Accounting Policies and Procedures Template

Does your company have a complete set of accounting policies and procedures? If so, when was the last time you reviewed them?

Whether you’re required to have documented accounting policies and procedures with appropriate internal controls or simply want to document your internal processes and implement best practices, your small business can benefit from this accounting policies and procedures template built by accountants, for accountants.

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Creating an Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual

Creating and maintaining an accounting policies and procedures manual requires an investment of time and attention. There is no “one size fits all” method, so you should tailor your policies and procedures to the size of your organization and complexity.

Even if you’re just starting in business with only a few accounting department team members, you can create a basic accounting policies and procedures manual and add to it as your needs change.

How Do You Write Accounting Policies and Procedures?

To begin documenting your organization’s accounting practices, start by listing out all of the accounting and financial processes completed by each member of your team. Then use our sample accounting manual template to document the following:

• Title. This is the name of the policy or procedure. 
  • Examples: Chart of Accounts, Bank Account Reconciliations, Journal Entries, Depreciation, Petty Cash, Expense Reports, Cash Disbursements, Purchase Orders, Accruals, Fixed Assets, Leases, Liabilities, Cash Receipts, etc.
• Prepared by and Effective Date. Documenting who created the policy and when it was last updated can help you track how long it’s been since you reviewed your financial policies and identify those that might need revisions.
• Policy. A policy is a set of rules or guidelines your employees follow to achieve specific goals, while procedures are step-by-step instructions on how a policy is followed. For example, your policy might be to reconcile bank statements on a monthly basis. Your procedures explain who performs the reconciliation and how they go about it. 
• Purpose. Explain the purpose of each policy and procedure. For example, why do you reconcile bank accounts and credit card statements monthly? To prevent fraud? To ensure good cash flow management?
• Scope. Explain the scope of your policies and procedures. For example, will you perform bank reconciliations for all accounts monthly? Or only reconcile accounts with significant transaction activity monthly and others less frequently? 
• Responsibilities. Who is responsible for performing the procedures and who is responsible for reviewing and signing off on their work?
• Procedures. Finally, provide a written explanation of each step that must take place to complete the task, including the titles of the people involved, the general ledger accounts that will be impacted, and the accounting systems used. 

Documenting each of your organization’s policies and procedures may require working with several departments beyond accounting, including human resources, legal, etc.

What are the Benefits of Accounting Policies and Procedures?

Having documented accounting policies and procedures can benefit your organization in several ways. 

Many small- to medium-sized companies and nonprofit organizations have limited accounting staff, and information and responsibility may be controlled by one or two employees. Without documented policies and procedures, replacing these employees becomes nearly impossible because no one else in the company knows what needs to be done or how to do it.

Creating a detailed accounting policies and procedures manual can also help you:

• Understand each employee’s roles and responsibilities
• Know which tasks need to be completed daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or at year-end
• Document internal control procedures for external auditors
• Demonstrate to the board of directors that you have sound policies and procedures in place

To simplify the process of creating your accounting process manual, download the free Microsoft Excel template above so you don’t need to waste time setting up your worksheets.

While this manual template is helpful, to save even more time on your monthly close, organize and automate your monthly close in the cloud with FloQast.