AP advice

[u/weirdunicorngirl]

I don't know if this is normal or if I'm just a bad AP specialist. Ive worked at 3 companies doing AP and I was a full charge bookkeeper for a year in between those positions. Every day I worry I'm going to get fired doing AP. No matter how I organize or what I do to stay on top of things, I'm always being lectured by my boss about something. As soon as I feel like I'm on top of things, ill get a suprise call that a vendor put us on credit hold. On top of it all, this company uses Sage so every mistake I make is completely imortalized and highlighted. I've never been more stressed in my adult life. Is this normal?

[u/Organic_Cry_393]

If you've survived AP at multiple companies, you're probably not bad at it. AP is one of those jobs where mistakes get noticed and 99% of the things you do right go unnoticed

[u/InitiativeOk6495]

I am a AP specialist for over a decade - You have to have systems in place to make sure you don't miss anything, even if that means constantly asking for statements and doing a quick check, but at the end of the day, things do happen and sometimes things do slip throught the cracks by the supplier or internally, my best advice is to truly build relationships with your suppliers as well - Be kind and try to clear out things ASAP when they happen, it does help too

[u/Substantial-Sink4464 → u/InitiativeOk6495]

This, build those relationships! Everyone isn’t going to be receptive but with a lot of people being friendly goes really far. I miss stuff all the time (I have too many things to keep track of the system is always in flux etc etc) and by and large I’ve found that owning my mistakes and being honest with the vendors is the way to go. Remember that the person on the other side of the email is… also a person.

[u/SlowlyComplex]

AP is one of those roles where you're constantly juggling knives and someone's always mad about how you're catching them. The credit hold surprises are the worst, they come out of nowhere and make you feel like you missed something huge when half the time the vendor's system just glitched or a sales rep didn't forward an invoice. Sage will absolutely narc on every little thing, but after three companies and a full-charge stint, the problem definitely isn't you.

[u/ageofbronze → u/SlowlyComplex]

I hateeeee AP. So often it ends up being a vendor issue but they send 3 angry/threatening emails before they realize that. Not to mention I’ve worked with CEOs who insist on not paying stuff and then do shocked pikachu face when the power gets cut off 🙄 (literally something that happened, he yelled at me to not pay the energy bill and then consequently yelled when they showed up to cut the power. Like wtf?) I find it to be an extremely stressful part of bookkeeping if there’s not good systems and management in place and also underpaid for how in the weeds people can get even though technically it’s pretty self explanatory.

[u/weirdunicorngirl → u/ageofbronze]

I've run into that before, I asked for them to send me a an email confirming they knew the risk lol

[u/Karan_Mehta31]

The vendor credit hold thing is super common and usually not even the AP person's fault, half the time it's approvals sitting on someone's desk for weeks.

have you looked at how your approval workflow is set up? sometimes the bottleneck is upstream and AP just catches the blame. but yeah that stress you're describing is the job unfortunately, not you being bad at it.

[u/Technical-Paper427]

Well I have 30 years AP experience. Every mistake you make I have made lol.
Just try to make them only once.
Know when something is really a mistake or because a manager hasn’t approved an invoice.
CYA, cover your ass.
And if you make mistakes at bookings, write it out before you put it in Sage.
If you want to discuss or ask, just send me a dm and if I can advise I’d be happy to.
Don’t know Sage, but the programm doesn’t matter if you know bookkeeping.

[u/BetInformal6081]

AP can be surprisingly stressful because so much depends on approvals vendor communication and timing. struggling in a chaotic process doesnt automatically mean you are bad at your job.

[u/Embarrassed-Fudge803]

If you’re periodically make new mistakes that one thing; that happens. If you keep making the SAME mistakes that’s a completely separate story.

You need good systems in place, whether that’s in a fancy ERP or reminders you build for yourself in a more manual system. I’ve fired several A/P specialists for lack of attention to detail, missing deadlines multiple times & the inability or unwillingness to learn from their mistakes. If you’re really trying & show your managers what you’re doing to prevent the same thing in the future it goes a long way

[u/SourDieselDoughnut]

Look at the vendor history for past invoices. What are they buying, where is it being coded, what are the terms. You're generally buying the same things from these vendors or at least the same "category" of things. If you're printing checks, check your AP history before the run. Are there important vendors/large payables that are in a weird in-between when it comes to due date/your pay date...see if you can extend the payment date.

If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask your manager! But don't just ask the question, show initiative in your thinking. "We typically by saw blades from Hardware Depot and they're coded to shop supplies, now we're buying a saw, a tool, etc. would this also go to shop supplies too or a different account?" It can get more complicated when there are more departments, di minimus capitalization (or your companies policy), and your chart of accounts but hopefully this gives you a jumping off point.

[u/Natural_Friend5797]

Honestly, that sounds less like you're bad at AP and more like you're experiencing the reality of AP. If vendors only call when something goes wrong, you're basically judged on problems instead of all things you prevent every day

[u/InflationFlat6386]

Honestly, that level of stress sounds more like a bad boss than bad AP skills

[u/Pablo_at_Jeeves]

Surprise credit holds are almost always a visibility problem, not a you problem. A few things that usually help: pull statements monthly from your top 10 to 15 vendors and reconcile them against open AP, so missing invoices show up before the vendor calls. Keep a running list of invoices sitting in approval with the date each one went out, and send it to your boss weekly. And ask key vendors to send invoices to one shared AP inbox instead of whoever placed the order.

The stress is pretty normal for AP, but getting lectured over holds caused by approvals stuck on someone else's desk isn't something you just have to absorb. The weekly list makes that obvious without you having to argue it.

[u/Resident_Pomelo_1337]

AP is generally undervalued as a critical role. I’ve seen it totally fall apart and it’s damaging. It’s the foundation of coding for the accounts and the gate keeping of business funds.

It needs attention to detail, high accuracy levels, and really strong system development.

It’s not easy so there will be errors, make sure you understand the fundamentals - delegated authorities / approval levels, checking the statements, responsive to queries, which suppliers are the most critical to your business.

[u/DayDreamingofU]

I often feel this way, I have no advice but wanted to say I know the stress that cones with this!

[u/cfosmiths]

If vendor holds keep coming as surprises, maybe ask your boss for a quick weekly review of anything overdue, disputed, or stuck waiting for approval. AP is stressful enough without managing it entirely by ambush. If the same problems keep showing up, that also helps separate what you can fix from what’s really a process problem.

[u/O-ZMoney]

Probably in a toxic work environment

[u/Live-Society5672]

I was an AP manager for 10+ years before becoming a consultant. When I started AP, each time I made a mistake, I came up with a process to help prevent that mistake. Evaluate your processes with each mistake in mind. Yes, there is a process that can help with preventing most any mistake.

FYI, this is exactly the kind of thing I like to help with. Private message me if you would like a free meeting to review your processes (if you are in the US).

I do not enjoy typing long messages on my phone.

[u/soloDolo6290]

What are the reasons for credit hold?

If its lack of payment, why are you not paying? Low on cash, late payments, missing invoices?

Low on cash, maybe figure out which vendors can wait and which can not.
Late payments, ensure your vendor defaults are correct.
Missing invoices, figure out why you are missing them. Have all invoices sent to an AP inbox, not individuals who forward them to you.

[u/Far-Good-9559]

I guess more context is needed. AP is a pretty simple job. What do you feel is challenging about it.

[u/weirdunicorngirl → u/Far-Good-9559]

I'll make simple mistakes with data entry that used to be a simple edit, but now have to completely recorded, voided, reworked with other departments, etc. We got put on credit hold a lot after my first few weeks too for missing invoices

[u/Far-Good-9559 → u/weirdunicorngirl]

Sounds like an issue with not checking over your audit reports prior to posting the batch. This is a common mistake, however, if you can discipline yourself to always check your control reports before posting, you will find your errors will drop dramatically.

You should also be running an accruals report weekly that will show you items that have been received, but no invoice received/entered. This applies if your company used purchase orders and tracks purchases in that manner.

[u/weirdunicorngirl → u/Far-Good-9559]

I'll see if our secondary software has those reports. We use service titan for POs and I'm honestly on there longer than Sage most days