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Originally published in Internal Report Cards: How Bell Atlantic Grades It’s A/P Department Report cards are usually associated with going to school, something most accounts payable professionals have long left behind. Some companies, however, are using metrics to produce "report cards" to measure performance in a variety of areas. One such company is Bell Atlantic. Mary McCormack, the company’s regional accounts payable assistant manager, spoke at RECAP’s recent Enhancing Accounts Payable conference. She says the company uses metrics in the following four areas: 1) customer service agreements, 2) vendor report cards, 3) individual report cards, and 4) office report cards. Customer Service Agreements According to McCormack, the objective of the service agreements is to identify requirements and performance standards specified in contracts. This includes quality issues, quantity issues and time limits. Its purpose is to create a one-on-one personal relationship with clients to enhance customer service. To meet these goals, the accounts payable department has the following processing requirements: All vouchers and invoices received in the department are released for payment within 48 hours of receipt. To make sure that this is measured accurately, the vouchers are time and date stamped when received. All vendors are updated or added to the database within 12 hours. All client inquires or phone calls are returned within three hours. A log of incoming calls is kept to make sure these requirements are met. The company has set performance standards of 100% timeliness, accuracy, and communication. Internal customers are sent semi-annual report cards and asked to grade the accounts payable staff on meeting the preset goals. This information is then tabulated and a report prepared. A/P Associate Report Cards While some companies use costs as an evaluation criteria, Bell’s focus is slightly different. Specifically, each associate is rated on the following:
Office Report Cards The entire department is evaluated on the following criteria:
Currently, the price for non-conformances is not charged to the offending department. However, if numbers are high a letter is sent to the appropriate manager. The fact that no transfer charges are made does not mean this program is ineffective. In reality it is quite successful. A monthly non-conformance report is issued which McCormack feels greatly reduces the number of errors since no one likes to see their name on this kind of list. These reports are quite useful in pinpointing areas where repeated errors are being made. This identifies places where policies and/or procedures need to be reviewed and possibly revamped. Occasionally the problem may simply be one individual who does not understand a process. Often the professional involved does not realize they are even making an error and simply pointing it out is enough. Organizations that wish to benchmark their account payable operations can learn from the process at Bell Atlantic. And even those organizations with no need for formal benchmarking programs can get a few pointers from the experiences of Bell. "Internal Report Cards: How Bell Atlantic Grades It’s A/P Department" ©1998 Institute of Management and Administration, Inc. For subscription information call (212) 244-0360 or send e-mail to SUBSERVE@IOMA.COM For more information
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