Internal auditors reviewing both cycle controls.
Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices Course Outlines
The Two Cycles and Working Capital
- • Order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay cycles compared.
- • Working capital components and the cash conversion cycle.
- • Subledger structures and control accounts for both cycles.
- • Shared services and centralised transaction processing.
- • Key documents, records, and control points.
- • Roles, responsibilities, and separation of duties.
- • Case study: mapping both cycles for one organisation.
Receivables Best Practices
- • Customer onboarding, credit assessment, and scoring.
- • Credit limits, blocks, and release approval rules.
- • Billing accuracy, invoice delivery, and e-invoicing.
- • Cash application, unallocated receipts, and matching rules.
- • Ageing analysis, dunning cycles, and escalation steps.
- • Disputes, deductions, and short payment resolution.
- • Workshop: clearing a backlog of unapplied receipts.
Payables Best Practices
- • Invoice receipt, validation, and duplicate screening.
- • Three-way matching and tolerance rules.
- • Exception handling, price variances, and disputes.
- • Payment run preparation and approval workflows.
- • Early settlement discount capture and payment timing.
- • Vendor master data and bank detail change controls.
- • Workshop: processing and matching a mixed invoice batch.
Controls, Fraud Prevention, and Compliance
- • Segregation of duties across both cycles.
- • Authorisation limits and approval hierarchies.
- • Duplicate payment and duplicate credit detection.
- • Bank detail fraud and callback verification.
- • Continuous control monitoring and exception reports.
- • VAT treatment on both sides and withholding tax basics.
- • Workshop: reviewing transactions for fraud red flags.
Reconciliation, Reporting, and Cash Discipline
- • Receivables and payables ageing analysis and reporting.
- • Subledger to general ledger reconciliation for both cycles.
- • Days sales outstanding and days payable outstanding.
- • Provisions, write-offs, and expected credit loss basics.
- • Cash forecasting using both cycles.
- • Key performance indicators and process improvement.
- • Course review, assessment, and action planning.
Conclusion
By successfully completing Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices, participants will gain a thorough understanding of both transaction cycles, credit control and collections, invoice matching and payment processing, reconciliation, internal controls, fraud prevention, tax treatment, and working capital measurement. They will also acquire practical skills in credit and collections management, invoice matching and payment processing, reconciliation and control design, and working capital performance measurement. In addition, the course prepares them to improve cash flow from both sides of the ledger. Gentex Training Center delivers this programme with a strong focus on practical execution and measurable working capital improvement.
FAQs for Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices course
— What is the "Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices" course about?
It is a five-day programme covering best practice across both transaction cycles. On the receivables side it covers credit assessment, billing, cash application, ageing and collections; on the payables side it covers invoice matching, payment runs, discounts, and vendor management, plus controls, reconciliation, and working capital reporting.
— What are the key benefits of the "Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices" course?
Participants improve cash flow from both directions rather than one. The course lowers days sales outstanding and overdue balances, reduces duplicate payments and late penalties, improves discount capture and cash application accuracy, strengthens fraud defences on both sides, tightens reconciliation, and produces working capital indicators management can act on.
— What skills will I gain from the "Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices" course?
Participants gain credit control and collections management, invoice matching and payment processing, reconciliation, control design and fraud prevention, and working capital performance measurement and cash forecasting. These four skills cover the practical core of both transaction cycles.
— What tools, methods, or standards are covered in the "Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices" course?
The course covers the order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay cycles, working capital components and the cash conversion cycle, subledger and control account structures, credit assessment and scoring, credit limits, blocks and release rules, billing accuracy and e-invoicing, cash application with unallocated receipt resolution, ageing analysis, dunning cycles and escalation steps, dispute and deduction handling, invoice validation and duplicate screening, three-way matching with tolerance rules, payment run preparation and approval workflows, early settlement discount capture, vendor master and bank detail change controls, segregation of duties matrices, authorisation limits and approval hierarchies, duplicate payment and duplicate credit detection, continuous control monitoring and exception reports, VAT treatment on both sides, withholding tax basics, subledger to general ledger reconciliation, days sales outstanding and days payable outstanding, provisions, write-offs and expected credit loss basics, cash forecasting across both cycles, and working capital key performance indicators.
— How is the "Accounts Receivable and Payable Best Practices" course applied in real-world practice?
Participants apply the methods in their daily work. They assess customer credit, run ageing and collection lists, apply and allocate receipts, resolve disputes, validate and match supplier invoices, prepare payment runs, capture discounts, reconcile both subledgers, verify bank detail changes, run duplicate checks, and feed both cycles into cash forecasts. Many leave with an ageing report template, a matching checklist, and a working capital dashboard ready to use.
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