Fast Close: A Guide to Closing the Books Quickly - Hardcover

Bragg, Steven M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470465018 ISBN 13: 9780470465011

Publisher: Wiley, 2009

Synopsis

Praise for Fast Close: A Guide to Closing the Books Quickly

"Steve captures the essence of the problems affecting the financial close process within corporations of all sizes; from the period close of subledgers and general ledger through financial reporting, and the relationship and interdependencies of governance, people and technology. A must-read for the corporate controller."
—David Taylor, ACMA, MBA, VP Strategy, Trintech Inc.

"Fast Close: A Guide to Closing the Books Quickly, Second Edition is a must-read for today's busy controllers. Steven Bragg points out everything that can be done outside the close that you just never realized didn't actually have to be part of the month-end close process! Very commonsensical approach!"
—Kathleen Schneibel, mba, cpa, Controller/CFO for Hire, KMAS Consulting LLC

"A well-executed 'fast close' can bring many valuable benefits to any company, from improving organizational performance to transforming accounting executives from financial historians to trusted advisors. In Fast Close, Second Edition, Steve systematically breaks down the steps required to achieve a fast close in both public and private companies, providing financial executives with tips, checklists, and a cost-effective road map to implement fast close procedures in virtually any company."
—Matthew Posta, Esq., CPA, Vice President of Finance, Key Air, LLC

FROM THE FIRST EDITION

"This is an outstanding book in which Steve reveals his secrets to a fast close. Having personally experienced his (one-day) fast close for years and enjoyed the beneficial impact on my company, I highly recommend this book for all financial officers who desire to have a large, favorable impact on their company."
—Richard V. Souders, President and CEO, Kaba Workforce Solutions

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Closing the month-end books followed by the issuing of financial statements as fast as possible is one of the most common—and time-consuming—challenges controllers face. Depending on the company, the process can take anywhere from four days to as long as five weeks. Finally, help is here! Now fully revised and updated, Fast Close: A Guide to Closing the Books Quickly, Second Edition shrinks the closing interval down to just one day.

The new edition of this hands-on guide presents the successful, field-tested principles of accounting guru Steven Bragg—using the same techniques he has personally used for years to issue financial statements for multidivisional companies.

Filled with flowcharts and checklists to help professionals avoid delays and bring accounting department closing procedures up to date, Fast Close, Second Edition straightforwardly illustrates how companies can close their financials quickly enough to issue statements within Sarbanes-Oxley's rigid time frame.

The new edition features new coverage of:

• Closing Controls and Closing for the Public Company, with a new chapter for each

• How to close faster, with checklists

• Common areas of delay and how to overcome them

• Flowcharts for how to route closing tasks through the accounting department

• How to handle information roll-ups from subsidiaries

• Those closing steps that can wait and those that need to be accelerated into the pre-closing period

Offering a compelling case for ending slavery to the month-long closing process, this invaluable resource shows accountants how to get it done efficiently, with authoritative discussion of shifting the timing of closing activities out of the core closing period; reducing the contents of the financial statements; standardizing the chart of accounts; centralizing accounting functions; streamlining the commission calculation process; and much more.

From the Back Cover

Advance praise for Fast Close:

"This is an outstanding book in which Steve reveals his secrets to a fast close. Having personally experienced his (one-day) fast close for years and enjoyed the beneficial impact on my company, I highly recommend this book for all financial officers that desire to have a large, favorable impact on their company."
—Richard V. Souders President and CEO, Premier Data Services

"Fast Close is a superb book for all financial executives. It clearly articulates how a company can achieve rapid closes and obtain benefits that go along with it. This book is a must-read for financial executives."
—Janice M. Roehl-Anderson Principal, Deloitte Consulting, LLP

Written for controllers, CFOs, accounting managers, and business managers, Fast Close incorporates Steven Bragg's own personally tested guidelines to help professionals speed up the closing process, especially in response to Sarbanes-Oxley's more time-sensitive requirements. Bragg outlines numerous key improvements that, when gradually implemented together, are guaranteed to shrink the closing process down to as little as one day.

Chock-full of helpful flowcharts and checklists to help readers prevent delays and bring accounting department closing procedures up to date, Fast Close explores:

• Specific instructions for closing faster
• Common areas of delay and how to overcome them
• Flowcharts that explain how to route closing tasks through the accounting department
• How to handle information roll-ups from subsidiaries
• Closing steps: which ones to accelerate into the pre-closing period and which ones can be delayed
• Required controls to keep financials accurate despite the fast close
• And much more

Create financial statements faster . . . much faster . . . with the expert guidance found in Steven Bragg's Fast Close.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0470465018
• ISBN 13: 9780470465011
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 224