Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley: Strengthening Your Internal Controls » (1st Edition)

MARY S. SCHAEFFER is a nationally recognized accounts payable expert. She is the founder and Editorial Director of Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow, a newsletter for professionals interested in payment issues. She is the author of twelve books and has written hundreds of articles that have appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Corporate Cashflow, Treasury and Risk Management, Business Credit, the Writer, and Newsday. She has an MBA in finance and is a member of the New York Financial Writers' Association.

Thousands of companies face the task of ensuring that their accounting operations are in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (sox), and no other department needs to be more law-abiding than the accounts payable department. Providing information on the proper documentation and necessary guidelines needed to conform, Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley clearly defines how SOX requirements should be implemented as they pertain to accounts payable functions.

Highlighting the conceptual change that must take place in accounts payable if the organization has any hope of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley examines the need for strong internal controls that are integral to the efficient operation of any well-run department. Author Mary Schaeffer—a leading authority on accounts payable—includes discussions of why the controls demanded by the Act are vitally important to both public and private organizations, and provides an overview of the Act, specifically sections 404 and 302. Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley also examines several of the compliance alternatives, including the COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations) framework and outsourcing.

An entire section analyzes how poor controls surrounding the payment process can result in large-scale fraud. Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley also explores related areas where organizations sometimes run into trouble, including 1099s, travel and entertainment, unclaimed property, and

sales and use tax, applying the Act on these functions to determine appropriate processes. Finally, the book provides overall guidelines to help accounts payable departments conform to the Act, including information on preventing fraud, proper documentation, and the overall principles to structure accounts payable so it will be indisputably compliant.

A must-read for treasurers, controllers, cash managers, accounts payable managers, accounting managers, and small business owners, Accounts Payable and Sarbanes-Oxley provides readers with a healthy respect for the internal controls needed in accounts payable and all related functions to help their organizations achieve their goal of a healthy bottom line.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

PART I: THE BASICS.

Chapter 1: Sarbanes-Oxley: How It Applies to Accounts Payable.

Chapter 2: Compliance Alternatives: Outsourcing and the COSO Framework.

Chapter 3: Invoice Processing.

PART II: PAYMENT PROCESS.

Chapter 4: Checks.

Chapter 5: Purchasing Cards.

Chapter 6: Electronic Payments: Alternatives to the Paper Check.

PART III: FUNCTIONS RELATED TO AND OFTEN HANDLED IN ACCOUNTS PAYABLE.

Chapter 7: Travel and Entertainment Expense Processing.

Chapter 8: Unclaimed Property (Escheat).

Chapter 9: 1099s and Other IRS-Related Information Reporting.

Chapter 10: Sales and Use Tax.

PART IV: OVERALL GUIDELINES TO CONFORM.

Chapter 11: Fraud Prevention Controls.

Chapter 12: Documentation Needed to Conform to the Act.

Chapter 13: Overall Guidelines for Conforming to the Act.

PART V: APPENDICES.

About Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow.

Index.