What it is
The Payment Run Checklist is a pre-flight guide for releasing a clean, audit-ready payment batch — selecting the right invoices, choosing the right payment rail, applying fraud controls like positive pay, and securing the dual approvals that keep money moving safely. It walks through pre-run preparation (pulling a proposed payment list filtered by due date, discount date, and approval status; confirming every invoice is fully approved and three-way matched; running a duplicate-payment check; capturing early-payment discounts; verifying bank details are unchanged; and holding disputed or credit-memo items), then a payment-method selection table, a three-step release workflow, and a fraud-and-audit controls checklist.
The payment-method table is the practical heart of the document: it pairs each rail with what it's best for and its key control — ACH for recurring domestic vendors (positive pay and account validation), virtual card for vendors that accept cards and offer rebates (single-use number with a set credit limit), check for vendors with no electronic option (positive pay plus payee match), wire for large or time-critical and foreign payments (dual approval plus call-back verification), and cross-border for international suppliers (FX rate lock and sanctions screen). The release workflow then requires a reviewer to confirm totals against the funding plan, dual approval under segregation of duties so the preparer can't also release, and a transmit-and-confirm step that submits the positive pay file and reconciles released payments back to the GL.
The governing principle is that a clean run is decided before release, not after. The batch should contain only approved, matched, de-duplicated invoices; the method should fit both the vendor and the risk; and no single person should be able to both create and send money. Positive pay and dual approval are described as the cheapest fraud insurance AP can buy. The checklist works equally well as a manual control framework and as the requirements for an AP automation platform like Melio or AvidXchange that executes payment runs, applies positive pay files, and enforces approval thresholds in software.
What it's used for
The checklist is used every time a payment batch is prepared and released, and whenever a team formalizes payment controls after a duplicate payment, a fraud incident, or an audit finding. It exists to make the payment run a controlled event rather than a routine click — ensuring the right invoices are paid, by the right rail, with fraud controls active and proper sign-off in place.
- ✓ Building the proposed payment list by filtering on due date, early-discount date, and approval status, so the batch prioritizes what's due and what captures discounts.
- ✓ Confirming every invoice in the batch is fully approved and three-way matched (or properly exception-overridden) and running a duplicate-payment check on vendor, invoice number, and amount before release.
- ✓ Selecting the right payment method per vendor and risk — ACH, virtual card, check, wire, or cross-border — with the corresponding control for each rail.
- ✓ Verifying each vendor's bank details are validated and unchanged since the last run, and holding any invoice tied to a disputed receipt, open exception, or credit memo.
- ✓ Enforcing dual approval under segregation of duties so the person who prepares the run cannot release it, with higher-tier approval required for larger batches.
- ✓ Activating fraud controls — positive pay and payee positive pay on check accounts, ACH debit blocks and filters — so only issued items clear and only authorized originators can pull funds.
- ✓ Transmitting the positive pay file, confirming the ACH or wire file went through without rejected items, and reconciling released payments back to the GL and the AP subledger.
Who uses it
The checklist is for the people who prepare, approve, and reconcile payments, and for the controllers and auditors who need assurance that money only leaves under proper control. Because segregation of duties is central, it deliberately separates the preparer, the approver, and the reconciler.
Context & good to know
The payment run is the moment of maximum risk in accounts payable, because it is where money actually moves. Every control upstream — three-way match, approval workflow, vendor verification — exists to make this moment safe, and the checklist's job is to make sure none of those controls are bypassed in the rush to pay. The discipline of building the batch from only approved, matched, de-duplicated invoices, and running a fresh duplicate check at release, is what stops the two ways money leaks: paying the same invoice twice and paying a fraudster.
Payment rail selection is a real risk decision, not an afterthought. ACH is cheap and efficient for recurring domestic vendors but needs positive pay or account validation; virtual cards earn rebates and contain risk through single-use numbers and set limits; checks are the highest-risk rail and demand positive pay plus payee match; wires are fast and irreversible, so they require dual approval and call-back verification; and cross-border payments need FX rate locks and sanctions screening. Matching the method to the vendor and the risk is how AP balances cost, speed, and control. AP automation platforms increasingly let you set rail rules per vendor and route payments automatically, but the policy behind those rules is what this checklist defines.
Positive pay and dual approval are described as the cheapest fraud insurance AP can buy, and the framing is apt. Positive pay matches every check or ACH item presented to the bank against the file of items you actually issued, so altered or fraudulent items don't clear; ACH debit blocks ensure only authorized originators can pull funds. Dual approval ensures the person who prepared a run can't also send it. These are low-cost, high-impact controls that an auditor will expect to see active on every paying account.
For buyers comparing AP software, payment execution is one of the most concrete differentiators. Tools like Melio and AvidXchange execute payment runs across multiple rails, generate positive pay files, enforce approval thresholds, and reconcile back to the ledger — which is why 'what is the best accounts payable software?' often comes down to how cleanly a platform handles the actual movement of money. Evaluators should test whether a tool supports the rails their vendors use, generates positive pay output, enforces dual approval, and reconciles payments to the GL automatically. This checklist gives them the criteria to test against.