Scaling Accounts Payable Accuracy & ControlAccounts Payable Management | Western Veterinary Partners

AP Specialist Team (2022 - Present)

Intro Paragraph

At Western Veterinary Partners, we manage AP operations for over 350 veterinary clinics, processing more than 5,000 vendor bills every week. With payment runs scheduled every Thursday, the team needed a reliable system to ensure that all bills were recorded accurately, on time, and classified correctly in the general ledger. I helped design and implement a reconciliation-based AP workflow that improved visibility, ensured precise GL allocations (e.g., fixed assets, taxes, inventory, shipping, prepayments), and prevented costly errors like duplicate or missed bills. In short, we brought discipline, clarity, and scale to a fast-moving AP environment.

Challenge

When we began supporting Western Veterinary Partners, the AP process was facing several challenges:

● 5,000+ vendor bills received weekly across 350+ clinics.
● Need to meet tight deadlines for weekly payment runs.
● Lack of tracking between bill receipt, entry, and vendor statement reconciliation.
● Manual processes leading to duplicate, missing, or misclassified bills.
● No systematic GL coding, which impacted the accuracy of financial breakdowns.
● Difficulty handling vendor credits, prepayments, and accurate cost categorization.

These issues created risks in vendor relations, compliance, and financial reporting accuracy.

Key Contributions & Solutions

● Reconciliation Framework: Built a spreadsheet-driven reconciliation process that ensures every bill is accounted for from inbox to entry. ● Dual Verification System: After bills are recorded in Sage Intacct, a bill register is exported and reconciled with the intake sheet to ensure accuracy and completeness. ● Vendor Statement Reconciliation: At month-end, we reconcile vendor statements against the books and reach out for any missing invoices. ● GL Categorization: Every bill is accurately coded to the correct GL account – fixed assets, taxes, inventory, shipping, other direct costs, etc. – enabling clean financial reporting. ● Prepayments & Credits: Prepaid expenses and vendor credits are properly recorded and applied to ensure accurate accruals and reduce overpayments. ● Payment-Ready Workflow: Streamlined the entire AP cycle to align with Thursday payment runs – ensuring clean approvals, data accuracy, and readiness.

Results

Our AP management process delivered significant operational and financial improvements:

● Improved AP Accuracy to 95%+ through reconciliation and dual-check workflows.
● Zero Duplicates or Missed Bills with full bill-tracking and monthly vendor follow-up.
● GL Clarity achieved through consistent categorization – supporting more accurate financial breakdowns.
● Faster Month-End Close due to clean vendor statements and prepayment handling.
● On-Time Weekly Payment Cycles Maintained despite high volume and complexity.

Key Skills & Tools

● High-Volume Accounts Payable Management
● Vendor Reconciliation & Communication &
● GL Coding & Financial Categorization &
● Prepayment & Vendor Credit Handling &
● Payment Workflow Coordination &
● Process Optimization

Tools: Sage Intacct, Excel, Google Sheets, Outlook, Microsoft Teams

Case Study Overview

At Western Veterinary Partners, we designed a scalable AP process to manage thousands of transactions each week with accuracy and control. By implementing reconciliation systems, categorizing costs correctly in the GL, and managing vendor relationships through monthly statement checks, we not only protected payment integrity but also empowered leadership with more reliable financial data. This AP foundation supports the continued growth of one of the largest veterinary networks in the country.