Steven M Bragg

This book shows the accountant how to deal with the unique aspects of accounting and finance in a publicly-held business. These issues are significantly different from those encountered in a private company, so this book can be crucial for the accountant who is making the transition from private to public companies. Topics covered include earnings per share, segment reporting, and Staff Accounting Bulletins, as well as quarterly and annual reporting to the SEC. In addition, the book addresses initial public offerings, registration statements, and selling shares under various SEC exemptions.

A business may need a well-defined budgeting process in order to estimate its future financial situation and arrange for appropriate amounts of financing and personnel. Budgeting: A Comprehensive Guide provides clarity to the process by showing how to assemble a complete set of budgets, as well as supporting procedures, controls, and reports. It also addresses several variations on the basic budgeting concept - the flexible budget and the zero-base budget. And for those organizations that prefer to operate without the rigidity of a formal budget, the book discusses how to do so. In short, Budgeting provides the complete toolkit of solutions for building a tailor-made budgeting system.

Health care is one of the largest industries in the world, and involves some of the most complex accounting transactions. Given the financial challenges facing the industry, it is essential for the health care accountant to have a firm grasp of financial accounting. This book discusses the accounting and financial reporting issues related to hospitals, medical group practices, nursing homes, and other health care entities. The book covers the basic system of accounting, financial reporting, and many practical topics for the accountant, including revenue recognition, payroll accounting, fixed asset accounting, debt liabilities, and more.

The accountant needs to be competent in many areas in order to be an effective controller - the person responsible for all accounting operations. The New Controller Guidebook covers every aspect of being a controller, including the management of accounts payable, cash, credit, collections, inventory, payroll, and more. The book also shows you how to close the books, which reports to issue to the management team, how to create a budget, and how to select and install an accounting computer system. In short, this book provides the accountant with the most essential information needed to be a successful controller.

The accountant is responsible for many activities, which may require years of training and experience to fully comprehend. The breadth of knowledge required can seem overwhelming. The Accountants' Guidebook is designed to simplify matters by providing the accountant with a practical knowledge of how to complete many accounting tasks, while also imparting an understanding of the more critical accounting standards. Topics covered include accounting procedures, GAAP for common transactions, closing the books, producing financial statements and other reports, collection tactics, payroll management, budgeting, and much more. In short, this is the essential desk reference for the accountant.

This practical guide shows how to create and operate a nonprofit accounting system and produce financial statements, all while operating in accordance with nonprofit accounting standards. The book walks the accountant through basic nonprofit accounting concepts and then discusses more advanced topics, including budgeting, controls, revenue recognition, joint costs, split-interest agreements, tax reporting, and mergers and acquisitions. In short, the book offers a wealth of information for understanding nonprofit transactions and financial statements.

A public company should communicate with the investment community, to clarify how it creates value and to set expectations for its performance. The Investor Relations Guidebook is a valuable resource for dealing with investors. It delves into the construction of a value proposition for a business and how to communicate it to investors, as well as how to conduct an earnings call and provide guidance. The book also describes the various types of SEC filings, how to organize an annual shareholder meeting, the mechanics of road shows, and the steps involved in an initial public offering. In short, the Investor Relations Guidebook is the go-to resource for anyone wanting to engage in investor relations.

The performance of a business can be greatly improved by closely managing a few key bottlenecks (constraints) within the organization. Constraint Management is a valuable resource for locating and managing these constraints. It does so by describing the impact of constraints and how they can be managed to optimize profitability. The text includes discussions of where the constraint may be located, how constraint analysis compares to traditional cost accounting, and how to design measurement, reporting, and control systems around a constraint. There is also extensive treatment of financial modeling around constraints, as well as how to develop constraint-based strategies. In short, this book is an invaluable guide to enhancing the performance and earnings of your business.

The Lean Accounting Guidebook shows the accountant how to save money and minimize errors by streamlining the accounting department. It does so by describing more than 150 improvement tips for billing, collections, cost accounting, fixed assets, payables, payroll, and more. The accountant can use such tools as value stream mapping, flowcharting, traffic analysis, and measurement systems to decide which improvements would be the most useful to install. In short, this book provides the accountant with a complete toolkit of improvement solutions.

Agricultural Accounting addresses every aspect of the accounting that one might encounter in a farm, ranch, or related business. The intent is to not only explain accounting concepts, but also to provide examples and show how an accounting system can be constructed and operated. The book pays particular attention to unique aspects of agricultural accounting that are not encountered in other industries, including special valuation rules for inventory, hedging transactions, dealing with cooperatives, and recording non-current farm assets. In short, this book is an essential desk reference for anyone engaged in agricultural operations.

Inventory is expensive and difficult to manage, and yet is an essential requirement for providing great service to customers. Inventory Management provides the tools to retain enough inventory to assure high levels of customer service, while avoiding excessive inventory levels that can absorb cash and generate losses. Topics covered include inventory policies, materials planning, purchasing and the supply chain, receiving, storage, shipping, production activities, record accuracy, warehousing efficiencies, measurements, and much more. This book covers a mix of classic and advanced management techniques to help the user maintain firm control over the mix and amount of inventory kept on hand.

This book shows how to maximize the benefits to be gained from an acquisition, while reducing the risk of failure. It does so by discussing the strategies that are most successful for buyers, the steps and pitfalls in the acquisition process, how to gain government approval of an acquisition, and how to conduct a sufficiently detailed due diligence investigation. The book goes on to address those legal structures that are most beneficial from a tax perspective, how to develop a sensible purchase price, and how to engage in a seamless operational integration.

A thorough knowledge of finance is needed in order to successfully operate a business of any size. Corporate Finance concentrates on the finance essentials needed to run a business, including fund raising, internal cash management, and the deployment of funds to dividends, capital expenditures, investments, and acquisitions. It addresses such core issues as how to develop an appropriate capital structure and determine the best types of available funding. The book also covers risk management for foreign exchange and interest rates. In short, Corporate Finance provides the finance professional with a complete toolkit of solutions.

Today's financial executive needs a way to assess the financial performance and financial position of business organizations. The Business Ratios Guidebook provides one of the best ways to do so by describing more than 200 ratios and other measurements. When applied to an organization's financial statements, these ratios can clarify its results, liquidity, and cash flows. The measurement areas covered include performance, return on investment, share performance and constraints. Examples of the functional areas also covered include cash management, credit and collections, customer service, human resources, production, and sales. In short, this book is the ultimate desk reference for ratio analysis.

Delayed payments by customers can seriously impact the finances of a business, but it is usually necessary to offer some level of credit to them. The Credit and Collection Guidebook shows how to strike a balance between more sales and a reasonable amount of bad debt. It does so by focusing on when to extend credit to questionable customers and how to select the best approach to collecting from late-paying customers. The discussion includes credit policies, credit monitoring, collection techniques, and the necessary controls, procedures, and reports to manage the process. The book also addresses more advanced concepts, such as credit and collection technology, the role of product and service improvements, and litigation tactics.

ACCOUNTING BEST PRACTICES Seventh Edition Today's accounting staffs are called on to work magic: process transactions, write reports, improve efficiency, create new processes?all at the lowest possible cost, using an ever-shrinking proportion of total corporate expenses. Sound impossible? Not if your staff is using the best practices for accounting. Fully updated in a new edition, Accounting Best Practices, Seventh Edition draws from renowned accounting leader Steven Bragg's extensive experience in successfully developing, operating, and consulting various accounting departments. This invaluable resource has the at-your-fingertips information you need, whether you've been searching for ways to cut costs in your accounting department, or just want to offer more services without the added expense. The best practices featured in this excellent step-by-step manual constitute need-to-know information concerning the most advanced techniques and strategies for increasing productivity, reducing costs, and monitoring existing accounting systems. This new edition boasts over 400 best practices, with fifty new to this edition in the areas of taxation, finance, collections, general ledger, accounts payable, and billing. Now featuring a corresponding seven-minute podcast for each chapter found on the book's companion website, Accounting Best Practices is the perfect, do-it-yourself book for the manager who wants to significantly boost their accounting department.

Quick-reference guidance showing new controllers how to enhance performance while avoiding pitfalls Designed to give new controllers a firm foundation in the concepts of managing the accounting department, locating GAAP information, and analyzing and knowing what to do with key accounting information, The Essential Controller, Second Edition is the invaluable primer you can turn to for the foundation you need to succeed. Whether your business is large, small, or medium-sized, this volume provides a complete overview of the controller's responsibilities and the role that today's controllers should be playing. Offers new coverage of finance strategyUpdates taxation strategyIncludes a new controller checklistQuick reference guide that controllers can turn toAlso by Steven M. Bragg: The Controller's Function: The Work of the Managerial Accountant, Fourth Edition The Essential Controller, Second Edition is the go-to handbook that you will use every day for dealing with the everyday issues facing today's controllers.