Accounting Control Best Practices - Hardcover

Bragg, Steven M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470405422 ISBN 13: 9780470405420

Publisher: Wiley, 2009

Synopsis

Accounting Control Best Practices,
Second Edition

Control systems are needed to ensure that a company's assets are used in the most productive manner and that they are not lost through fraudulent activities. However, an excessive use of controls can interfere with the efficient completion of activities within a company. Whether your company is in start-up mode, installing new systems, or simply dissatisfied with existing controls due to fraudulent losses, Accounting Control Best Practices, Second Edition is the reference handbook every accountant and systems analyst can use to ensure that their company has constructed a durable and efficient set of controls.

This easy-to-use handbook clearly explains how to develop an effective system of accounting and operational controls and offers the best practices with pragmatic insights and proactive strategies to protect organizations from suffering further substantial losses of assets and reputation that occur from financial dishonesty within an organization.

Author and renowned accounting expert Steven Bragg provides control flowcharts in every chapter for all major processes as well as a thorough set of corporate policies designed to support the system of controls. Now containing chapters on budgeting, collections, and acquisition integration, this valuable reference handbook offers essential information on control best practices for:

• Order entry, credit, and shipment
• Inventory management
• Billing
• Cash-handling
• Payroll
• Fixed assets
• Budgeting
• Financial reporting
• Just-in-time manufacturing
• Petty cash
• And many more

Encompassing all of the major accounting and operational processes with nearly 500 controls presented in basic, intermediate, and advanced layers, from those needed for a very basic paper-based system, to computerized systems, to the use of advanced best practice enhancements in computerized systems, Accounting Control Best Practices, Second Edition is the only guidebook needed to devise a set of controls precisely tailored to every company's system.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The only practices worth following are the best practices

"Accounting Control Best Practices is succinctly described in one word—thorough. Organizations from manufacturing to hospitals can use this—easily understood by everyone from the data entry clerk in accounting to the CFO."
—Melody Troesser Accountant Cole County Residential Services, Inc.

"There is no authority on accounting or accounting control best practices like Steven Bragg. This guy does the hard stuff—he sees the big picture perfectly yet can also get down in the trenches and dig into difficult and complex areas. His writing is clear and his explanations are simple and sensible."
—Jack W. Boyer, CPA, MCP Boyer & Associates

"Accountants, analysts, and system designers will find this an excellent tool. Real examples define and demonstrate effective control points, while keeping practicality and efficiency in mind. A great addition to my library."
—Clint Davies Principal Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker

"A cornucopia of control ideas organized by process and explained in simple terms to ensure quick implementation."
—Richard B. Lanza, CPA/CITP, CFE, PMP President Cash Recovery Partners, LLC

Destined to become an essential desktop tool in helping professionals tailor a controls system to the needs of their company, Accounting Control Best Practices introduces all of the major accounting and operational processes with hundreds of controls presented in basic, intermediate, and advanced layers—from a basic paper-based system, to computerized systems, to the advanced best practice enhancements in computerized systems.

About the Author

STEVEN M. BRAGG, CPA, has been the chief financial officer or controller of four companies, as well as a consulting manager at Ernst & Young and auditor at Deloitte & Touche. He received a master's degree in finance from Bentley College, an MBA from Babson College, and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Maine. He has been the two-time president of the Colorado Mountain Club, is an avid alpine skier and mountain biker, and is a certified master diver. Mr. Bragg resides in Centennial, Colorado. He is also the author of Accounting Best Practices and Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual (both published by Wiley).

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0470405422
• ISBN 13: 9780470405420
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 304