Accounting Best Practices (Wiley Best Practices) [Hardcover]

Steven M. Bragg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470081821 | ISBN-13: 978-0470081822 | Publication Date: March 23, 2007 | Edition: 5

Praise for Accounting Best Practices, Fifth Edition

"For a comprehensive, yet easy-to-read guide to fixing those all-too-common shortcomings in your accounting department, look no further than this excellent book. Steve Bragg provides hundreds of fixes, many of them requiring surprisingly little time or cost while providing a handy guide to common implementation pitfalls . . . I would recommend this invaluable book to anyone who is looking to enhance their existing processes, whether due to growth in their business, compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, or just as part of their ongoing improvement process."
—Martyn Webster, CPA, Director of FinanceXenoPort, Inc.

"This book is critical to running an efficient and accurate accounting department. The use of RFID technology to track documents is one of many valuable tools in this latest edition. A required read for the demanding accounting manager's role."
—Jason Charet, CPA

"I've used Steve Bragg's Accounting Best Practices books for years as a source of ideas for improvement. Like the previous editions, the Fifth Edition has a number of new, actionable best practices as well as refinements of those ideas reported in previous editions. The books are broad enough in their perspective so that nearly any organization could find ideas that could pay back the cost of the book many times over."
—John Temmerman, Controller Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

"What a great resource! I have been in the accounting field for over twenty years, and I was still able to gain insight into improving processes within my office. Thanks for putting it all in one book!"
—Tina M. Thomas, CPA, CTP, Controller Goodman & Company, LLP

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bragg, a knowledgeable accounting practitioner and prolific author of accounting practice books, has updated this one-stop source of information…this volume is a comprehensive resource for the accounting profession." (Choice; 11/2007)

From the Inside Flap

With price-cutting measures and tough competitive tactics a fact of business life, companies are often faced with a difficult dilemma—how to cut accounting department operating costs without cutting back on services to the company. Many financial and accounting managers do not realize that corporations can drastically cut expenses in all areas of their accounting department—without hiring an expensive outside consultant—by implementing the techniques known as "best practices."

Accounting Best Practices, Fifth Edition offers the latest and most important information on these advanced techniques and strategies to help you increase productivity, reduce costs, and efficiently monitor a company's existing systems. This new Fifth Edition has been fully updated to include:

• An all-new chapter on accounting management
• Fully revised chapters on payroll and financial statements
• New best practices added to discussions on accounting management, payroll, billing, and inventory
• The latest tips on how to avoid missed billing

The accounting department that strives to adopt best practices enjoys a host of benefits, not the least of which include improved customer service, cycle times, product quality, and profitability, as well as reduced error rates. Building upon his benchmark resource, renowned accounting authority Steven Bragg shows readers how to successfully improve both efficiency and accuracy in this excellent step-by-step manual of best practices.

Accounting Best Practices, Fifth Edition will not only show you how to cut your business costs but will demonstrate how to optimize your company's effectiveness as well. Whether you've been searching for ways to cut costs in your accounting department, or just want to offer more services without the added expense, look no further–-Accounting Best Practices, Fifth Edition is here.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 5 edition (March 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470081821
• ISBN-13: 978-0470081822
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #646,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The primary question I receive is, why would anyone write so many accounting books? The story began in the early 1990s, when my former boss, Jan Roehl-Anderson, asked me to assist in taking over a book called Controllership from Jim Willson (correct spelling), who had been maintaining the book since the early 1950s. I liked the experience, and even found it relaxing (I must have issues!).

So... I had an idea for another book, called Just-in-Time Accounting, which the publisher accepted, and which got me on the track of doing management accounting books. Most accounting books up to that point had primarily dealt with accounting principles and not how to management the department, so this was a rich area for new books.

The Accounting Best Practices book, which is one of the top-selling accounting books in the country, started when I was bouncing around ideas for new books with one of my editors, John DeRemigis. He suggested the accounting best practices idea, and I said, "nah, there's not enough material." Four editions later and over 400+ pages long, it appears that he was right and I was wrong.

Writing became more intense in 2005, when John Wiley & Sons recommended me to the authors of the Wiley GAAP Guide as a new co-author. This is a seriously technical high-end accounting principles guide, and so was nothing like what I had written before. My first assignment was adding a hundred or so new examples to the book, which was absolutely frantic -- imagine becoming an expert on a really far-out accounting topic in one day, writing an esoteric example, and then hurrying on to an entirely different example the next day.

I have just finished writing Accounting Controls Best Practices, which is chock-full of control points for the most common accounting systems, as well as for best practices upgrades to those systems. And now, it is time for a break, if only for a week.

So... I am heading to the Western Pacific for some serious diving off a live aboard dive boat.

Steve Bragg

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Valuable Resource, February 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Accounting Best Practices (Hardcover)

I found Accounting Best Practices a valuable resource for objectively evaluating my accounting department's business practices and procedures. Mr. Bragg has identified the specific tasks of each of the accounting departments's functions and has made suggestions for efficiencies. The author states the key factors in the successful implementation of the best practices in accounting.

Each chapter presents an exhibit of "Implementation Issues Best Practices" describing the implementation costs, ease and duration of each suggested practice change. This information allowed me to implement the easiest and least costly changes to my accounting department's procedures, thus gaining credibility with upper managment to support the changes involving addional resources.

As a Controller, Best Practices assisted me to focus on the value-added tasks of my department and identifying where my staff's efforts are best utilized to support the corporate objectives. My department has become more efficient, allowing for individual growth opportunities. I highly recommend this book for anyone managing an accounting department. A very concise book that is easy to read and use.

Divisional Controller, CMA

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For every business executive, October 30, 2005

By 

Gary Wright II "CleverThings" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Accounting Best Practices (Wiley Best Practices) (Hardcover)

This book has so many great accounting best practices it should serve as a goal for every company. It is an invaluable reference guide to anyone who is just starting a business, or needing to improve the efficiency of their accounting functions.
I most liked the fact that the book is so easy to read. You won't have to be a CPA to understand this book.
My only suggestion is that the book should have a companion CD or web site with all of the best practices already in an electronic format.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real help for Accountant, April 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Accounting Best Practices (Hardcover)

Best practices helped me improve accounting operations and cut costs. Appendix B alone is worth the price.