Process vendor payments

Process the weekly vendor payments run for three suppliers flagged for urgent payment: Atlas Components, Meridian Logistics, and Parkside Services. Verify invoice approval lines, confirm bank details for Parkside, ensure sufficient cash position for the weekend, and schedule payments in order: Parkside same day, Atlas next ACH batch, Meridian by check. Export the payment remittance advice for each vendor and confirm via email before noon today.

Before the payment run, make approvals easy for the approvers — surface total payables by approver, show invoices older than 14 days first, and flag any invoices where the vendor bank details changed in the past 90 days. Highlight exceptions that would cause procurement to stop a payment: unapproved PO, contract mismatch, or duplicate invoice.

Parkside Services submitted a bank account change two days ago and the payment is scheduled for noon. The vendor emailed asking if payment will clear. I’m worried about fraud but also about straining a reliable supplier. What’s the most likely diagnosis and the safest immediate step before releasing funds?

We repeatedly pause payment runs because accounts are changed at the last minute and AP must validate each one, which delays vendors and increases manual work. Which habit should I change to reduce these interruptions and still control fraud risk?