{"id":3498,"date":"2020-03-08T03:05:50","date_gmt":"2020-03-08T07:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/2016\/03\/08\/purchasing-accounts-payable-how-separate-should-they-be\/"},"modified":"2021-06-29T08:11:18","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T12:11:18","slug":"purchasing-accounts-payable-how-separate-should-they-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/purchasing-accounts-payable-how-separate-should-they-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Purchasing & Accounts Payable: How Separate Should They Be?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I hope that you have enjoyed the article \u201cHow Procurement Can Be Sabotaged By A\/P<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the circumstances that contribute to the problems described in the article is that the procurement and accounts payable departments are separate departments with their own managers and independent goals.\u00a0 The departments are intentionally kept separate for fraud prevention:\u00a0 companies don\u2019t want the same people authorizing orders and authorizing payments.\u00a0 Keeping them separate provides checks and balances.<\/p>\n

But how separate should they be?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve observed the best collaboration between purchasing and A\/P when they are both within a company\u2019s finance organization and the heads of both purchasing and A\/P report to the same boss.\u00a0 However, for various reasons, purchasing may be a part of organizations other than finance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There is no one-size-fits-all answer as to how separate they should be, although I am uncomfortable when I do run into the occasional organization that has the same manager for both purchasing and A\/P.\u00a0 However, regardless of reporting structure, purchasing and A\/P should make it a point to collaborate often.\u00a0 To make sure their goals aren\u2019t conflicting.\u00a0 And to better understand how each other\u2019s operations contribute strategically.<\/p>\n

When you have a good relationship between purchasing and A\/P, it really doesn\u2019t matter how separate the departments are.\u00a0 It just matters that they work synergistically.<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading<\/b><\/p>\n