Accounting Best Practices, Fifth Edition

Total Impact of Best Practices on General Accounting Functions

This section covers the impact of the best practices described in this chapter on the general administration of the accounting department.

Accounting processes attract most of the attention in this chapter, since there are best practices here for outsourcing some processes, using process-centering in other cases, and consolidating others. They are noted in Exhibit 13.9. The manner in which these best practices should be installed is that all outsourcing opportunities should be identified and completed first, followed by any needed consolidation of activities into the smallest number of locations. By taking these steps first, a company does not waste time reviewing existing processes that are about to be eliminated or moved elsewhere. After these tasks are completed, it is time to conduct a thorough review of all processes, increase the number of process tasks assigned to individual employees (i.e., process-centering), and then set up a continual process review system to constantly analyze them for further improvements. By taking this approach, one can achieve a remarkable improvement in the efficiency of all accounting processes.

Exhibit 13.9. Impact of Best Practices on General Accounting Functions

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There are also several best practices related to accounting personnel, which involve training and ...