Fast Close

Written for controllers, CFOs, accounting managers, and business managers, Fast Close incorporates Steven Bragg’s own personally tested guidelines to help professionals speed up the closing process, especially in response to Sarbanes-Oxley’s more time-sensitive requirements. Bragg outlines numerous key improvements that, when gradually implemented together, are guaranteed to shrink the closing process down to as little as one day. Chock-full of helpful flowcharts and checklists to help readers prevent delays and bring accounting department closing procedures up to date, Fast Close explores specific instructions for closing faster, common areas of delay and how to overcome them, required controls to keep financials accurate despite the fast close, and much more. Create financial statements faster . . . much faster . . . with the expert guidance found in Steven Bragg’s Fast Close.

This publication focuses on the critical methods that can be used to dramatically improve the fiscal closing process. The Record to Report (R2R) or Fiscal Closing Process is at the core of the controllership function. The process includes transaction processing, internal and external reporting, and the internal controls—the people, processes, and technology—that constitute the corporate organizational hierarchy. CFOs, controllers, and corporate finance departments require timely, accurate, and consistent data to make appropriate operational and strategic decisions and fulfill statutory, regulatory, and compliance requirements with accurate and timely data. The Fast Close Toolkit offers both strategic and tactical suggestions that can significantly improve the fiscal closing process and provides guidance on new legislation requirements, systems and best practice processes. Checklists, templates, process narratives, and sample policies are provided for every component of the fiscal close. Investors and shareholders expect fast and easy access to the data created by current business activities in the information-driven digital age. The Fast Close Toolkit provides the necessary tools and expert advice to improve the fiscal closing process. Authoritative and up to date, this book: Identifies the bottlenecks that can impact the and improvethe fiscal close process and provides best practices to help alleviate these challenges Defines the Record to Report (R2R) and recommends the roles and responsibilities for fiscal close processes flow Offers the internal controls to use for the end-to-end fiscal close process Describes approaches for risk management, R2R, and fiscal close benchmarking Identifies KPIs for all aspects of the R2R process Provides the mechanism for developing a financial close scorecard Recommends leading practices for both external and internal reporting Provides guidance on how strategic planning, the budget and forecast processes can be streamlined to enhance the fiscal close and internal reporting results Written by a respected expert on internal controls and the fiscal closing process, The Fast Close Toolkit is a valuable source of information for professionals involved in controllership and have responsibility for the fiscal close.

Praise for Fast Close: A Guide to Closing the Books Quickly "Steve captures the essence of the problems affecting the financial close process within corporations of all sizes; from the period close of subledgers and general ledger through financial reporting, and the relationship and interdependencies of governance, people and technology. A must-read for the corporate controller." —David Taylor, ACMA, MBA, VP Strategy, Trintech Inc. "Fast Close: A Guide to Closing the Books Quickly, Second Edition is a must-read for today's busy controllers. Steven Bragg points out everything that can be done outside the close that you just never realized didn't actually have to be part of the month-end close process! Very commonsensical approach!" —Kathleen Schneibel, mba, cpa, Controller/CFO for Hire, KMAS Consulting LLC "A well-executed 'fast close' can bring many valuable benefits to any company, from improving organizational performance to transforming accounting executives from financial historians to trusted advisors. In Fast Close, Second Edition, Steve systematically breaks down the steps required to achieve a fast close in both public and private companies, providing financial executives with tips, checklists, and a cost-effective road map to implement fast close procedures in virtually any company." —Matthew Posta, Esq., CPA, Vice President of Finance, Key Air, LLC FROM THE FIRST EDITION "This is an outstanding book in which Steve reveals his secrets to a fast close. Having personally experienced his (one-day) fast close for years and enjoyed the beneficial impact on my company, I highly recommend this book for all financial officers who desire to have a large, favorable impact on their company." —Richard V. Souders, President and CEO, Kaba Workforce Solutions