Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual: A Blueprint for Running an Effective and Efficient Department, Fifth Edition

Preface

Lack of adequate documentation is one of the largest pitfalls facing any accounting system. One of four excuses is usually given: (1) nobody reads it, (2) the hands-on approach in which each person teaches another is a better method, (3) written policies and procedures are too confining, and (4) nobody has the time to write documentation. In a constantly changing accounting world, none of these excuses can stand very long.

If an accounting staff and company executives are to be fully informed, this flood of material must be read and, when necessary, related to the accounting operations at your company. The dissemination of information on this scale cannot be handled orally or with periodic meetings and brief memos to the staff involved. Thus, there is a need for clear, consistent documentation to describe the accounting system being used, the principles involved, the policies that management wishes enforced, and the procedures describing what is to be done and how it is to be performed on a daily basis.

This book covers the development, implementation, and maintenance of 13 different accounting manuals. Two of these are mandatory: the general accounting manual that describes account coding schemes and how to code accounting transactions, and the policy/procedure statement system that provides full information to anyone needing to know a company’s accounting policies and the procedures to maintain them.

The other 11 manuals are optional, but as you read about them you will find ...