Accounts Payable Accounting and Invoice Processing Training Course

Course overview

Accounts payable officers are expected to pay valid supplier invoices accurately and on time while preventing duplicate payments, coding errors, tax mistakes and unauthorised spend. That requires more than matching an invoice to a purchase order: it requires a controlled workflow from supplier onboarding and invoice capture through approval, posting, payment, reconciliation and audit evidence. This course addresses the operational and accounting decisions that determine whether the AP ledger is reliable, supplier relationships are protected and working capital is controlled.

Participants learn to apply three-way matching, identify allowable invoice exceptions, assign general ledger accounts, cost centres and tax codes, and distinguish invoice processing from payment authorisation. The course covers supplier master-data controls, invoice validation, accruals, prepayments, debit notes, credit notes, duplicate-payment detection, aged payables analysis and month-end AP close. Participants also practise using Excel controls and ERP workflow concepts relevant to SAP S/4HANA and Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP environments.

Instruction combines worked accounting examples, invoice-review drills, system-style workflow exercises and a realistic AP case involving disputed quantities, missing goods receipts, duplicate invoice references and urgent-payment requests. Each participant leaves with a practical Accounts Payable Control Pack: an invoice-processing checklist, exception log, approval matrix, duplicate-payment test, month-end reconciliation template and a 30-day improvement plan for their own AP process.

The course is designed for experienced AP professionals who process, review or supervise supplier invoices and need stronger accounting judgement, controls and reporting discipline. It also gives managers a structured basis for standardising AP work, reducing avoidable payment risk and improving close-cycle reliability.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply two-way and three-way matching to validate supplier invoices against purchase orders, goods receipts and service evidence
• Code invoices to general ledger accounts, cost centres, projects and tax categories using a documented coding rationale
• Investigate invoice exceptions through an exception log that records ownership, evidence, ageing and resolution status
• Detect duplicate-payment risks using supplier, invoice-number, date, amount and bank-detail comparison tests
• Prepare accrual, prepayment, debit-note and credit-note entries for accurate month-end accounts payable reporting
• Reconcile the AP subledger to the general ledger and explain reconciling items with supporting evidence
• Build an aged payables analysis in Microsoft Excel to prioritise cash commitments, overdue invoices and disputed balances
• Design an invoice approval matrix and segregation-of-duties control map for an end-to-end AP workflow

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Accounts Payable Officers — who validate, code, route and post supplier invoices
• Accounts Payable Analysts — who investigate exceptions, reconcile balances and report AP performance
• AP Team Leaders — who supervise processing quality, approval workflows and month-end close
• Finance Officers — who need dependable supplier-liability records and supporting documentation
• Assistant Accountants — who prepare journals, accruals and reconciliations linked to AP activity
• Procure-to-Pay Administrators — who manage the hand-off between purchasing, receiving, suppliers and finance

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience processing supplier invoices, reviewing purchase orders or supporting finance operations. They should understand basic double-entry concepts, including debits, credits, expense recognition, liabilities, the general ledger and the purpose of a bank payment run. Familiarity with spreadsheet filters, sorting and simple formulas such as SUMIF or XLOOKUP is useful. Experience with an ERP system is beneficial, particularly SAP or Oracle, but access to a live system is not required. This is not a bookkeeping fundamentals course; participants should already be comfortable reading invoices, purchase orders and account codes.

Training methodology

The instructor uses short technical briefings followed by invoice-level decisions in realistic AP scenarios. Participants examine purchase orders, goods-receipt records, supplier statements, credit notes and ledger extracts; then code invoices, test matching evidence, resolve exceptions and prepare reconciliations in Microsoft Excel. Small-group workshops compare control choices for approval routing, supplier master-data changes and urgent-payment requests. SAP S/4HANA and Oracle Fusion workflow examples show how the same controls operate in ERP environments. The final session converts the case work into an individual AP Control Pack and 30-day workplace application plan.

Course outline

Day 1: AP accounting foundations and controlled invoice intake

• Procure-to-pay process map from supplier setup to payment posting
• Accounts payable subledger, general ledger and supplier liability relationships
• Invoice anatomy: mandatory fields, tax evidence and payment terms
• Supplier master-data controls for bank details, payment methods and duplicate vendors
• Invoice capture channels: paper, email, portal, OCR and e-invoicing
• Segregation of duties across purchasing, receiving, AP approval and payment release
• Invoice-register design and document-retention requirements

Workshop: Participants map a flawed invoice-intake process and produce a controlled intake checklist with ownership and evidence requirements.

Day 2: Matching, coding and invoice exception resolution

• Two-way matching for service and non-PO invoices
• Three-way matching against purchase orders, goods receipts and invoices
• Quantity, price, tolerance and tax variance analysis
• General ledger, cost centre, project and spend-category coding
• Non-PO invoice approval and retrospective purchase-order controls
• Exception categories for missing receipts, price disputes and blocked invoices
• Exception-log ageing, escalation and supplier communication

Workshop: Participants process a batch of invoices, complete matching tests and produce an exception log with resolution actions.

Day 3: Payment controls, fraud prevention and supplier account accuracy

• Duplicate invoice detection using invoice number, amount, date and supplier tests
• Supplier bank-detail change verification and callback controls
• Payment-run selection, payment holds and urgent-payment governance
• Debit notes, credit notes and supplier returns accounting
• Supplier statement reconciliation and unapplied credit investigation
• Fraud red flags in invoices, vendor records and payment requests
• Approval matrix design and control evidence for audit review

Workshop: Participants investigate a suspected duplicate-payment and bank-detail-change case, producing a control response and escalation record.

Day 4: Month-end close, reporting and AP analysis

• AP cut-off testing and period-end invoice completeness
• Accrual accounting for received goods and services not yet invoiced
• Prepayments and expense recognition across accounting periods
• AP subledger-to-general-ledger reconciliation procedures
• Aged payables analysis by due date, dispute status and supplier
• Cash commitment reporting and payment-term performance measures
• Microsoft Excel filters, XLOOKUP, SUMIFS and pivot tables for AP review

Workshop: Participants prepare a month-end AP reconciliation, accrual schedule and aged payables report from a ledger extract.

Day 5: ERP workflow and AP control improvement

• SAP S/4HANA invoice verification and blocked-invoice workflow concepts
• Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP invoice validation and approval workflow concepts
• ERP tolerance settings, duplicate checks and payment-block controls
• AP key performance indicators: first-pass match rate, exception ageing and cost per invoice
• Root-cause analysis for recurring invoice exceptions
• Control testing using samples, evidence trails and remediation tracking
• AP standard operating procedure and 30-day improvement planning

Workshop: Participants assemble and present an Accounts Payable Control Pack for a case organisation, including metrics, controls and a 30-day action plan.

Tools & standards covered

SAP S/4HANA, Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, Microsoft Excel, IFRS Accounting Standards

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions