What does your perfect day look like? The likelihood is that your answer is going to depend on what type of person you are. However, it’s also likely that your day will share a set of common values – you’ll feel happy, at ease with all as it ought to be.

T&E is still an area beset with problems – from lost receipts, accusations of favouritism to outright fraud. On top of this, there’s the added issue of employees claiming that they simply "didn't know" whether they were able to claim for certain items or not, so just included them amongst their other receipts and hoped for the best, or didn't include anything at all. Clear knowledge on what is a legitimate expense claim and what isn't is a common problem in many organisations. The issue was confirmed in a recent report by Capital One, where it found that up to 45% fail to make any claims, at an average personal cost of more than £350.

With the UK economy still struggling its way out of recession, it’s no surprise that more than 50% of finance professionals have highlighted difficulties in achieving their targets - pointing to a lack of time or resources available to deliver them. For many “doing more with less” presents itself as a tough reality with a very precise impact on daily activities and results. Yet, despite broad variations in industry and organisation size, many of the teams who were winners and finalists in the APN awards were able to achieve success by following a similar set of processes. Here are some of their top tips:

Retailers are operating in a world which is vastly different from a few years ago. Faced with competition from across the globe, those organisations who fail to adapt and meet the new challenges will find themselves out of touch and out of business. With an ever increasing growth in the power of the consumer via internet and mobile purchasing applications, organisations need to be resourceful and innovative when tracking how trade is affected and adapt to suit. Nowhere is this more important than in Accounts Payable.