Southern New Hampshire University
ACC 340 Final Exam
Essay questions Answers should be at least three paragraphs long
1. Discuss at length at least four things you could do to help shorten the close process as a new controller.
A controller has some options they can use to show the close process. Some of these options are removing and eliminating unnecessary functions, improvements to certain functional area, altering and changing the times that closing activities are conducted, revising the financial statement content, incorporating automation (Bragg,2011). To make sure that all unnecessary functions have been erased, the controller needs to analyze the process that is in place, make documented record of it, and determine what functions can start being removed from the monthly close process making it more efficient. After doing these changes the controller can make improvements to the functional areas making them more efficient. Some of these areas are billing, inventory, payables, cash processing, and payroll.
The controller can alter closing activities which is another way the close process can be shorten. Certain actions can be done in the prior month to help with this. They included bank reconciliations, overhead allocations, recurring invoices', bad debt reserve, interest expense. Actions that can be done after the closing period can include invoice mailings, error investigations, and re billable expense.
The closing period can also be shortened by revisions done to the financial statements, the controller by doing this can submit one financial statement instead of multiple. Revisions of the financial statement contents to include only the most necessary information will help the controller to save time with using the one statement instead of many. There may be additional information that is necessary that can be added after the closing period.
Finally inserting automation in the closing process will shorten the closing process by having certain computer programs that compute errors and provide real- time results. Examples of these programs are workflow management systems (WMS), enterprise resource planning system (ERP), data warehouse, and consolidation software. Automation is very beneficial to a company but is very expensive. With this issue it is better suited for large companies
2. Name at least two documents a public company would be required to file under the SEc How often must they be file? Describe what they are and what information they would provide to the public.
ACC 340 Final Exam
Southern New Hampshire University
Documents that a public company needs to file with the SEC are Form 8-K's, and an annual
or significant corporate that may be considered important to shareholders (Kenton,2020). If the event falls on a weekend or a schedule holiday, the company must file within four days of the next business days. The next document is a annual 10-K report that a public company needs to file. The 10-K report needs to be filed between 60 to 90 days from the end of their fiscal year, depending on the how much the company's aggregate market value is owned by uncommitted investors on the