Accounting Best Practices (Wiley Best Practices) [Hardcover]

Steven M. Bragg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0471444286 | ISBN-13: 978-0471444282 | Edition: 3

New best practices for the evolving business

Everyone knows that adopting accounting best practices can improve efficiency and reduce error rates in the accounting department, but less obvious are the benefits gained from better reporting of information to other parts of the company. More accurate data reported faster can play an integral role in both short- and long-term strategic planning. Accounting guru Steven Bragg explains how to leverage this and other opportunities in his authoritative Accounting Best Practices, Third Edition.

Bragg adds over sixty new best practices to his benchmark resource, concentrating primarily on the areas of:

• Internal auditing
• Accounts payable
• Finance
• Payroll

Bragg highlights the dos and don'ts of best practices implementation, and a new reference system renders the expansive collection of best practices readily accessible. Accounting and financial managers, internal and external auditors, and consultants will find Accounting Best Practices, Third Edition to be a peerless resource.

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) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

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 adds sixty new best practices for improving both efficiency and accuracy in the third edition of Accounting Best Practices.

This seminal reference comprises close to 300 best practices in all, making it the most comprehensive collection available. As with its predecessors, Accounting Best Practices, Third Edition covers a wide variety of accounting functions, including:

• Accounts payable
• Billing
• Budgeting
• Cash management
• Finance
• Financial statements
• Inventory
• Payroll

The author also includes an all-new chapter, "Internal Auditing Best Practices," reflecting how this function has increasingly become the province of the Chief Financial Officer; nineteen best practices are explained. Bragg further contributes a number of new risk and investor management best practices to the finance chapter and expands the accounts payable chapter to forty total best practices, the most of any chapter in the book.

As the scope of Accounting Best Practices continues to expand, the need for a quick and simple index system becomes increasingly apparent. Answering this need, the author has created a table at the beginning of each chapter, itemizing and enumerating the best practices contained within. The tables also graphically describe the cost and duration of implementation required for each item, and, for easy reference, all tables are collected in an appendix.

Bragg also shows how to use contract management software to avoid revenue recognition violations and notes best practice implementation pitfalls, so managers can troubleshoot in advance. Accounting Best Practices, Third Edition not only shows how to improve efficiency and reduce error rates, but also how to deliver better information to other parts of the company. It remains the perfect do-it-yourself book for the accounting manager who wants to improve his or her department.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 408 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 3 edition (October 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471444286
• ISBN-13: 978-0471444282
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,353,760 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.