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Some companies are wasting money in the worst way possible — paying invoices twice.

New research finds that companies typically pay about one in 1,000 invoices twice. And larger companies are even worse off. They’re often doubling up payments on about one in 200, says Britain’s Fiscal Technologies.

Those might not sound like huge numbers, but they can translate to enormous losses – losses that can be laid at the feet of your A/P department. The problems usually boil down to two key areas you can alert them to: typographical errors and master vendor files.

Typical snafus:

• confusing “5” and “S,” and “1” with lower-case “L”

• mistyping or dropping punctuation, and

• leaving out leading or trailing zeros.

Good A/P software can help but not eliminate the problem. Some companies resort to outside recovery specialists. The pros are good at what they do and have a lot of incentive to find duplicates, because their pay usually consists of a percentage of whatever they recover.

The first and best bet, however, is to make sure A/P cuts duplicate payments off at the source. There’s a good chance A/P can make a dramatic difference by:

• keeping master supplier files up-to-date and well organized

• doing statement reconciliations, and

• having clear policies for handling punctuation, leading and trailing zeros and invoices with no numbers.

Source: “Keeping Up to Date on Accounts Payable,” 1/16/13.

Whom do you believe – especially during sensitive workplace investigations where your decisions may have an effect on an employee’s standing with the firm?

The trick: Determine the credibility of the people you’re speaking with. That’s according to attorney Lorene Schaefer on the Win-Win HR blog.

To get to the heart of who’s telling the truth and when, Schaefer suggests that employers model their questions on the instructions courts give to juries on witness credibility. Doing so will allow you to get as close as possible to the truth of what actually happened – and choose an honest, nondiscriminatory reason for taking a specific action.

To decide whether you should believe what an employee is telling you, ask yourself if the staff member:

• impressed you as one who was telling the truth

• had any particular reason not to tell the truth

• had a personal interest in the outcome of the case

• seemed to have a good memory

• had the opportunity and ability to accurately observe the things he or she is telling you about

• appeared to understand the questions clearly and answer them directly

• had information that differed from other reports.

Reason: Gas and electric utilities are investing heavily in rebate programs for energy efficiency in commercial buildings. And the rebates can save your company some big bucks. Most rebates cover 10% to 20% of capital equipment costs. Some even go as high as 50%.

Outsource the search

The availability of rebate programs varies widely by state, but there are plenty of opportunities out there. One good place to start your search is the government website www.dsireusa.org.

But the process for finding and landing rebates can be complicated. That’s why some companies hire a consultant to find and secure them.

Work with the utility

If the possibility of an equipment upgrade appears, apply for a rebate ASAP. Rebates come and go, and they’re often snatched up fast. It’s also important to identify the rebate program before the capital project even begins. The key is to work closely with the utility’s account representative from start to finish. Many utilities have a network of qualified vendors they prefer. Selecting these vendors can speed up the process and help you secure rebates sooner.

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It’s known as spear phishing and it accounted for more than 90% of targeted attacks in 2012, according to a study by Trend Micro. The goal is to lure you into opening malicious files or visiting malicious sites and then to fleece you (or your company).

The best way to keep from being attacked is to limit the amount of info strangers can access. If, for example, spear phishers can Google your email address, you’re more likely to be targeted. The same goes for sensitive company data. Something as innocent as an out-of-office message might provide fodder for a spear fisher.

Of course, unflagging vigilance is the best defense. Is that email legit? If you have any doubt, check to make sure.

To read the TrendMicro report on spear phising, go here.

After May 7, failure to use the revised federal Form I-9 could result in penalties, says the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Your HR or Payroll people need to use the new form for verification of employment eligibility. However, they don’t need to replace already-completed and up-to-date forms they have on file.

Here’s a closer look at the changes mandated by the new Form I-9

1: Step-by-step approach

The new title of Section 1 of the form is “Employee Information and Attestation.” The instructions are longer, with a more step-by-step approach to filling out the form. In addition, the legal requirements are more obvious. For example, the instructions begin: Newly hired employees must complete and sign Section 1 of Form I-9 no later than the first day of employment. Section 1 should never be completed before the employee has accepted a job offer.

As for the form itself, Section 1 now takes up an entire page. Sections 2 and 3 are on another page. In Section 1 of the form, the Maiden Name data field is now Other Names Used (if any). Optional data fields have been added for Email Address and Telephone Number. Under the checkbox regarding aliens authorized to work, data fields have been added for Alien Registration Number/USCIS Number or Form I-94 Admission Number. Other data fields have been added.

Section 2: What’s expected

The title for Section 2 is “Employer or Authorized Representative Review and Verification.” Again, the instructions are longer and make legal expectations clearer. Note: The person who examines the documents must be the same person who signs Section 2. The instructions go on to say: [That person] and the employee must both be physically present during the examination of the employee’s documents.

As for the actual form, there’s more space in Section 2 for you to record document information.

Section 3: More clarity

The title for Section 3 is now “Reverification and Rehires.” As throughout, the instructions are longer and clearer. There’s information about which employees you should not reverify. Also, the instructions specify: If both Section 1 and Section 2 indicate expiration dates triggering the reverification requirement, the employer should reverify by the earlier date. As for the form itself, a data field has been added in Section 3: “Print Name of Employer or Authorized Representative. “

In a recent survey from the Credit Management Association, 30% of respondents said they expected to tighten credit policies in the upcoming quarter. And that’s no small feat, seeing as demand – and the number of credit applications – has picked up.

So how can you keep a pulse check on your customers (both new and old) and keep risk in check? It may be time to adopt a more stringent evaluation process to evaluate customers. Doing so is a matter of taking both quantitative and qualitative measures, experts say.

For one thing, a tactic that won’t work anymore is going by the customer’s payment history alone. Even if the customer paid within terms last month, that doesn’t mean it’ll pay on time again this month. Here are the expert-recommended strategies for a more thorough analysis:

• Conduct due diligence on the companies that the customer does business with.  If one of the customer’s suppliers or customers goes out of business, the customer could lose its ability to pay you on time. That’s why it’s a good idea to look into how those other business entities are performing financially. Anything that seems murky should prompt a discussion with your customer.

• Insist on financials. It’s past the time when customers can decline to provide you this info for confidentiality reasons. Reviewing financial statements and cash flow – particularly zeroing in on the funds available for operating activities – is a must in this environment.

• Review any significant liabilities and loan covenants. You should be able to find this info in the customer’s financial statement. Here is where you can gauge whether the customer has an excessive amount of debts owed to other entities. Any loan covenant violations should send up an immediate red flag. Some red flags don’t get caught just by analyzing the numbers. It’s for this reason that experts recommend other, more relationship-based methods of assessing risk.

• Make a customer visit. This is the perfect way to get an inside look beyond the financial statements or projections. Keep an eye out for signs the customer might be struggling, such as boxes of very old inventory in the warehouse or a vacant receptionist desk.

• Study news in the customer’s industry. A huge company going kaput, a lawsuit, contract issues, union disputes – all of these things can provide you a lot of clues, even if they don’t directly involve your customer. Hint: You can use Google Alerts to let you know whenever the industry or any of its major players comes up in the news.

• Demand frequent info and updates from customers at the start. There should be a clause in your contract stating the customer must notify you when any significant changes take place, such as a change in one of the top managers. When your collectors are on the phone, they should also be asking from time to time, “What’s happening at your company? Have there been any changes recently?” Early, frequent communication can be the best way to prevent unwelcome surprises.

Whether you’re taking a laptop from the office on a business trip or just completing a few tasks from a personal machine while offsite, you could be introducing some security headaches. Here four laptop-security tips to avoid those headaches:

• Lock the front door. Requiring a password to log in should be common sense, but it’s worth mentioning. You can also take the additional step of locking up individual folders that hold sensitive info.

• Don’t keep copies of passwords. Password protection does no good if the password is written down and kept inside a laptop bag. Also, it’s a bad idea to keep a document listing passwords for important accounts stored on the computer.

• Careful when connecting to Wi-Fi. Using free, public Wi-Fi often leaves a laptop’s data open to tech-savvy users on the same network. Machines should be equipped with a VPN client to encrypt traffic. And users should verify the name of the network to avoid using a bogus hotspot set up by a cyber thief.

• Physically protect the machine. Laptops are a prime target for theft, so it’s important that a device never leaves a traveler’s sight no matter where they are. And if a machine is stolen, have a policy that the theft must be reported to IT immediately so its access to corporate servers and data can be removed.

Source: :Information Technology Adviser,” 3/15/13.

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When deployed correctly, payment plans can allow you to get past-due invoices paid while bringing in new orders – and helping the customer’s cash flow stay intact.

But don’t forget that a payment plan is only used when you’re having trouble collecting the full amount. Think of it as a fresh start for your customer and you – and with that fresh start, you need to make sure the payment agreement is rock solid. Here are the three keys to building an effective payment plan:

Step 1: Is it worth it?

Before you say “yes” to any payment plan, you need to take a hard look at your relationship with the customer – and see if they’re as trustworthy as they say they are. Here are some questions you may want to ask:

• Has the customer sought out a competitor to replace your product or service?

• Did the customer place an unusually large order on credit without having a way to pay? • Will the customer provide financials to show its ability to pay over time?

• Will the customer let you contact its bank and/or have a salesperson visit?

Gathering substantive answers is a good starting point – but you may also want to ask the customer’s trade references about its recent payment behavior.

Step 2: Setting the schedule

Having a schedule for repayment is clearly a must – but how often you require a payment is up to you. One idea, courtesy of attorney Scott Blakeley, is to set a repayment schedule based on future sales.

In this method, you charge a premium on new orders, such as 10% of the invoice value, which goes toward the past-due amounts. If there isn’t a significant number of new orders, you can ask for a regular minimum payment instead.

Step 3: Must-have clauses

For extra protection, it’s best to have certain clauses worked into your payment plan agreement. Some of these clauses include:

• Collateral pledge. This is where you may require the customer to grant you a junior security interest in all of its assets. It can be tricky to obtain, since you’ll need the customer’s bank’s consent.

• Favored vendor clause. The last thing you want is to find out the customer’s making bigger payments to other vendors. This clause provides that if the customer gives more favorable payment terms to another vendor, that would count as default.

• Default clause. This clause should go over any of the other events that would prompt default. Or perhaps you’d allow a finance charge for the first late payment, but declare default for the second.

• Acceleration clause. On the other end, once the customer misses one payment, the whole balance becomes due.

• Stipulated judgment. If the customer doesn’t follow the agreement, this clause lets you file an affidavit of default – basically saying that the customer’s already agreed to the judgment.

Thanks to the American Taxpayer Relief Act, employers that offer a Roth 401(k) option can now allow employees to convert their traditional defined-contribution plan to a Roth version at any time. And, according to an research by Aon Hewitt, an increasing number of firms are set to add Roth options to their retirement plans.

Prior to the fiscal-cliff law, workers generally were only able to convert to a Roth 401(k) if they retired, changed jobs (or were terminated) or were at least age 59 and 1/2. Unlike traditional retirement plans, Roth 401(k) contributions are taxed up front. However, the balance grows tax-free and participants aren’t taxed on their distributions when they hit retirement.

Of the employers that don’t currently offer a Roth option – 49% of the participants in the Aon Hewitt study – more than a quarter (29%) said they were “very” or “somewhat likely” to add a Roth option within the next 12 months. And 76% of firms will add both a Roth option and in-plan conversion features.

As for employers that do already offer a Roth 401(k) plan but don’t currently offer in-plan conversions, 53% said they’re “very” or “somewhat likely” to do so within the next year.

Another reason to offer a Roth option: Employees tend to contribute at a higher rate than they do with traditional plans. According to Fidelity Investments, Roth contributors have an average deferral rate of 11%, which is the highest among DC participants.

For more on the Aon study of employer-sponsored Roth 401(k)s, go here.

Starting on Jan. 1, 2014, all non-grandfathered health insurance plans in the individual and small group markets – whether offered through a state exchange or not – will be required to cover services in 10 specific categories, which are meant to reflect the benefits covered by a “typical” employer health plan.

The final rule also sets up a timeline for when qualified health plans should be accredited in federal exchanges. In order for a plan to be a qualified one, it must cover essential health benefits, include cost-sharing limits and meet the reform law’s minimum value requirements.

The HHS also created an actuarial value calculator that employers can use to determine their plan’s coverage level. The reform law creates four tiers of health plans for purchase on the exchanges (bronze, silver, gold and platinum) based on percentage of total allowed costs of benefits.

Go here for a PDF of the final rule.

Here are the main things survey respondents said they expect from their employers when they telecommute:

• Remote control of their work computer (45%)
• Mobile access to their files both at work and at home (43%)
• Participation in office meetings as if in the same room (40%)
• Remote printing (40%)
• Ability to work on a document through screen-sharing (38%), and
• Face to face video communication with colleagues and clients (37%).

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Every so often, employers need a good reminder on how important it is to make sure all frontline managers are properly trained in handling employees’ FMLA requests. And a recent court ruling shows just how dangerous one ill-prepared manager can be to the entire company.

The case we’re referring to is Hurley v. King of Naples, Inc. Here’s a summary the case:

Patrick Hurley had been employed at a local branch of Kent Security for eight years and, during that time, he suffered from depression and anxiety. Problem was, Hurley’s employer didn’t know about the extent of his condition because he rarely took time off for it. Therefore, Hurley was able to save up a significant amount of vacation time. When Hurley’s condition worsened, his doctor advised him to take some time off.

Then, Hurley told his supervisor he was taking a vacation, which prompted the supervisor to request a meeting. During the meeting, Hurley explained that his condition was behind the vacation request, and he was then terminated by the company. This prompted Hurley to sue his former employer for FMLA interference. Not only did the company lose the case, but it’s now on the hook for a staggering amount: $200k in back pay, $353,901 in front pay, $8k interest on back pay, $200k in liquidated damages • $250k for the employee’s lawyer fees and $250k for company lawyer fees.

The final tally: An estimated $1.26 million.

What went wrong? Workers don’t even have to mention the FMLA for their leave to be protected. So when managers aren’t properly trained to recognize an employee’s request, it could trigger FMLA protection and require proper certification, and the company’s just asking for trouble. So now may be a good time to hold some FMLA refresher training with managers.

Of course, any unfamiliar vendor should arouse suspicion, but alarms should be loudest when invoices:

• have no logo

• list P.O. boxes only, or have company names consisting of initials only

• bill for unspecified services or “soft” services, like consulting, and

• aren’t folded (indicating they might not have been mailed).

You should also watch for:

• rapidly escalating numbers of invoices from a given vendor, and

• large billings broken into multiple smaller invoices to avoid triggering higher-approval thresholds.

Such schemes often involve employees of the victim company, especially those who have purchase approval. Once paid, money is rarely recovered. It’s not only one of the most prevalent and expensive types of theft companies face, it’s also among the toughest to uncover and prosecute. Once the fake invoice gets paid, the money disappears – and is rarely recovered.

To learn more about how shell companies target legitimate businesses, go here.