AI Invoice Scams

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AI Is Making Invoice Scams Smarter: How AP Teams Can Stay Ahead

AI has made fraud attempts look more legitimate, from convincing invoices to vendor email impersonation and urgency tactics that pressure AP teams to pay fast. The good news is that the strongest defenses are still practical and repeatable.

Why AI Has Supercharged Invoice Fraud

Business email compromise (BEC) remains one of the most costly fraud patterns for organizations, and AI lowers the effort it takes to imitate vendor language, fabricate documents, and tailor messages to your process.

How to Protect Your AP Process

Start with these five controls:

1. Require two-person verification. One person enters, another approves. Make it standard, not optional.
2. Verify vendor changes using trusted contact information. Confirm banking or remit-to updates by calling or messaging the vendor using details already on file, not what appears in the request.
3. Create an “expected invoice” habit. Regular check-ins with purchasing and operations help you spot surprises early.
4. Slow down urgency. New email domains, odd tone, or “pay today” pressure should trigger a pause and verification.
5. Train like fraud evolves (because it does). Short refreshers beat annual once-and-done training.

A 3-Minute AP Fraud Self-Check

Use this quick checklist to spot gaps in your current process. If you hesitate on any item, it is worth tightening.

• Vendor changes: Do bank or remit-to updates require independent verification using previously saved contact details?
• Approvals: Are invoice entry and payment approval always handled by separate people, even under time pressure?
• Urgency signals: Does your team know to pause when emails push same-day payment, secrecy, or last-minute changes?
• Invoice quality: Would an AI-generated invoice blend in perfectly with your real ones today?
• Training cadence: Has your team discussed fraud scenarios within the last 90 days?

Tip: If you answered “not sure” to more than one item, that uncertainty is exactly what fraudsters exploit.

Looking Ahead

Finance teams are increasingly looking at AI for practical workflow automation and fraud detection, but strong controls and clean vendor data still do the heavy lifting.

Rule of thumb: When something feels off, verify first. Over-communicating is cheaper than cleaning up a bad payment.

Join the Accounts Payable Professionals Group

What fraud signal has your team seen most recently, vendor change requests, urgency pressure, or invoice formatting that looks “too perfect”?

Sources

• FBI: Business Email Compromise
• CFO.com: Payments fraud remains rampant
• CFO.com: Invoice fraud costs and deepfakes
• CFO.com: Gartner finance conference takeaways

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Stress, go away. Top 5 products to combat it

Written by Stephanie Danielle Garcia.

Work can take a real toll on a person’s well being. Stress is often the first sign that things are out of balance, both at work and in everyday life. So how do we calm the mind, relax the body, and bring things back to center?

Here are my top 5 products to help melt stress away.

Quick list: Eye mask | Headphones | Diffuser | Shower steamers | Tea

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1. USB-Powered Heated Eye Mask with Massage

Eye strain and tension headaches are two of the most common signs of stress. One simple solution is a heated steam eye mask. The gentle warmth helps relax tight muscles around the eyes and temples, creating the perfect moment of decompression.

Check price on Walmart

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2. Noise canceling headphones

A noisy office, honking traffic, or loud household can make it hard to relax. Noise canceling headphones lower the background chaos and create a personal bubble of quiet or music. They are one of the best investments for peace of mind. My personal favorite brand is Bose.

Check price on Walmart

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3. Aromatherapy diffusers

There is nothing better than walking into a room that feels peaceful the moment you enter it. A diffuser with essential oils can transform your space with calming scents like lavender, eucalyptus, or chamomile. It is a simple way to create an atmosphere that supports relaxation.

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4. Shower steamers

A warm shower already feels relaxing. When you add shower steamers infused with essential oils, it becomes a full stress relieving ritual. These dissolve in the steam and fill your shower with soothing aromas. They are especially great before bed to wash the day away.

Check price on Walmart

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5. Tea

A cup of tea can work wonders for the mind and body. Herbal teas like chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, and peppermint contain natural compounds that support relaxation. Tea has been used for centuries because it works. Take a break from coffee and make space for something calming.

Check price on Walmart

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However you choose to unwind, remember that stress relief is not a luxury, it is a form of self care that helps you show up better at work and at home.

4-Day Workweek

AP teams live on service levels, vendor response, and month-end deadlines. Can a 4-day workweek fit that reality?

Could Accounts Payable Teams Make a 4-Day Workweek Work?

In this article

1. Why AP leaders are looking at a 4-day week
2. Where AP is different, risk and control
3. Coverage models that can work
4. Month-end close, practical playbook
5. Automation that closes the gap
6. What pilots and studies say
7. Open questions for the AP community

1) Why AP leaders are looking at a 4-day week

Across multiple pilots, companies reported improved well-being, lower burnout, and stable or better revenue after switching to a 4-day model. In the UK's coordinated pilot, ninety two percent of participating companies kept the policy, with stress and burnout falling, and revenue holding or improving.

2) Where AP is different, risk and control

AP is a service hub, not a back-office island. Vendor inquiries, urgent payment runs, check and ACH cycles, fraud controls, and approval routing all require predictable availability. Any redesign must preserve SLAs, segregation of duties, and audit trails, while keeping reconciliation and close timelines intact. Guidance from HR and operations groups highlights policy clarity and coverage rules as success factors, which is highly relevant to AP.

3) Coverage models that can work

• Staggered teams (Team A Mon to Thu, Team B Tue to Fri), creates five day vendor coverage with individual four day weeks.
• Core day model (all hands Tue to Thu, rotating Mon or Fri), preserves collaboration while maintaining external support.
• Compressed hours (four 10 hour days), useful for AP groups with daily processing cycles that cannot shrink.
• Follow the sun coverage for global AP teams, pairing regions to reduce overtime at month end.

4) Month-end close, practical playbook

Goal: maintain DPO targets, aging discipline, and close calendar while protecting staff well-being and focus time.

1. Front-load approvals during core days, auto-remind approvers, enable mobile approvals for executives.
2. Green lane processing for critical vendors and statutory payments, publish cutoff dates a week in advance.
3. Split responsibilities by role, with clear ownership for accrual prep versus journal posting.
4. Daily 15 minute huddles during the close window to surface blockers quickly.
5. Exception dashboards to track duplicates, holds, missing POs, and SLA risks.

5) Automation that closes the gap

Shorter workweeks work best when routine tasks are automated. Key enablers include invoice digitization, automated three way match, vendor self service portals, automatic reminder workflows for approvers, and exception routing rules. HR and operations sources emphasize that policy clarity and process design must come before structural schedule changes, which aligns closely with AP workflow design.

6) What the pilots and studies say

• UK 4-Day Week pilot, sixty one companies, most kept the policy, stress and burnout down, revenue stable or improved.
• Iceland national trials, productivity held or improved, service levels stable, well-being significantly improved.
• Microsoft Japan experiment, productivity up roughly forty percent, electricity and printing costs down.
• Implementation cautions, coverage rules, eligibility standards, overtime controls, and performance baselines must be set before launch.

7) Open questions for the AP community

• How would vendor response time SLAs be maintained on shortened staffing days?
• Which close tasks would you shift earlier, and what would you automate first?
• Would you publish a vendor-facing service calendar?
• Which metrics would you report to leadership if you ran a pilot?

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References and further reading

1. UK four day week pilot results, continuation rates, stress and burnout reductions, revenue impact.
2. University of Cambridge summary of UK findings, sick day and retention improvements.
3. Iceland shorter workweek trials, productivity and service maintained or improved.
4. Microsoft Japan experiment, reported productivity and cost effects.
5. SHRM guidance on implementing four day policies and what employers should know.
6. apa.org | The rise of the 4-day workweek
7. opm.gov | Alternative Work Schedules

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Robert Ruhno Director Accounts Payable Professionals Group

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