It’s been at least three decades — probably more — since everyone began talking about the coming of the “paperless” office. Personal computers arrived about 30 years ago, which were soon followed by networking, the public Internet, and wireless computing. Yet we are still not paperless. In fact, now that we have inexpensive laser printers and digital copiers, we have more paper than ever in the office. Why? Whatever happened to the promise of the paperless office?
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: August 30th, 2010
Categories: Business Management & Operations, document management software, policy procedure software
Are great quarterbacks born as great football players or did they have to learn how to play football? Great players practice all week for the game on Sunday. But what do they practice? They are already great. They practices plays — football procedures.
In business, employees are expected to perform their job all day long. But how much time is allocated to practicing their job?
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: August 12th, 2010
Categories: Business Management & Operations, Writing Policies and Procedures
In a recent article, we briefly discussed external financial reports in terms of the audience, or specific users of company information. Generally, one of the most important users in the USA is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), followed by various state and local taxing authorities. Required income tax returns can be prepared more easily from financial reports that are classified in a comparable manner. A tax practitioner is usually retained to prepare and file these returns. The reports most commonly requested of the company are the general ledger and related financial statements.
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: June 30th, 2010
Categories: Accounting Manuals, Accounting Procedures Manuals, Financial Internal Audit
The economy is said to be improving. Though they’ve had their ups and downs, the Dow, NASDAQ, and other market indexes are up from a year ago. The housing market may have also hit bottom.
One indicator that doesn’t bode well, however, is the unemployment rate. Firms still aren’t hiring. They’re getting by with what — or whom — they have. What does this mean for the currently employed? It means we’re expected to be more efficient…more productive. “We’ve go to do more with less!”, we so often hear it. This is frustrating for both sides. Employees are trying their hardest, in virtually all cases. And, employers want to keep growing.
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Author: Steve Flick Published on: June 28th, 2010
Categories: Business Management & Operations
Accounting Basics
Three important terms are easily confused. They are: Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Reporting. What are they, how do they interrelate, and how do they interface with accounting policies and procedures? First, let’s define the terms.
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: June 26th, 2010
Categories: Accounting & Internal Control, Accounting Procedures Manuals
Accounting methods and accounting standards are typically defined within your accounting manual, a key component of your accounting system. Your accounting manual defines your policies, procedures, and internal controls for Sarbanes Oxley and other compliance needs. There are two main accounting methods: accrual and cash.
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: June 22nd, 2010
Categories: Accounting & Internal Control, Accounting Manuals, Accounting Policies, Accounting Procedures Manuals, Internal Control, Sarbanes Oxley - SOX
The financial transactions of any accounting system can be grouped into four major accounting cycles: Revenue, Purchase, Payroll, and General Journal.
Four Main Accounting Cycles
Accounting transactions in the form of sales invoices, receipts, purchase invoices, checks, and payroll entries are posted to the appropriate journals. Simultaneously — as a form of internal control — these postings are recorded in the general ledger, or “GL”. The GL accumulates all transaction activity, where it is organized by account class.
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: June 17th, 2010
Categories: Accounting & Internal Control, Accounting Procedures Manuals, Writing Policies and Procedures
How familiar are you with the accounting rules and concepts utilized by accounting software systems? If you were more confident with the information generated by your accounting program, would it help you to use it more effectively to run your company? More importantly, do you understand how your Accounting Policies and Procedures integrate with the accounting rules and concepts to produce the internal controls you need?
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: June 15th, 2010
Categories: Accounting & Internal Control, Accounting Procedures Manuals
In part 1 of this two-part series, we discussed three important reasons why quality management systems (QMS) projects fail. Here are four other reasons:
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Author: Steve Flick Published on: April 19th, 2010
Categories: Business Process Improvement, ISO Quality Management, Process Management
Policy management provides the foundation for your Governance, Risk management, and Compliance (GRC) program. Business governance is about directing and controlling your organization. Risk management is how you handle the various risks to your company — whether you eliminate, mitigate, or accept them.
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: April 14th, 2010
Categories: Accounting & Internal Control, Internal Control, policy procedure software
