7 Steps Toward Creating Great AP Customer Service
As the former manager of an 85-person accounts payable shared services center, I know first hand that AP’s reputation often gets tarnished for problems that were not caused by AP.
Communicating and consistently delivering results that meet realistic and attainable expectations though, can go a long way toward building and maintaining a powerful shield to protect AP’s reputation.
1. Establish realistic attainable standards
- How do you define great AP customer service?
- What does the deliverable look like?
- What are your organization’s circumstances and culture, and what resources are available that you can access to deliver service?
- Do the available resources support customer service levels that meet the definition of great AP customer service you stated in 1.a. above?
- Create service level standards that can be sustained by the available resources.
2. Set expectations by communicating your standards to your vendors with enough frequency and targeting to get through the clutter they experience.
- Terms
- Invoice submission, processing cycle and workflow considerations
- Payment processes and options
3. Hire right
- Look for the right skill sets and remember: the skill sets required for a great AP processor are not the same as for a great customer service person
- Look for attitude
- Look for coach-ability
4. Prepare
- Train — make sure your team understands the AP process and organization policies and is able to communicate them clearly.
- Practice through role-play exercises
5. Track metrics (request a free inquiry activity analysis form)
- Number of inquiries
- Type of inquiry
- How long it took to research the answer
- How long it took to answer
6. Analyze results
- Compare to standards
- Make changes to process when called for
7. Get a vendor inquiry portal; let the vendors and internal customers answer their own questions
Let me know what you think of these steps and include tips that you would like to share.
To see how InvoiceInfo’s self-service solutions can benefit your operations and your company click here to request more information or call (678) 335-5735.
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Financial Operations Networks (FON) is a financial operations company whose products help accounts payable teams prevent payment fraud: VendorInfo, a vendor portal; InvoiceInfo, a supplier portal; DisbursementControls.com, a membership resource for disbursement controls; and VIMCOE, which provides accounts payable certification. FON is a Nacha Preferred Partner.
FON strengthens front-line control points across vendor onboarding, supplier maintenance, and payments — verifying vendor information, validating bank account ownership, running compliance checks, and reducing exposure to business email compromise (BEC) before payments are made.
VendorInfo is a vendor portal for onboarding: it verifies tax IDs, screens OFAC and validates bank account ownership before a vendor is paid. InvoiceInfo is a supplier portal for after the invoice: suppliers look up invoice status, payment dates and remittance advice themselves instead of emailing AP. Both sit on top of the same ERP and are often used together.
Yes. FON offers specialized programs including the AP Payment Fraud Prevention Certification and the Accredited Vendor Information Professional (AVIP) Certification to help finance professionals strengthen expertise and advance their careers.
Request a demo and our team will walk you through how FON can strengthen your controls, reduce fraud exposure, and improve AP efficiency based on your organization’s goals.
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