Editing Accounts payable (section)

{{Short description|Money owed by business to its suppliers}}
{{Accounting}}
'''Accounts payable''' ('''AP''') is money owed by a business to its suppliers shown as a liability on a company's [[balance sheet]]. It is distinct from [[notes payable]] liabilities, which are debts created by formal [[legal instrument]] documents.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xI8pEZIob9UC&pg=PA373 |title=Financial & Managerial Accounting. - Belverd E. Needles, Marian Powers, Susan V. Crosson - Google Boeken |date= 23 February 2010|isbn=978-1439037805 |access-date=2013-11-29|last1=Needles |first1=Belverd E. |last2=Powers |first2=Marian |last3=Crosson |first3=Susan V. }}</ref> An accounts payable department's main responsibility is to process and review transactions between the company and its suppliers and to make sure that all outstanding invoices from their suppliers are approved, processed, and paid. The accounts payable process starts with collecting supply requirements from within the organization and seeking quotes from vendors for the items required. Once the deal is negotiated, [[Purchase order|purchase orders]] are prepared and sent. The goods delivered are inspected upon arrival and the invoice received is routed for approvals. Processing an invoice includes recording important data from the invoice and inputting it into the company's financial, or bookkeeping, system. After this is accomplished, the invoices must go through the company's respective business process in order to be paid.<ref>Accounting Tools (2013), [http://www.accountingtools.com/accounts-payable-controls Accounts Payable Controls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613235317/http://www.accountingtools.com/accounts-payable-controls |date=2013-06-13 }}, accessed 25 June 2021</ref>