A common challenge for the controller role is in closing the month-end and period-end books in preparation to issue financial statements. This duty requires precision, timing and efficiency.
In today’s digital world, many organizations have access to financial accounting software that will assist with the steps in the financial close. However, even with this aid it is critical the accountant understand the various steps for the close process and how they inter-relate to other accounting processes. This course gives you an insight into the inter-relationships between many processes that impact the financial close.
The closing process has traditionally been a slow one with many companies taking two weeks to close its subsidiary’s books and another two to three weeks to roll up and consolidated the results. With the introduction of technology much has been done to help accelerate that process with integrated enterprise resource planning systems and general ledger and consolidate software.
Within this segment we will discuss the elements of the financial close and also important concepts to assist the controller in accelerating their close timeline. This includes addressing all functional areas of the close including payroll, invoicing, payables, inventory, cash, and the general ledger. We will also discuss important concepts of ensuring your financial close is accurate by discussing bank reconciliations, overhead allocations, bad debt reserves, unpaid wages and accruals for vacation time, account reconciliations, deprecation and overall financial statement review.
Note: This course does not address utilizing technology in the financial close. Its focus is to understand the varied procedures involved in the financial close whether or not technology is utilized.
DESIGNED FOR
Industry and Public Accountants
BENEFITS
- Understand the AICPA's clarified risk assessment standards and their importance in the auditing process.
- Familiarize oneself with the key components of the new Statement on Auditing Standard (SAS 145) related to understanding the entity, the entity's environment, the entity's internal controls, and assessing the risks of material misstatement.
- Develop an understanding of the relationship between audit risk assessment and the overall audit strategy.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Overview of Audit Risk Assessment
- AICPA's clarified Risk Assessment Standards
- SAS 145
- Assessing the Entity's Environment
PREREQUISITES
None
ADVANCE PREPARATION
None