Good AP Times

Factura.ai

Good AP Time is where finance, operations, and real-world scale collide. There’s no shortage of software that says it solves finance problems. But what actually happens after you hit “buy”? That’s where things get interesting. We sit down with finance and operations leaders to talk about what really breaks as companies grow - AP bottlenecks, AI hype vs. reality, and the messy middle no one puts in a playbook. This isn’t theory. It’s the unfiltered side of scaling finance. No fluff. Just real operators sharing what works, what doesn’t, and what’s next. But most importantly having a Good AP Time! Presented by Factura.ai

  1. 3d ago

    “I Just Pay the Invoice”: The Hidden Cost of Not Auditing Your Vendors - w/ Larry Levine

    You negotiate the contract, build the vendor relationship, and pay the invoice. But when was the last time you checked whether you were actually paying what you agreed to? Restaurant operators spend plenty of time watching food and labor costs, but what about everything else? Waste management, utilities, uniforms, linens, insurance, telecom, and all those expenses that quietly add up behind the scenes. In this episode of Good AP Times, host Megan Hardy sits down with Larry Levine of P3 Cost Analysis to uncover one of the most overlooked opportunities to protect restaurant margins: auditing what you're already paying for. Larry pulls back the curtain on how vendor pricing actually works, why costs creep up even when you've negotiated a great contract, and how small discrepancies across dozens or hundreds of locations can turn into serious money. And here's the kicker: Just because an invoice matches what you paid last month doesn't mean it's correct. Together, Megan and Larry explore why trusting your vendors and verifying their invoices aren't mutually exclusive, how AP and procurement teams can work together to catch costly mistakes, and why the biggest savings opportunities might already be sitting in your accounts payable system. In this episode, you'll learn:The hidden cost of invoice creep: How seemingly small increases can compound into significant expenses over time.Why "I just pay the invoice" is a costly mindset: The common overcharges AP teams miss when invoices look close enough.The power of vendor benchmarking: Why a great relationship doesn't always guarantee a competitive rate.Where operators have negotiating power: How market conditions, service agreements, and location counts impact pricing.The value of master service agreements: How multi-location businesses can leverage their scale for better pricing and consistency.Why expense auditing requires expertise: How specialized knowledge can uncover savings your internal team may not have the time or resources to find.From fuel surcharges and waste pickup schedules to contamination fees, equipment issues, and mismatched contract pricing, Larry shares real-world examples of expenses that can go unchecked for years. About Larry LevineLarry Levine is with P3 Cost Analysts, where he helps businesses identify unnecessary expenses, uncover billing discrepancies, and negotiate better vendor agreements. Through industry benchmarking and category-specific expertise, P3 helps organizations find savings in the operating costs they often overlook. The takeaway? You don't always need to sell more to improve your bottom line. Sometimes, you just need to take a closer look at what you're already spending. If you're in restaurant finance, procurement, AP, or operations, this conversation might have you looking at your next vendor invoice a little differently.

  2. Sep 23

    Accounting Can’t Operate in Isolation w/ Adam Vanek & Lee Howley (Howley & Company)

    Most businesses do not realize their back office is holding them back until something breaks or growth exposes the cracks. In this episode of Good AP Times, Megan Hardy sits down with Adam and Lee from Howley and Company to talk about the infrastructure behind a business that actually works. Adam brings the finance and operations perspective, while Lee brings the technology and IT side, but their philosophy is the same: take care of the business behind the scenes so operators can focus on what they do best. They break down why finance, operations, and IT cannot operate in silos, especially as a company grows. From AP and cash flow to sales tax, business licenses, POS changes, third-party delivery reconciliation, and reporting, the work that seems manageable at three locations can quickly become a major burden at five, ten, or beyond. The answer is not simply adding more software. Adam and Lee explain why they start with the problem first, then determine whether technology, automation, process improvement, or sometimes a more customized solution is actually the right answer. Because despite what many software companies promise, there is rarely a true one-size-fits-all solution. You’ll discover: Why back-office infrastructure often goes unnoticed until something breaksHow better collaboration between finance, operations, and IT creates a stronger businessWhy repetitive, predictable work is often the best place to start with automationHow to identify where technology can remove work instead of creating more of itWhy weekly communication between operations and the back office can improve reporting and decision-makingWhat changes when a business begins scaling from a handful of locations to a true multi-unit operationHow strong processes and infrastructure can help prepare a business for future growth or acquisitionWhy the goal of technology should always be to make life easier for the people using itAt the heart of the conversation is a simple idea: your people should not be spending their time acting like data entry clerks. The best back-office systems are the ones quietly doing their job in the background, giving your team better information, fewer manual tasks, and more time to focus on the work that actually grows the business. Perfect for restaurant operators, multi-unit leaders, finance teams, IT leaders, and anyone who has ever realized, “The way we’ve always done it” is starting to become the problem. About Adam Adam brings the finance and operations perspective at Howley and Company, helping businesses build practical back-office processes that support the way they operate today while preparing them for where they want to go next. About Lee Lee brings the technology and IT perspective, helping businesses use systems, automation, and infrastructure to reduce manual work, solve operational problems, and make life easier for both clients and internal teams.

  3. Sep 9

    Are Your Systems Working for You or Are You Working for Your Systems? w/ Britt Roland (PeakMade)

    Property management has no shortage of technology. But adding more systems doesn’t automatically create a better operation. In this episode of Good AP Times, Megan Hardy sits down with Britt Roland of PeakMade Real Estate to talk about what it actually takes to build finance systems that work for the people using them, not the other way around. Britt brings a unique perspective, having moved from property accounting into strategic systems. She shares how PeakMade has evolved its finance operation from 4 AP team members supporting 30+ properties to just 2 supporting 100+, while reducing manual work along the way. But this isn’t just a conversation about automation. It’s about knowing what to automate, what to standardize, what to customize, and what shouldn’t be changed at all. Britt breaks down how PeakMade evaluates technology, gets teams to rethink “that’s how we’ve always done it,” and even goes back to re-demo tools they already own before adding something new. You'll discover:How to tell whether you have a technology problem or a process problemWhy every technology decision should start with the business outcome, not the toolHow PeakMade measures the real ROI of automation using time and payroll dollarsWhy getting property managers and accountants on the same page matters and how PeakMade's monthly financial calls helpWhen standardization makes sense and when a process genuinely needs flexibilityWhy stacking “best-in-class” tools can sometimes create more complexity, not lessHow PeakMade approaches AI, business intelligence, reporting, and cash forecastingWhy checks, balances, and human judgment still matter even as more finance work becomes automated The bigger takeaway: good technology shouldn’t force people to become experts in the system. It should make it easier for them to do their actual jobs. For finance leaders, property management operators, and systems teams trying to modernize without creating another layer of complexity, this episode offers a practical look at what successful finance transformation actually requires.

  4. Aug 26

    The Fractional CFO Boom w/ Clint Fendley (Seaton Hill Partner)

    Do you actually need a full-time CFO? Or do you need the right financial leader at the right moment? Megan Hardy sits down with Clint Fendley, CPA, former public-company CFO, and Dallas Business Journal CFO of the Year, to talk about why more growing companies are rethinking what financial leadership needs to look like. And Clint has seen this from just about every angle. His career spans Big Four accounting, CFO leadership at RAVE Restaurant Group, multi-unit and franchise operations, capital markets, turnarounds, analytics, and now fractional and interim CFO leadership. That experience gives him a unique perspective on what happens when a business grows faster than its financial infrastructure. Together, Megan and Clint unpack the rise of the fractional CFO and the point where bookkeeping, reporting, and a decent P&L are no longer enough. They dig into what changes when a business goes from 1 location to 5 to 15+, why an outside financial leader can sometimes see what an internal team cannot, and why the best CFOs are far more than spreadsheet jockeys. You'll hear about: How to know when your business has officially outgrown bookkeeping and needs CFO-level leadershipWhy every stage of multi-location growth creates a different set of financial challengesWhat a fractional CFO can see when they aren't buried in the day-to-dayWhy sometimes the CFO's most valuable job is saying the uncomfortable thing everyone else is avoidingWhy month-end close should be a daily discipline, not a monthly fire drillWhere AI and automation can make finance teams dramatically better, and where human judgment still winsThe surprisingly complex world of franchise accounting, fund tracking, and FDD requirementsWhy great CFOs need to understand the operators behind the numbers, not just the numbers themselvesClint also shares what years of working across public companies, restaurant groups, franchise systems, and growing businesses have taught him about translating financial data into action. Because a report is only useful if the person running the business understands what to do differently because of it. And yes, somewhere in a conversation about CFO strategy, multi-unit finance, and AI, we also managed to tackle the highly controversial subject of pineapple on pizza. Please don't cancel us. 🍍🍕 Some financial risks are simply impossible to model. If you lead a restaurant group, franchise organization, or multi-site business and you're wondering whether your financial function is actually keeping pace with your growth, this episode is packed with the kind of perspective that comes from someone who has been in the CFO seat and knows what happens when the numbers get complicated. Clint Fendley is a CPA, MBA-trained finance executive and former public-company CFO with a career spanning multi-unit restaurants, franchising, financial strategy, data analytics, capital markets, and turnarounds. His experience includes finance and strategy leadership at 7-Eleven, serving as CFO of RAVE Restaurant Group, the publicly traded parent company of Pizza Inn and Pie Five, and serving as CFO of Latitude Food Group, a multi-brand restaurant platform with more than 100 company-owned and franchised locations. Clint now provides fractional, interim, and strategic CFO leadership to businesses navigating growth, transformation, and financial complexity. During his time at RAVE, Clint helped lead the company through the pandemic, strengthened its financial controls, forecasting, and analytics, and helped return the company to NASDAQ compliance. In 2022, he was named CFO of the Year by the Dallas Business Journal.

  5. Aug 12

    What Hundreds of GMs Taught Me About Running Better Teams w/ Keegan Conrey (CEO Decision Logic)

    What Hundreds of Restaurant GMs Taught Me About Running Better RestaurantsRestaurant GMs are expected to control a lot. Food cost. Labor. Inventory. Guest experience. Team performance. And somehow, they’re supposed to keep everything moving when a Friday night decides to go completely off the rails. But the best GMs aren’t trying to control everything. They know what they can control, and they build the right habits and systems around it. In this episode, Megan Hardy sits down with Keegan Conrey, CEO of Decision Logic, to talk about what he’s learned from years of working alongside restaurant operators and hearing firsthand what makes their jobs easier, harder, and sometimes unnecessarily complicated. They dig into what separates good GMs from great ones, including why consistency can actually be a competitive advantage, how strong operators create repeatable rhythms around the numbers that matter, and why technology should remove work from a restaurant instead of giving managers one more thing to do. You’ll hear about: The routines great GMs build around inventory, ordering, reporting, and daypart checksWhy restaurant teams push back on process and how good leaders create structure without creating robotsThe metrics GMs can actually influence, from food and labor costs to guest experienceWhere finance and operations sometimes speak completely different languagesWhy actual vs. theoretical food cost matters and what variance can really tell youHow to tell whether you have a people problem, a process problem, or a technology problemWhat restaurant leaders should be asking vendors before adding another piece of software to the stackWhy mobile, in-the-moment tools can be far more valuable than another back-office dashboardThey also get into AI, data ownership, implementation, vendor support, and one of the biggest questions restaurant leaders should ask before buying new technology: Is this actually making my team’s job easier? Because better restaurant operations aren’t about adding more processes, more dashboards, or more technology. They’re about giving great operators the structure and information they need to make better decisions when it matters. About KeeganKeegan Conrey is the CEO of Decision Logic and has spent years in restaurant technology working closely with operators across the country. Through hundreds of conversations with GMs and restaurant leaders, he’s had a front-row seat to the systems, habits, challenges, and technology that actually make a difference inside the four walls.

  6. Jul 29

    Building Teams & Systems That Can Weather Any Storm w/ Steven Schnitzler

    Most leaders think building a great business is about having the right strategy or the right systems. Steven Schnitzler believes it's something much simpler and much harder. In this episode of Good AP Times, Steven shares lessons from a career spent leading through uncertainty. From late-night customer crises and the 2008 recession to navigating the pandemic as CEO of Port City Java, he explains why the strongest organizations aren't the ones with perfect processes, they're the ones that build resilient people supported by intentional systems. We dive into what it really takes to create a culture where employees can make decisions, solve problems, and deliver remarkable customer experiences without waiting for permission. Steven also shares why onboarding is only the beginning of developing great teams, how leaders earn trust during difficult seasons, and why hospitality should never disappear as businesses scale. You'll learn: Why systems should support people—not replace them.How great leaders prepare teams to handle the unexpected.The role trust and accountability play in building resilient organizations.Why investing in employee growth creates better customer experiences.How community, purpose, and hospitality can become a competitive advantage. Steven also gives us a look into his latest venture Bite Club ILM, a community-focused dining experience designed to bring strangers together over incredible food and meaningful conversation, proving that hospitality has always been about much more than what's on the plate. Whether you're leading a restaurant, growing a business, or building a team, this conversation is a reminder that processes matter but people will always be your greatest investment. Tune in for an honest conversation about leadership, resilience, and creating organizations that can weather any storm without losing the human connection that makes customers want to come back.

  7. Jul 15

    From Chaos to Consistency: How GMs Can Leverage Automation for Better Results w/ Cijoy Olickal

    Most companies think automation is about replacing people. Cijoy has spent more than 30 years proving it's actually about helping them do their best work. Coolest part? Cijoy is doing a thesis on automation, so we get really into the technical side of understanding automation at its core. And why do we nerd out? His thesis is on AP automation! In this episode, Cijoy from GM Pilots shares why the biggest mistake organizations make isn't choosing the wrong technology; it's automating broken processes. From restaurant labor management to enterprise AI, he explains why understanding your operations has to come before implementing any tool. We dive into: Why process should always come before technology.How AI can strengthen teams instead of replacing them.What separates companies that successfully adopt automation from those that struggle.How labor automation creates ripple effects across scheduling, inventory, costs, and the guest experience.Why every automation project should start with one simple question: What problem are we actually trying to solve? Drawing on decades of experience in hospitality and automation, Cijoy shares practical examples, thoughtful perspectives, and a refreshing reminder that great technology should make people more effective, not less important. Whether you're leading restaurant operations, finance, IT, or simply trying to make smarter technology decisions, this conversation will challenge the way you think about AI and automation and leave you with a practical framework for building systems that scale without sacrificing the human experience.

  8. Jul 1

    The Future of Hotel Operations Starts with Better Data w/ Chip Fritsch (COO HIA Software)

    If your hotel tech stack feels like it's held together by spreadsheets, manual workarounds, and crossed fingers, you're not alone. In this episode, we sit down with Chip Fritsch, Co-Founder and COO of HIA Software, to talk about one of the biggest challenges facing hospitality today: disconnected systems that make it nearly impossible to get a clear picture of your business. With more than 30 years of experience spanning hotel operations, finance, and hospitality technology, Chip shares why so many hotels are still making decisions with yesterday's data and what it takes to build a smarter, more connected operation. Together, we cover: Why disconnected hotel systems create more problems than they solve.The difference between looking at yesterday's reports and managing your business in real time.How clean, unified data is the foundation for AI, automation, and better decision-making.How hotels can build stronger processes and smarter systems without losing the "warm hug" of hospitality that keeps guests coming back.Why technology should empower your people—not create more work for them. Whether you're a CFO, controller, hotel operator, or technology leader, this conversation is packed with practical insights on modernizing hotel finance and operations without sacrificing the guest experience. Chip Fritsch is the Co-Founder and COO of HIA Software, a hospitality ERP platform built specifically for hotels. After years leading hotel operations himself, he set out to create technology that eliminates data silos, connects every department, and gives hotel teams the real-time visibility they need to make better decisions. If you're ready to spend less time chasing data and more time driving results, this is an episode you won't want to miss. Episode Presented by Factura.ai

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About

Good AP Time is where finance, operations, and real-world scale collide. There’s no shortage of software that says it solves finance problems. But what actually happens after you hit “buy”? That’s where things get interesting. We sit down with finance and operations leaders to talk about what really breaks as companies grow - AP bottlenecks, AI hype vs. reality, and the messy middle no one puts in a playbook. This isn’t theory. It’s the unfiltered side of scaling finance. No fluff. Just real operators sharing what works, what doesn’t, and what’s next. But most importantly having a Good AP Time! Presented by Factura.ai

Information

  • Creator
    Factura.ai
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Factura.ai