Advanced Accounts Payable Management Training Course – Barcelona, 4–15 Jan 2027

Advanced Accounts Payable Management is a 2-week training course for accounts payable supervisors, AP accountants and procure-to-pay leads who move from processing invoices to running the payables function, and who leave with an AP control and performance improvement plan for their own unit. Supplier fraud attempts, invoice volumes and pressure to pay on time while protecting cash have all grown at once. Advanced Accounts Payable Management is delivered by Jupiter Prime Training.

Why Accounts Payable Management Matters Now

Three forces shape accounts payable management today. Fraudsters target payables teams with fake supplier bank-detail changes and invoice scams. Suppliers, especially smaller ones, expect prompt and predictable payment, and procurement leaders link payment behaviour to supplier relationships. Treasury wants payment runs timed to protect cash and capture early-payment discounts. A payables unit that controls the vendor master and matching well prevents losses and earns supplier goodwill; one that does not pays twice, pays the wrong account or damages key supply lines. The course rests on the procure-to-pay (P2P) process model, three-way matching and segregation of duties as its control foundations.

Who Gains Most from Accounts Payable Management

• Payables supervisors who allocate invoice queues, approve exceptions and sign off payment proposals
• AP accountants who reconcile supplier statements, accrue unbilled receipts and close the payables ledger
• Procure-to-pay leads who own the flow from purchase order to goods receipt to payment
• Vendor master administrators who create and amend supplier records and bank details
• Shared service centre leads who run payables for several entities or sites

A finance shared service centre that sends its payables supervisors and vendor master staff together gains most, because they can redesign matching rules, bank-detail checks and payment calendars as one chain.

Accounts Payable Management Capabilities

Participants turn payables from a back-office queue into a controlled, measured process that protects cash and supplier trust.

• Design three-way matching rules and tolerance levels for purchase order, receipt and invoice — the procurement manager
• Specify vendor master controls for creation, amendment and bank-detail verification — the internal auditor
• Build a payment run calendar balancing due dates, discounts and cash position — the treasurer
• Apply duplicate payment and fraud detection tests to the payables ledger — the finance controller
• Calculate payables metrics such as cost per invoice, first-pass match rate and days payable outstanding — the shared service head
• Assess automation options for invoice capture and approval workflow — the finance systems team

Key Accounts Payable Management Terms

• Three-way match — checking that invoice, purchase order and goods receipt agree on quantity and price before payment is released
• Vendor master file — the central record of each supplier's legal name, tax details, payment terms and bank account
• Goods received not invoiced (GRNI) — receipts recorded without a matching supplier invoice, accrued as a liability at period end
• Payment run — a scheduled batch in which approved invoices are selected and paid through the banking system
• Days payable outstanding (DPO) — the average number of days an organisation takes to pay its suppliers
• First-pass match rate — the share of invoices that match automatically without manual intervention

Accounts Payable Management Day by Day

Day 1: Payables in the Procure-to-Pay Chain

• Procure-to-Pay Process Map — Hand-Offs Between Procurement, Receiving and Finance
• Payables Roles and Segregation of Duties — Who Creates, Approves and Pays
• Payables Risk Landscape — Fraud, Error, Late Payment and Supplier Disputes
• Purchase Order Policy and No-PO-No-Pay Rules — Upstream Discipline
• Current-State Payables Diagnostic — Baseline for Improvement

Day 2: Invoice Receipt and Processing

• Invoice Intake Channels and Mailroom Controls — Single Point of Entry
• Invoice Validity Checks — Tax Details, Legal Entity and Mandatory Fields
• Non-PO Invoice Approval Routing — Authority Limits for Services
• Credit Notes and Debit Memos — Correcting Supplier Balances
• Invoice Exception Queues — Ageing and Ownership Rules

Day 3: Matching and Tolerances

• Two-Way and Three-Way Matching — Choosing the Rule by Spend Type
• Price and Quantity Tolerance Setting — Balancing Control and Throughput
• Goods Receipt Timeliness — Preventing Blocked Invoices
• Blanket Orders and Framework Agreements — Matching Recurring Services
• Match Exception Root Causes — Fixing Upstream Data

Day 4: Vendor Master Data Control

• Supplier Onboarding Checklist — Legal, Tax and Sanctions Screening
• Bank Detail Change Verification — Call-Back and Dual Approval
• Duplicate Vendor Detection — Merging and Blocking Records
• Dormant Supplier Clean-Up — Reducing Fraud Exposure
• Vendor Master Audit Trail — Evidence for Internal Audit

Day 5: Payment Runs and Cash Coordination

• Payment Proposal Review — Due Date, Hold and Dispute Checks
• Early-Payment Discounts and Dynamic Discounting — Cash Versus Saving Trade-Off
• Payment Calendar With Treasury — Liquidity Timing
• Bank File Security and Release Approvals — Protecting Payment Integrity
• Urgent and Manual Payments — Exception Controls

Day 6: Duplicate Payments and Fraud Prevention

• Duplicate Invoice Detection Rules — Number, Amount and Date Patterns
• Business Email Compromise and Fake Supplier Schemes — Red Flags
• Data Analytics Tests on the Payables Ledger — Outliers and Split Invoices
• Recovery Audits — Reclaiming Overpayments From Suppliers
• Fraud Response Procedure — Escalation and Evidence Preservation

Day 7: Period-End and Supplier Reconciliation

• Supplier Statement Reconciliation — Resolving Differences Before Close
• Goods Received Not Invoiced Accruals — Complete Period Liabilities
• Payables Sub-Ledger to General Ledger Reconciliation — Clean Close Evidence
• Withholding and Indirect Tax on Invoices — Correct Treatment at Payment
• Supplier Dispute Resolution — Protecting Relationships and Terms

Day 8: Payables Performance Metrics

• Cost per Invoice and Invoices per Clerk — Productivity Benchmarks
• First-Pass Match Rate and Cycle Time — Process Quality Signals
• On-Time Payment Rate and Days Payable Outstanding — Supplier and Cash Balance
• Exception and Error Rates — Targeting Root Causes
• Payables Dashboard Design — Reporting to the Finance Controller

Day 9: Automation and Operating Model

• Electronic Invoicing and Supplier Portals — Reducing Paper Intake
• Optical Character Recognition Capture — Accuracy and Validation Steps
• Workflow Approval Engines — Faster Routing With Audit Trails
• Robotic Process Automation for Matching — Suitable and Unsuitable Tasks
• Shared Service and Outsourcing Options — Centralising Payables Work

Day 10: Practising the AP Control and Performance Improvement Plan

• Diagnostic Results and Control Gaps — Applying Days 1 to 4
• Payment Run and Fraud Test Design — Applying Days 5 and 6
• Hospital Network and Construction Contractor Cases — Peer Challenge of Controls
• Metric Targets and Automation Choices — Applying Days 8 and 9
• AP Control and Performance Improvement Plan — Controls, Targets, Owners and Timeline

Applying Accounts Payable Management After the Course

• Run duplicate payment and bank-detail change tests on the last twelve months of payables data and report findings to the controller
• Introduce first-pass match rate and on-time payment rate on a monthly payables dashboard and agree targets with procurement

Accounts Payable Management Questions (FAQ)

What is Advanced Accounts Payable Management and why does it matter now?

Advanced Accounts Payable Management covers the controls, payment timing and metrics that run supplier payments safely and efficiently. It matters now because supplier fraud attempts are rising and organisations must balance on-time payment with cash protection.

Which roles gain most from Accounts Payable Management?

Payables supervisors, AP accountants, procure-to-pay leads, vendor master administrators and shared service leads gain most. Cases from a hospital network and a construction contractor show how matching, payment calendars and fraud tests differ by spend type.

How does Advanced Accounts Payable Management differ from a procurement and contracts course?

It concentrates on what happens after the purchase order, from invoice receipt to payment and reconciliation. A procurement course covers sourcing and negotiation; here you design matching, vendor master and payment controls and measure payables performance.

What do you bring back from Accounts Payable Management?

You bring back a plan for your payables unit listing control fixes, fraud tests, payment calendar changes, metric targets and automation steps with owners. It is ready to agree with your finance controller.

Accounts Payable Management: The Way Forward

The AP control and performance improvement plan sets out control fixes, payment calendar changes and metric targets for the payables unit. Its first decision is which vendor master and matching gaps are closed before the next payment cycle, and payables supervisors use it to run monthly reviews. After one quarter, revisit tolerance levels and automation scope as match rates improve.