It’s time to start thinking about the importance of the accounting department. Accounting plays a critical role in running your agency. This document by Grace Bauer will help you cover all of your accounting bases.
WHY DOCUMENT?
Most agencies only have one or two accounting employees, one of whom is usually more knowledgeable than the other. What would happen if that employee were gone for several weeks? How would the agency function? Document procedures and be prepared if that precious employee leaves the agency. Write those procedures down today.
Be prepared now in the event that an accounting employee leaves the agency. Be prepared now by having accounting staff develop outlines and written procedures as a backup. Be prepared now to make sure the accounting employee backup is effective. Don’t wait until your agency suffers an accounting catastrophe.
THE OUTLINE
The easiest way to develop an outline is to have the accounting staff write every single thing they do on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis. Here’s an outline of the major areas:
- Account Current
- Account Discrepancies
- Accounting Service
- Account Reconciliation
- Accounts Payable
- Bank Statement Reconciliation
- Chart of Accounts
- Commissions
- Deposits
- Direct Bill
- Journal Entries
- Money
- Month End
- Payroll
- Reports
- Statements
- Taxes
- Year End
Have accounting employees expand from these major areas into sub-areas, and then use this list to develop procedures for the accounting department.
THE DOCUMENTATION
Make sure that accounting personnel document all procedures. In 99.9% of the agencies with whom I’ve worked, the accounting employees are always excellent in documenting thorough and detailed backup procedures. Unfortunately, every once in a while, you’ll find an accounting employee who simply refuses to give up the security of being the only individual in the agency who’s familiar with accounting. This situation can create a problem.
THE BACKUP
Is the employee accounting backup in your agency effective? Check it out. Most agencies find that the backup accounting employee can’t carry out every responsibility of the primary employee. Believe it or not, some agencies designate the principal as the backup accountant even though they probably haven’t done accounting work for years. Make sure to designate a true accounting employee backup today.
CONCLUSION
Document accounting procedures before that one critical accounting employee leaves or needs to take a few weeks off. Develop an outline, have accounting employees list sub-areas, and document detailed procedures. Remember, most accounting employees will develop detailed, easy-to-understand procedures; however, unfortunately, there might be that one employee who just doesn’t want to give up their job security. Finally, make sure that your backup accounting employee has the training and experience to cover the primary accountant.
Act now! Don’t wait until your agency suffers an accounting disaster.