Once an invoice is approved, the organisation has accepted that money is owed. Everything after that is the payment process, and its controls guard a different risk: not whether the debt is real, but whether this specific transfer, to this account, for this amount, at this time, is correct. Treating it as a continuation of approval is how the second risk goes unguarded.
Scheduling to terms
Approved invoices are grouped by due date into runs. Paying to terms is the default; paying early has a cost of capital and paying late has a relationship and sometimes a legal cost. Both should be deliberate choices rather than accidents of when somebody got round to it, and the run rhythm should be chosen rather than inherited.
Release, by somebody other than the preparer
The person who assembled the run should not be the only person able to release it. This separation is simple, old and effective, and the case where it lapses is nearly always absence, which is why the cover arrangement deserves as much thought as the rule. Automation should enforce it, never remove it.
Execution and remittance
Transfers made, payments recorded against the invoices they settle, and a remittance advice sent so the supplier can allocate. That last step removes most supplier chasing at effectively no cost. Bank detail changes, wherever they appear in this chain, are verified through contact details you already hold rather than any supplied with the request.
Questions people ask about invoice payment process
How often should payment runs happen?
Weekly suits most organisations. Fortnightly adds an average wait suppliers experience as slowness; daily mostly adds administration.
Can we pay outside a run?
Sometimes you must. Make it visible as an exception with a reason, because ad hoc payments are where controls most often lapse.
What about international payments?
They add currency, fees and slower settlement. Test them during evaluation if you make them regularly.