Making your business finance department run smoothly

Many companies look at the business finance department as one of the most important parts of the company. If the finance department is not running smoothly, then many other departments can quickly become disorganized. Here are a few tips for running your finance department.

First, keep everyone in your business finance department accountable. Start protecting your accounts by putting a few procedures in place:

• Find the right accountant by taking preventative measures. Start out with a good relationship and make sure you check references on your potential accountant. Ask your potential candidate if they have had problems in the past with employers and contact those employers to verify the information.
• Install oversight procedures to ensure honesty and account tracking measures. As a manger it is your job to review the financial records of the company that are reported by the accountant.
• Don't be quick to accuse. Everyone can make mistakes, if you notice something out of the ordinary, sit down with your accountant and go over the reports that were filed. Ask to have each report carefully explained for you will not be out of the loop.
• Require documentation for all petty cash, bank deposits and anything else to do with money coming in to your company. Checking up on your accountant is a good way to protect your finances.
• Have an oversight committee. If you have a level of oversight where you accountant is required to back up all figures with documentation, you can review them and build a level of trust.

As you know, accountants are trained to deal with all the important numbers pertaining to your business. By implementing a few procedures you will let them know you keep a watchful eye over your finances. This helps to keep people honest and deter them from making a fatal mistake.

One of the best things you can do to help make your accounting department run smoothly is to learn about accounting. Hold weekly meetings with your accounting department and show them that you are up to the task of running the accounting department. If you understand the vocabulary of your accountants and reveal this to them, your accountants will give you their respect.

Another great way to run your accounting department is to make sure they are getting breaks. With all the numbers they stare at all day, it is easy to become bored or accidentally confuse numbers. Give your employees a break room to relax in when they become tired or stressed.

Of course holding meetings with your employees is a great way to keep the lines of communication open. This is a time when you and your employees can discuss problems, concerns, successes, failures, and the overview of the company. Keep your financial records at hand so you can discuss certain spending policies and numbers that are not lining up, or numbers that could be fixed.

Another good thing to do is to set up account tracking with your bank. You will have "hard evidence" if you suspect a problem in your accounting department. Your bank can inform you of any withdrawals or deposits that were not reported directly to you. In the end you don't want to leave any negotiation with an accountant stealing money. You should disclose a termination policy when they are hired to let them know up front that you track your accounts and any deceit on their part will result in them losing their job.

By implementing proper termination procedures up front, your account department will know what is expected of them. Try not to be too over-bearing and run the department like a boot camp!

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