Accounts Payable Process & Transformation Specialist

SF Partners; Leicester; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 101,000; Part time

Job summary

SF Partners in South Leicestershire is seeking an experienced Accounts Payable Process & Transformation Specialist on an interim contract. The role will audit historical AP data, identify duplicate payments and control weaknesses, and review automated AP workflows.

The position focuses on process improvement, controls and automation, mapping end-to-end AP processes across manual and automated workflows, and advising on enhancements to reduce errors and boost efficiency.

Qualifications

• Experience in AP audit or financial operations.
• Experience reviewing processes rather than only processing transactions.
• Experience with AP automation, OCR or RPA workflows.
• Familiarity with ERP systems like SAP, Oracle, NetSuite or Dynamics 365.

Responsibilities

• Audit historical invoices and payments to identify anomalies.
• Review manual and automated AP processes and controls.
• Map end-to-end AP processes across manual and automated workflows.
• Assess three-way matching, approvals and segregation of duties.
• Identify bottlenecks and opportunities to improve efficiency and accuracy.
• Support supplier statement reconciliations and recovery of overpayments.

Skills

AP auditing

Process improvement

Data analysis

Excel advanced

Root-cause analysis

Automation awareness

Tools

SAP

Oracle

NetSuite

Dynamics 365

OCR

RPA

Job description

Accounts Payable Process & Transformation Specialist

Interim Contract 3-6 months
Location: South Leicestershire

Rate: DOE

I'm recruiting for an experienced Accounts Payable Process & Transformation Specialist to support a detailed review of an organisation's end-to-end AP processes.

This isn't a traditional invoice-processing AP role. The focus will be on auditing historical transactions, identifying payment errors and control weaknesses, reviewing automated AP processes and improving how the function operates going forward.

The role:

• You'll be responsible for reviewing both manual and automated AP processes, including:
• Auditing historical invoice and payment data to identify duplicate payments, overpayments, missed discounts and other anomalies.
• Investigating data-entry errors, incorrect supplier/tax information and system or OCR extraction issues.
• Carrying out root-cause analysis and recommending controls to prevent recurring errors.
• Supporting supplier statement reconciliations and the recovery of overpayments or outstanding credits.
• Reviewing existing RPA, OCR and automated AP workflows, including bot accuracy, exception handling and routing rules.
• Identifying automation failures, logic gaps and areas where controls could be strengthened.
• Mapping end-to-end AP processes across both manual and automated workflows.
• Reviewing controls including three-way matching, approval limits and segregation of duties.
• Identifying bottlenecks and opportunities to improve efficiency and accuracy.

What we're looking for

• You'll need a strong grounding in Accounts Payable, AP audit or financial operations, ideally with experience reviewing processes rather than purely processing transactions.
• Experience with some of the following would be particularly relevant:
• AP process reviews, auditing or controls.
• Identifying duplicate/incorrect payments and resolving discrepancies.
• AP automation, OCR or RPA workflows.
• ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, NetSuite or Dynamics 365.
• Advanced Excel including XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP and Pivot Tables.
• Data analysis, with SQL or Power BI useful but not essential.
• Process mapping, root-cause analysis and control improvement.

This could suit an experienced AP professional who has moved into process improvement, controls, audit or automation, or someone from an AP audit/financial operations background with strong hands-on knowledge of how Accounts Payable works.

If you have strong AP knowledge and enjoy getting into the detail of why errors happen, where processes break down and how they can be improved, I'd be keen to speak with you.

Please get in touch for further information