Accounts payable audit for financial services

Financial services firms pay a different mix of vendors than most businesses. Market data and research feeds. Core processing and card services. Outsourced compliance and legal support. Branch leases and facilities.

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Fairview Audit connects you with a partner firm that checks whether payments to these vendors were correct. Fairview does not perform the review itself.

This page covers Accounts payable audit for Financial services businesses.

Why accounts payable matters in financial services

Many financial services costs are subscription based and billed on usage or on user counts. Market data is a good example. A data vendor may bill per user, per terminal or per data type. When staff leave or roles change, the billing may continue unchanged.

Processing and technology vendors often use tiered or volume-based pricing. An invoice depends on transaction counts the vendor reports, and the contract may allow you to dispute them. Without a check, the counts are taken as given.

Banks are expected to manage the risks of their third-party relationships, and a review of accounts payable can show how closely vendor billing is overseen. It can also surface weak approval steps, which matters for internal audit as well as for cost.

What a review typically examines

A partner firm analyzes payment history and compares it with contracts. In this industry, typical items include:

  • Duplicate payments, including those caused by the same invoice arriving through email and a portal.
  • Data and research subscriptions: whether users billed are still active, and whether charges follow the contract.
  • Processing and card vendor fees compared with contract pricing tiers and volume terms.
  • Credits and rebates owed under agreements that were never applied.
  • Professional services bills such as outside counsel and consultants, checked against rate agreements and engagement letters.
  • Branch and facility vendors, where many small invoices from many locations can hide errors.
  • Payments to vendors not found in an approved vendor list, and changes to vendor bank details.
  • Sales and use tax paid on invoices from vendors, where the treatment may be questionable. See sales and use tax.

Vendor master and approval controls

A review often looks at the vendor master file. Duplicate vendor records, missing tax details and unusual bank changes are signs of weak control. A partner firm can describe what it saw. It cannot replace your own internal audit function. A framework such as the GAO Green Book, which nonfederal groups may also use, can guide your own control review.

Note: Fairview does not provide regulatory or compliance advice. Ask your compliance team how any findings affect your obligations.

What to have ready

  • A detailed payment history for the vendors and period in scope.
  • Contracts, order forms and amendments for major vendors.
  • Invoices with supporting data, selected by a sampling method the firm will describe.
  • The vendor master file and any approval workflow records.
  • Lists of active users for subscription services.
  • Credits, rebate statements and vendor correspondence about extra charges.
  • A list of issues your team has already spotted, with contacts for your finance and vendor management teams.

How matching works

Choose the request path that fits: larger business, smaller business or not sure. There is no fixed size cut-off. Fairview matches each request by hand. The request goes to the matched partner firm, or to Fairview for manual matching. After that, you work with the firm directly. Fees and terms are between you and the firm.

Who does the work

An independent partner firm that specializes in accounts payable audit handles this work. Fairview Audit makes the match. We do not perform the review ourselves.

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Frequently asked questions

Will a review need access to confidential client data?

It should not need client records. Payment and vendor data is usually enough. Ask the firm what it needs and how it handles data before you share anything. [CONFIRM: a partner firm supplies and approves this statement]

Is this a replacement for internal audit?

No. It is an outside check on vendor payments. See the article on common accounts payable errors.

What about vendor control reports?

Reviewing a vendor's control report is a different topic. See SOC reporting for financial services.

Find out what you are overpaying.

Tell us what you need reviewed. We match you by hand with an independent partner firm. You keep your existing vendors.

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