“Can I buy just the one procedure I need right now?”

We’ve been hearing this question quite often and our standard response has been that we don’t sell procedures separately. It seemed to make sense that companies should have a range of policies and procedures on hand. After all, everyone thinks in terms of systems of interconnected policies and procedures, don’t they?

Then we thought, “Why not give our customers what they want!” After all, all our policy and procedure manuals have a collection of Microsoft Word files — procedures, policies, and support documents (forms, checklists, etc.). If our customers want to buy the documents individually, why not make it possible?

That’s how www.policiesprocedures.com was born. We essentially took procedure files from seven of our policies and procedures manuals and made them available for sale individually, so now you can buy and download one or more of these 200+ policy and procedure templates from the new website.

If customers could buy individual procedures à la carte, one obvious follow-up question was, “Why would anybody need to buy an entire manual?” Simple — because they get more. Not only more procedures, but supporting content — in short, a system of policies and procedures. In the “real world”, policies and procedures don’t exist in isolation. They interact, as the ISO 9001 points out, simply but eloquently.

Each of our policy and procedure manuals has a section on Manual Preparation, as well as a sample Manager’s Manual (and often a detailed guide or handbook). If you purchase the HR Procedures Manual, for instance, you get 35 HR procedures, a free Employee Handbook, a sample HR Manager’s Manual, links to dozens of Federal HR posters, and more than 50 sample job descriptions!

From a cost-to-value standpoint, once you exceed a handful of procedures (10 or more), it makes sense to purchase the entire manual. However, if you just need a few procedures to fill out your quality system, your accounting system, or any system you have in mind, the new policy and procedure download site may be exactly what you need.

So, visit our new site. Scroll or browse around and buy what you need. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know — we’re more than happy to help!

Policies and procedures provide the framework and direction for addressing many common business problems your organization might face.  Let’s look at the top ten business problems solved by Policies and Procedures.

1. Accounts Receivable procedures to reduce accounts receivable (A/R) aging and ensure even cash flow.  Every company needs Strategies for Writing Accounts Receivable Procedures.  Your accounts receivable process is the heart of your cash cycle.  Salespeople can find plenty of customers but without cash-paying customers, you can’t pay your bills, which is part of your Strategies for Writing Accounts Payable Procedures.

2. Sales procedures to standardize sales pipeline management and ensure a consistent sales pipeline.  Sales procedures allow you to take control of the sales and marketing cycle.  Developing measurements, sales assignments, and target markets are all important elements of your sales process.

3. Disaster Recovery procedures will assist in an orderly and timely response to emergencies your company may face, as well as control the inevitable chaos that occurs.  Every company needs to effectively respond to disasters or emergencies in a timely manner; if not, they could be out of business.  In recent months, we’ve had ample opportunity to learn the lessons of the Gulf oil disaster, such as “having a disaster recovery plan before the need arises”.

4. Human Resources procedures ensure non-discriminatory practices; specifically, well-defined employee hiring and termination practices will help you avoid costly litigation.  Human resources procedures address diverse topics such as recruiting, hiring, training, retention, termination, and — most importantly –complying with local, state, Federal, and even international employment laws.

5. Quality procedures (nonconformance, corrective action, and auditing) improve product and process quality.  The ISO 9001 quality standard addresses quality control, quality assurance, and quality management practices.  Learning how to meet quality standards with ISO 9001 will help your organization reduce costly rework and overtime, thereby improving quality, satisfying customers, and contributing to your competitive advantages.

6. Customer communications procedures, like collecting data from customer feedback and complaint handling for process improvement.  ”Poor customer communication” is the root cause of much customer dissatisfaction.  If you know what your target customer wants, your business has all the information it needs to satisfy the customer. Implementing communication procedures will help you act on your customers’ wants, improving sales.

7. Shipping and receiving procedures are needed to track materials purchased and sold.  Most of shipping and receiving revolves around inventory or assets, which requires processes for handling, inventory management, asset acquisition, and asset disposition.  Specific supplier requirements — and the policies and procedures that flow from them — ensure that you receive what you want, when you want it, in the quantity you want, and with quality built in.

8. Management procedures can improve poor meetings, poor internal communications, and poor reporting.  Management is really about communication — that’s why improving internal communication benefits the whole company.  One of the best ways to improve communications is to develop, document, implement, and monitor a procedure for communications.

Also, it’s important that management shows its commitment to the highest standards, whether those standards have to do with internal processes or processes that directly involve your customers.

9. You also need compliance procedures to ensure your company conforms to the requirements of various regulations, statutes, and standards.  This is where policies and procedures can help your organization.  Compliance is one of the primary problems solved with policies and procedures.

10. Accounting procedures ensure that you fulfill your fiduciary responsibility to your shareholders.  Accounting is a process to track transactions of items, cash, and information.  Accounting procedures help to ensure consistency, reliability, and accuracy of those transactions, which (in turn) helps to build trust in your financial statements.  What Are the Top Ten Accounting Policies and Procedures?

Prewritten policies and procedures from Bizmanualz help solve many of these common business problems.  The Top Ten Core Business Policies and Procedures you will need can be found in the Bizmanualz CEO Company Policies Procedures Manuals bundle.

Top 10 Business Problems Solved by Policies and Procedures

1. Accounts Receivable procedures, to reduce A/R aging and ensure even cash flow.
2. Sales procedures, to standardize sales pipeline management to ensure consistent sales.
3. Disaster Recovery procedures, to control the response to chaos in an emergency.
4. Human Resources procedures, to ensure non-discriminatory employee hiring and termination.
5. Quality procedures, to improve quality.
6. Customer communications procedures, to collect data from feedback and complaint handling for process improvement.
7. Shipping and receiving procedures, to track materials purchased and sold.
8. Management procedures to improve poor meetings, communications, and reporting.
9. Compliance procedures to conform to regulations, standards, and laws.
10. Accounting procedures, to fulfill your fiduciary responsibility to your shareholders.

What do you think? How quickly could your most urgent problems be solved by implementing effective policies and procedures?

Every company should document its accounting policies and procedures.  A well-designed and properly maintained system of accounting policies and procedures documentation enhances your accountability and consistency, while at the same time producing long-term savings from reduced duplication, rework, training, and increased focus, consistency, and productivity.

The resulting accounting policy and procedure documentation serves as a training tool for your accounting staff. Communication is essential to your internal control framework, and documented accounting policies and procedures are one of the best ways to communicate essential accounting information and make sure everyone in accounting is “on the same page”.  Well-designed accounting policies and procedures documentation promotes understanding between accounting and other departments.  Well-written accounting policies and procedures enhance your accounting audit process, as well.

There are several things you have to consider when documenting and maintaining accounting policies and procedures manuals:

1. Senior Management Support
   First and foremost, management commitment is the key to getting procedures used.  Your accounting policies and procedures program requires the backing and support of senior management.  Without top management’s express support, the proper control environment won’t exist and without that, compliance — with whatever regulation or standard (Sarbanes-Oxley, 8th EU Directive, ISO 9001, etc.) — will be extremely difficult to achieve.
2. Document the Actual Accounting Process
   You have to start with the current state of the accounting process, not the ideal state. You’ll confuse your employees if you document a future state, an aspirational process, or an improvement that isn’t currently in use.  Document the current state of your processes and train new employees on those procedures.  As you implement a given process, always look for ways to improve it.  Make changes to processes as needed, update the accounting procedures accordingly, and hold a training event on the updated procedures.
3. Employee Process Owners
   Are your accounting policies and procedures driving improvement and internal control ?  They will…IF you use your employees to drive the improvement process.  Put your employees in charge of documenting “their” processes.  After all, they know their jobs and they’re naturally in the best position to improve them.  Give your employees the necessary resources, focus them on the metrics for their job, then have them document their processes and train others.
4. Availability of Policies and Procedures
   Your documented accounting policies and procedures need to be available at the point of use, where they’re an integral part of the process. If they’re in another room, or if they’re not readily accessible on the employee’s computer, they won’t be used.  Out of sight is out of mind.
5. Define Employee Responsibilities
   Even the CFO has defined responsibilities, authorities, and metrics, contained in a job description.  Do all of your accounting employees have clearly defined metrics?  Do they know what’s expected of them each and every day?  Who has the authority to approve certain transactions?  Who is responsible for safekeeping assets and controlling records?  Your job descriptions should be more specific than “collects receivables”, for an example.  They should indicate how many transactions processed per day, or how to prioritize receivables in order of collections importance.  Job descriptions should also ensure that employees understand how their functions and responsibilities are integrated with other accounting processes.
6. Clearly Stated Purpose of Accounting Policy
   What’s the difference between policies and procedures? A policy is a guiding principle used to set the direction of an organization, while a procedure is a particular way of accomplishing something.  Your accounting procedures should explain the internal controls they utilize, in order to increase employee understanding of, support for, and proper usage of those controls.  You can address all accounting policies in the introduction of the accounting manual, or address specific policies at the beginning of each accounting procedure.
7. Periodic Policies Procedures Reviews and Updates
   Are your accounting procedures effective? Scheduled process-procedure reviews, integrated with your procedure writing standards (that include the “Seven Cs” to avoid procedure writing errors and your risk assessment framework), will help you identify deficiencies you need to address.
8. Utilize a Document Control Procedure to Approve Policies and Procedures
   “Document Control” is a procedure required by ISO 9001 because traceability and an improvement baseline for document changes are critical.  What if your accounting policies and procedures aren’t changing?  The world is not static — your accounting procedures shouldn’t be, either.  Remember, your competitors’ accounting procedures are changing.
9. Organize the Accounting Manual Structure
   A sample accounting manual structure should cover exclusions, the organization of the accounting department, the applicable accounting standards (GAAP, IFRS, etc.), your accounting cycles or processes, accounting transactions and timing, documentation standards, cost accounting methodologies, and statements of ethics or company restrictions or related party-transactions.
10. Create a User-Friendly Format
    Who are you writing procedures for? Accounting users, of course — but are they novices, occasional users, or frequent users?  Different users have different needs, but all users require an easy way to navigate through your accounting policies and procedures manual, or else they will not use it.  Use a table of contents, color-coded tabs, and index numbers for departments or sections.  Provide a detailed index in the back with cross references to related subjects, regulations, or standards.  Make your accounting policies and procedures manual easy to use and your users will use it.

Top Ten Things to Consider in Accounting Policies-Procedures Documentation

1. Senior management support
2. Document the actual accounting process
3. Employee process owners
4. Available policies and procedures
5. Define employee responsibilities
6. Clearly stated purpose of accounting policy
7. Periodic policies procedures reviews and updates
8. Utilize a document control procedure to approve policies and procedures
9. Organize the accounting manual structure
10. Create a user-friendly format

People often ask us, “What should be in our ‘Accounting Policies and Procedures’ manual?”, which naturally leads us to the next question, “What’s in your ‘CFO Accounting Policies and Procedures’ manuals?”  In other words, what specifically is contained in the manuals?  What accounting processes are covered when you order the five-manual Accounting Policies- Procedures bundle?

The CFO Accounting Policies and Procedures Manuals includes 239 prewritten accounting procedure templates and 373 forms organized within five functional business manuals.  All 612 files are in Microsoft Word format, so you can easily edit each file to suit your company’s particular needs. Topics are well-researched and are based on best practices, saving you countless time and enabling you to meet approaching deadlines fast.

Improve your accounting process with:

Accounting Revenue Cycle Procedures

There are many elements to the Revenue Cycle.  Key tasks include how orders are confirmed and entered, and how credit and collections are performed.  There are 13 accounting procedures that address this important accounting process:

1. Cash Drawers And Credit Cards
2. Cash Receipts And Deposits
3. Sales Order Entry
4. Point-Of-Sale Orders
5. Customer Credit Approval And Terms
6. Sales Order Acceptance
7. Invoicing And Accounts Receivable
8. Wire Transfers
9. Problem Checks
10. Sales Tax Collection
11. Progress Billing
12. Account Collections
13. Customer Returns

Accounting Cash Disbursement Cycle Procedures

The Cash Disbursement cycle deals with controlling expenses, confirming expenditures, and ensuring effectiveness of purchases.  There are 12 procedures in the CFO Accounting Policies and Procedures set that address cash disbursement:

1. Check Signing Authority
2. Check Requests
3. Vendor Selection
   

   Vendor Selection Procedure

4. IT Vendor Selection
5. IT Outsourcing
6. General Purchasing
7. Project Purchasing
8. Receiving And Inspection
9. Shipping And Freight Claims
10. Accounts Payable And Cash Disbursements
11. Travel And Entertainment
12. Controlling Legal Costs

Accounting Production Cycle Procedures

The Production Cycle includes processes like how orders are shipped, how freight claims are processed, and how production documents are controlled.   There are 3 production cycle procedures available in the CFO Accounting set.  (Note: additional production cycle procedures are found in the ISO 9001 Quality manual, which is part of the CEO Company Policies and Procedures set of manuals).

1. Shipment of Goods
2. Shipping And Freight Claims
3. Document Control

Accounting Asset Cycle Procedures

The Asset Cycle includes inventory, asset management, and asset acqusition processes.  There are 10 procedures in the CFO Accounting set that address important parts of this key accounting cycle:

1. Inventory Control
2. Inventory Counts
3. Fixed Asset Control
4. Customer Property
5. Asset Acquisition
6. Inventory Management
7. IT Asset Standards
8. IT Asset Management
9. IT Asset Assessment
10. IT Asset Installation Satisfaction

Accounting Audit Cycle Procedures

The Audit Cycle encompasses internal and external (third-party) auditing procedures, as well as performing corrective actions in response to qualified audit opinions.   There are 3 accounting procedures that address this important check step in the accounting process:

1. External Auditing
2. Internal Auditing
3. Corrective Action

Accounting Finance Cycle Procedures

The Finance Cycle includes such processes as raising debt and equity capital, working with leases, mechant accounts, and foreign exchange.  There are 12 accounting procedures in the CFO series that address key elements of the finance cycle:

1. Capital Plan
2. Valuation
3. Bank Loans
4. Stock Offerings
5. Debt and Investment
6. Leasing Procedure
7. Working Capital
8. Cash Management
9. Foreign Exchange Management
10. Managing Bank Relationships
11. Merchant Accounts
12. Letters of Credit

Financial Reporting Cycle Procedures

The Financial Reporting Cycle contains 18 accounting procedures for management reports, stockholder reports, and financial statement reporting.  All companies have financial reporting obligations to their shareholders, investors, and regulators, making this a key accounting cycle:

1. Chart of Accounts
2. Bank Account Reconciliations
3. Management Reports
4. Period-End Review & Closing
5. Taxes And Insurance
6. Property Tax Assessments
7. Confidential Information Release
8. Files And Records Management
9. Fixed Asset Capitalization & Depreciation
10. Annual Stockholders’ Meetings
11. Board of Directors’ Meetings
12. Financial Forecasting
13. Financial Reporting
14. Financial Statement Analysis
15. Financial Management Review
16. Financial Restatements
17. Financial Information Release
18. Related Party Transactions

Strategic Planning Cycle Procedures

The Strategic Planning Cycle addresses management responsibilities, various forms of risk assessment, continuity, and compliance.  There are 13 accounting procedures in the CFO Accounting Policies-Procedures set of manuals that support this accounting cycle:

1. Business Plan
2. Risk Assessment
3. Risk Management
4. Financial Objectives
5. Management Responsibility
6. Continuity Planning
7. Document Control
8. Record Control
9. IT Threat And Risk Assessment
10. IT Security Plan
11. IT Disaster Recovery
12. Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance
13. SAS 70 Compliance

Accounting Payroll Cycle Procedures

The Payroll Cycle addresses benefits, compliance, and employee performance appraisals.  There are 9 accounting procedures available to you that are included in the Payroll cycle:

1. Payroll
2. Paid and Unpaid Leave
3. Insurance Benefits
4. Healthcare Benefits
5. Compliance Posting Requirements
6. Employee Performance Appraisals
7. Employee Retirement Income Security (ERISA)
8. Consolidated Budget Reconciliation (COBRA)
9. Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)

Information Integrity Cycle Procedures

The Information Integrity Cycle is a key part of the accounting-IT interaction.  Key procedures in this cycle include computer and Internat usage, IT access control, IT management, and IT incident handling.  There are 9 accounting procedures addressing this important accounting cycle:

1. E-Mail Policy
2. Computer and Internet Usage Policy
3. Information Technology Management
4. IT Records Management
5. IT Document Management
6. Computer Malware
7. IT Access Control
8. IT Security Audits
9. IT Incident Handling

CFO Accounting Policies Procedures Manuals

In all, there are over 200 prewritten accounting procedures and nearly 400 accounting forms organized within the five functional business manuals of the CFO Accounting Policies and Procedures Manuals series.  Each procedure and form is available in Microsoft Word, so they can be customized to reflect the accounting processes at your company.

As the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of your company, you are responsible to the company’s Board of Directors for all accounting and financial matters.  You must establish company-wide objectives, policies, procedures, processes, programs, and practices to assure the company of a continuously sound financial accounting structure.

1. Cash Flow.  As a new CFO, your job is to control the cash flow position throughout the company, understand the sources and uses of cash,  and maintain the integrity of funds, securities and other valuable documents. You receive, have custody of, and disburse the company’s monies and securities. New CFO responsibility includes the authority to establish accounting policies and procedures for credit and collections, purchasing, payment of bills, and other financial obligations.  Cash is king and the flow of cash, or cash flow, is the most important job a new CFO has in any company.
2. Company Liabilities.  After cash flow, the new CFO must understand all of the company’s liabilities.  A company has many legal contracts, statutory & tax obligations, hidden liabilities in the form of contingencies, leases, or insurance summaries, and expectations from loan covenants and/or the board of directors.  As a new CFO, if you’re not watching out for the liabilities, who is?
3. Company Performance.  The new CFO must understand the company business model for generating customer value and translate the operational metrics into measures for performance.  The new CFO is the company scorekeeper using tools like the balanced scorecard, dashboards, and financial statement ratio analysis to communicate both the company’s expected and actual financial performance.
4. Department Supervision.  In a small organization, the CFO is the supervisor of Accounting, Finance, HR, and IT.  In a larger company, the CFO may only be responsible for the Accounting and Finance functions.  Either way, the new CFO supports the company’s accounting and financial functions using job descriptions, policies, and procedures, and methods for automating document control.
5. Budgeting and Expense Control.  Budgets are a fact of life, and the new CFO is responsible for overseeing the budget process, collecting the inputs, and comparing the company’s actual performance with estimates (the budget).  It is an ugly process that falls within the CFO area of control.
6. Financial Relationships.  As a new CFO, you establish and maintain lines of communication with investment bankers, financial analysts, and shareholders in conjunction with the President.  You administer banking arrangements and loan agreements and maintain adequate sources of capital for the company’s current borrowings from commercial banks and other lending institutions. In addition, you invest the company’s funds and administer incentive stock option plans.
7. Finance or Raising Capital.  You would think that finance is one of the key roles of the Chief Financial Officer.  Yes, it is important, but it comes after other more pressing operational issues, like those listed above.  The new CFO will establish and execute programs for the provision of capital required by the company, including negotiating the procurement of debt and equity capital and maintaining the required financial arrangements.  As the new CFO, you’ll coordinate the long-range plans of the company, assess the financial requirements implicit in these plans, and develop alternative ways in which financial requirements can be satisfied.
8. Financial Obligations.  As the new CFO, you need to approve all agreements concerning financial obligations, such as contracts for raw materials, IT assets, and services, and other actions requiring a commitment of financial resources.
9. Record Control.  The new CFO is responsible for the financial aspects of all company transactions including real estate bids, contracts, and leases.  The CFO also provides insurance coverage, as required, ensures the maintenance of appropriate financial records, prepares required financial reports, insures audits are completed in time and statutory book closing occur.  The CFO has primary responsibility for ensuring company compliance with financial regulations and standards, like Sarbanes-Oxley, the IRS Tax Code, and GAAP (and soon, IFRS).
10. Shareholder Relations.  A new CFO analyzes company shareholder relations policies, procedures, and information programs, including the annual and interim reports to shareholders and the Board of Directors, as well as recommends to the President new or revised policies, procedures, or programs when needed.

The Top Ten Responsibilities for the New CFO:

1. Cash Flow
2. Company Liabilities
3. Company Performance
4. Department Supervision
5. Budgeting and Expense Control
6. Financial Relationships
7. Finance or Raising Capital
8. Financial Obligations
9. Record Control
10. Shareholder Relations

As a new CFO, sample accounting policies and procedures are be helpful to serve as a model, or framework, for your own accounting policies and procedures.  Save time.  The CFO Accounting Policies and Procedures Manuals set contains 239 procedures you can use to address the ten accounting cycles within your responsibility.  And now, Bizmanualz NEW OnPolicy software application can help you automate your document control process to easily maintain your conformance to critical compliance standards like Sarbanes-Oxley, ISO, ITIL, CoBit, FDA, or JCAHO.  Sign up for a free software trial today.

When you think of accounting, do you think of accounts receivable, accounts payable, revenue recognition, and depreciation?  What about banking, cash flow, and financial statements?  Or tax accounting, costing, compliance, assets, and auditing?

The term “accounting” encompasses an enormous wealth of information, much more than the traditional “dollars and cents” we all think of.  It includes areas ranging from human resources (payroll, benefits, etc.) to computer information integrity.  So, since procedures on counting income and expenses are only a part of what makes up accounting, what do you include when you are designing an accounting policies and procedures manual?

The accounting area can be broken down into ten core cycles — these cycles make up the accounting body of knowledge.  Each cycle focuses on a key element of business accounting and, therefore, should be covered in your company’s business accounting policies and procedures manual.

1. Revenue Cycle Procedures

The first — and what business owners would consider the most important — business process is the revenue or sales cycle. Revenue is the lifeblood of any business. Once sales has obtained an order, the order must be “booked” into the accounting system, triggering your credit, fulfillment, and accounts receivable (or collections) processes. Example procedures for the revenue cycle can be found in the Bizmanualz Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual.

2. Cash Disbursement Cycle Procedures

The second most important cycle deals with how you manage your cash expenses. We’re talking about your purchasing, receiving, accounts payable, and administrative expense processes. Once you receive cash from your customers (revenue cycle), you must spend less than you receive to maintain a positive cash flow and stay in business. Sample cash disbursement cycle procedures can also be found in the Bizmanualz Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual.

3. Production Cycle Procedures

With the two key accounting cycles (making money and spending it) covered, the remainder of your accounting manual is devoted to accounting support processes. The production cycle is the most critical to your business — if you don’t have a product or service to sell, the first two cycles are immaterial, aren’t they?

The production cycle introduces issues such as managing raw materials, Work In Process (WIP), finished goods inventory, product release, and shipping. Example procedures for the production cycle can be found in the Bizmanualz Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual.

4. Financial Reporting Cycle Procedures

In the first three cycles, you took orders, purchased materials, made products and/or services, delivered products, billed customers, and now you must report your results. The financial reporting cycle includes budgeting and forecasting what you might need, reporting what you sold, financial analysis (to see if you’re making a profit, to spot trends, etc.), and management reviews with key stakeholders (the Board of Directors, your shareholders, government agencies, etc.) to discuss how well the plan is going.

Example of procedures for the financial reporting cycle can be found in the Bizmanualz Financial Policies and Procedures Manual. Notice we’ve switched manuals, going into the financial area of accounting.

5. Finance Cycle Procedures

The finance cycle is about raising capital and managing the capital you have. You might need debt or equity capital to finance your business. Either way, you’ll need a process to acquire and manage that cash.  And, if you have a lot of cash moving through your business, you’ll need some form of treasury management (i.e., how to invest or “park” your cash). Sample procedures for the finance cycle are in the Bizmanualz Financial Policies and Procedures Manual.

6. Asset Cycle Procedures

What business does not have assets?  If you have one or more computers, production machinery, or office furniture, you have assets. Your assets require processes for depreciation, inventory management, asset acquisition and asset disposition or disposal.

Since there are laws and standards (e.g., IRS, IFRS, GAAP) that must be observed, it is important that you have asset cycle processes. Example procedures for asset cycle processes are in the Bizmanualz Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual.

7. Internal Audit Cycle Procedures

Publicly traded companies and businesses with significant debt or equity require internal auditing. Your internal audit process consists of audit planning, conducting the audit, audit reporting, and audit follow-up. Sample procedures for the internal audit cycle are in the Bizmanualz Financial Policies and Procedures Manual.

8. Strategic Planning Cycle Procedures

If you have cash, assets, compliance, and stakeholders of any kind, you need a strategic planning process. Business planning is just that — a planning process necessitating a business plan.  The company business plan takes into account how to prepare for compliance (with SOX, SAS 70, etc.), standards and guidelines (e.g., GAAP, IFRS), and Board and stockholders’ meetings. Examples of procedures for the strategic planning cycle are in the Bizmanualz Financial Policies and Procedures Manual.

9. Payroll Cycle Procedures

The payroll process focuses on administrating compensation, benefits, and personnel compliance.  How do you comply with an alphabet soup of government acts (including EEO, FMLA, FLSA, EPPA, OSHA, ADA, ERISA, FICA, FUTA, IRCA, ADEA, HIPAA, IRS, WARN, and others)?

This may not sound like traditional accounting, but the accounting department is involved with compliance by virtue of its role as the financial gatekeeper and financial reporting contact. Samples of procedures for the payroll cycle are in the Bizmanualz Human Resources Policies and Procedures Manual.

10. Information Integrity Cycle Procedures

Today, all accounting transactions are performed on computers, across networks, and using IT assets.  Information integrity — specifically, security, timeliness, and accuracy — is critical to accounting, and to the business. Now it may not be accounting’s primary job to manage all IT assets, but accounting cannot shy away from its duty to ensure the integrity of computer and IT management, IT security, IT disaster recovery, and IT internal controls. Samples of procedures for the information integrity cycle are in the Bizmanualz Computer and IT Policies and Procedures Manual.

Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Cycle

Since the late 1990′s, there has been an increased focus on effective internal controls, adding, in effect, a new requirement — or 11^th cycle — Sarbanes-Oxley (or SOX) compliance.  The SOX cycle is about compliance planning, understanding your audit responsibilities, and demonstrating the effectiveness of your firm’s internal controls with respect to accounting. Example procedures for The Sarbanes Oxley compliance cycle are in the Bizmanualz Financial Policies and Procedures Manual.

There you have it!  Ten core accounting policies and procedures areas — plus Sarbanes-Oxley — that you should include in your accounting procedures manual.

We mentioned four key Bizmanualz products: Accounting; Finance; Human Resources; and Computer & IT. If you purchased these separately, they’d cost $2,280…but all of these accounting cycles and their associated procedures are included in the CFO Accounting Procedures Series for only $1,995!  Plus, you receive the Bizmanualz Business Policies and Procedures Manual for free when you purchase the bundle!  The Business Procedures Manual includes 111 additional business procedures for many general business areas.

Accounting Processes Policies Procedures

To truly implement a complete business accounting policies and procedures manual, you will need to include topics from Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, and Computer & IT  areas of the Bizmanualz product line.  Fortunately, you can obtain all four manuals and save 33% in one easy bundle – the CFO Accounting Procedures Series. It covers all ten areas of accounting plus the Sarbanes Oxley compliance process and — as an added bonus — you receive the Business Procedures Manual at no additional cost!  Try a free sample download.  Judge for yourself.

The Top Ten Accounting Policies and Procedures

1. Revenue Cycle
2. Cash Disbursement Cycle
3. Production Cycle
4. Financial Reporting Cycle
5. Finance Cycle
6. Asset Cycle
7. Internal Audit Cycle
8. Strategic Planning Cycle
9. Payroll Cycle
10. Information Integrity Cycle
    PLUS (for public companies) Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Cycle

Bizmanualz received an inquiry this week from a reader about implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for a retail hardware store.  Specific areas of interest include the sales floor, warehouse, delivery, and retrieval of inventory.

While responding to this inquiry, I realized we might make it easier for some of our customers to select their Bizmanualz products by industry application: by identifying the core processes that drive each type of business, Bizmanualz can recommend specific policies and procedures that address to those processes.

We can help our customers by sharing what we know about how and when our procedures are used.  Today, I’ll share with you our response to the hardware retailer:

What About Sales Floor Procedures?

In section 430 of our Accounting Policies and Procedures manual (Revenue Procedures), the following procedures apply to their situation:

• REV101, Sales Order Entry
• REV102, Point-Of-Sale Orders
• REV104, Sales Order Acceptance
• REV107, Sales Tax Collection

What About Warehouse Procedures?

In section 440 of the Accounting Procedures manual (Purchasing), these procedures apply:

• PUR101, Vendor Selection
• PUR102, General Purchasing
• PUR104, Receiving and Inspection

Delivery Procedures?

Also in section 440 of the Accounting manual, we have:

• PUR105, Shipping and Freight Claims

Inventory Procedures?

In section 420, Inventory & Asset Procedures, we offer:

• INV101, Inventory Control
• INV102, Inventory Counts
• INV103, Fixed Asset Control
• INV105, Fixed Asset Capitalization & Depreciation

In addition to the processes the retailer asked about, we suggested he consider using procedures from section 410 (Cash) to address acceptance of payment from customers:

• CSH101, Cash Drawers And Credit Cards
• CSH102, Cash Receipts And Deposits
• CSH103, Problem Checks
• CSH107, Bank Account Reconciliations

The Bizmanualz “Accounting Policies, Procedures, and Forms” manual contains all of the procedures mentioned above — and much more — and sells for $595. It’s available on our web site. As the hardware store retailer suggested, “Why reinvent the wheel?”

Our Bizmanualz Customer Service specialist suggested our Business Sampler volume, which sells for $695.  The Business Sampler includes procedures, by category, that complement the Accounting processes/procedures — Human Resources, Sales and Marketing, Shipping, Security, Computers and Networks, and other operational and support areas.

See Chris Anderson’s article this week on the top ten business processes.  It relates processes to procedures in our lineup of manuals, helping you select the right products for your needs.

Stay tuned for more articles that will help you pick the right product to accomplish the process and procedure job at hand.

You have decided you need policies and procedures, but which business policies and procedures do you need?  Assess the business impact of each of your core business processes to generating revenue or introducing risk and then rank the results.  Core business processes that greatly impact your revenue or risk are where you want to start.

The Bizmanualz CEO Company Policies Procedures Manuals are designed with your core business processes in mind.  The nine business procedures manuals in the series provide your entire company with examples of the primary procedures used in writing your company procedure manuals.  How do the nine procedure manuals address the core business processes?

1. Customer Strategy & Relationships (Marketing) is a good place to start.  Most businesses talk about the customer being the most important part of any business.  Well, if your customer is so critical, have you mapped out a clear customer strategy and customer relationship process?  Do you have customer strategy procedures for developing awareness and education of your business in the marketplace?  The Bizmanualz Sales and Marketing Policies and Procedures Manual provides sample policies and procedures to help you set marketing strategy, marketing tactics, and marketing planning to cover the first part of your marketing sales funnel — awareness and education.

2. Employee Development & Satisfaction is essential to your business because your employees are the ones that talk to and develop your customers.  The Bizmanualz Human Resources Procedures Manual provides example procedures for hiring, administration (e.g., personnel records, compliance), compensation, and — the most important part – developing your employees.

The HR manual also includes a sample Employee Handbook and an HR Manager’s manual to provide a complete discussion of human resources.  Keeping employees and facilities safe is the focus of the Bizmanualz Security Procedures Manual, which includes coverage of guard force management, employee conduct, emergency operations, protection, and safety.

3. Quality, Process Improvement & Change Management is driven by competition, your desire to excel at what you do and make your customers happy.  The Bizmanualz ISO 9001 QMS Procedures Manual provides a sample quality manual, the six quality procedures required by ISO 9001, and additional supporting procedures to provide a foundation for your process improvement and change management initiatives.

4. Financial Analysis, Reporting, & Capital Management is critical to fast growth companies.  Cash is the lifeblood of your company and a fast growth company consumes cash quickly.  The Bizmanualz Financial Procedures Manual has example procedures for financial administration, raising capital, managing capital, financial statement reporting, and the internal controls necessary in a fast growth company.  A controllers manual is included to provide the direction and organization for controlling your company cash.

5. Management Responsibility addresses all of your core business processes and is integral to every area of your company.  Every manual in the “CEO Company Policies Procedures Manuals” covers the management of that departmental area.  Each manual provides a departmental (functional) manager’s manual that describes the departmental organization structure, major responsibilities, departmental guidelines, ethics, policies, and – of course – the primary business processes for that department.  The Bizmanualz Business Procedures Manual provides a simple, fast, and easy way to provide immediate oversight for all of your operations.

6. Customer Acquisition (Sales) is about engaging the customer and closing the sale.  The Bizmanualz Sales and Marketing Procedure Manual contains procedures for the entire sales funnel, sales process, sales administration and sales management common to organizations that have to oversee a sales force.  The Bizmanualz Accounting Procedures Manual contains procedures for controlling cash and the revenue cycle, which is a parallel and supporting activity to the sales process.

7. Product Development must obtain requirements from sales and develop products that satisfy the customer.  Therefore, product development procedures are found in both the Bizmanualz Sales and Marketing Procedure Manual and the Bizmanualz ISO 9001 QMS Procedures Manual, which contains procedures for customer requirements, as well as the design and development of new products.

8. Product/Service Delivery The Bizmanualz Accounting Procedures Manual contains procedures for shipping, receiving, and inventory control.  But since delivery is part of ISO and quality, the Bizmanualz ISO 9001 QMS Procedures Manual also provides coverage of this critical customer facing area.

9. Accounting Management is about accounting transaction management, as opposed to finance which is focused more on raising, managing, and using cash effectively.  The Bizmanualz Accounting Procedures Manual focus is on controlling operating cash receipts, cash disbursements, inventory and assets, the revenue cycle, and general accounting administration.

10. Technology Management is about all of the technology in your company.  The Bizmanualz Computer, Network and IT Procedures Manual contains procedures for IT administration, IT asset management, IT training, technical support, IT security, IT disaster recovery, and software development.  More in-depth continuity planning coverage is provided with the Bizmanualz Disaster Recovery Procedures Manual.

Business Process Policies Procedures

The Bizmanualz CEO Company Policies Procedures Manuals collection is the best overall deal — you save 45% when you buy the set, compared with purchasing all nine manuals individually.  The series covers all of the core business processes in one simple bundle.  It includes manuals for:

• Financial Policies and Procedures
• Accounting Policies and Procedures
• Computer & IT Policies and Procedures
• Human Resources Policies and Procedures
• Sales & Marketing Policies and Procedures
• ISO 9001 Quality Policies and Procedures
• Security & Disaster Policies and Procedures
• Business Policies and Procedures Sampler

Every critical area of your company is now covered with the Bizmanualz CEO Company Policies Procedures Manuals set.  Coverage is now easily at hand for Accounting, Administration, Customer Service, Disaster Management, Engineering, Environmental Management, Finance & Credit, Information Technology, Manufacturing, Personnel, Sales & Marketing, Security Operations, Shipping, Purchasing, Inventory, and ISO 9001 conformance.