Fast Close: A Guide to Closing the Books Quickly

by Steven M. Bragg

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 .

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Steven Bragg is a former chief financial officer and controller, and author of 300+ business courses and 50 business books. To get away from the business world, he is also the trail running author of Run the Rockies, a PADI-certified Master Diver, an avid skier and mountain biker, and two-time president of the Colorado Mountain Club. He is also the author of the science fiction novels Under an Autumn Sun and Early Winter, the first two novels in The Auditors trilogy.

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

This 2nd edition (uodated in 2009) is now so outdated that I actually burst out loud laughing at its recommendations. For example, did you know you can speed up your cash close by not waiting for paper bank statements but accessing your data something called "a Web site?"

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offered many good suggestions for streamlining the close. Some of the tips/best practices have been made obsolescent by the falling price and widespread adoption of technology (automated payroll, EDI/ACH, etc.). Otherwise, there are a lot of good ideas to look into.

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you've read one Bragg book, it seems like you've read them all. Not enough depth for someone who really has to slog through this stuff.