Financial Reporting_April 2007.doc

financial reporting cycle training materialsinterview questions and guideactivity codeactivity descriptionwp expected11.1map general ledger accounts to financial statement captions11.1.1map general ledger accounts does the company have policies and procedures established for adding new accounts? what is the accounting software? any other accounting software used by the company? who has access to add new accounts and map the new general ledger accounts? what forms are used to capture the approval of new accounts? who must approve new accounts? what are the procedures to ensure that all new accounts added are properly mapped? 11.2evaluate accounting principle application 11.2.1consistency of existing principles who is responsible for ensuring that all locations are consistently applying accounting principles? what is the process for ensuring that accounting principles are consistently applied throughout the company?11.2.2application of new principles does the company have policies and procedures established to ensure that accounting practices are within gaap? how does the company keep up-to-date with current accounting practices (e.g., online research database)? who is responsible for evaluation of how accounting principles affect the company? is this evaluation of new principles documented? if yes, how is it documented? other than the use of a research database, how does the company keep up-to-date with current accounting practices (e.g., continuing professional education)?11.2.3proper accounting treatment of new/complex transaction who is responsible for reviewing activities of the company to ensure that new transactions are properly accounted for? who reviews the conclusions reached for reasonableness? is this documented? does the accounting/finance department hold regular meetings to discuss new or complex transactions encountered by the company? who is responsible for reviewing and approving all contracts before they are signed?11.3closing process11.3.1generate gross numbers by entity does the company have documented policy and procedures for closing and consolidating its entities? does the company have a well communicated closing schedule? where is this schedule posted? who can perform the close and consolidation process? how does the company ensure that journal entries cannot be recorded once numbers have been finalized? what procedures are in place to ensure that all locations submitted their financial information? what procedures are in place to ensure that the consolidation was successful (e.g., equity balance check)? at what point does the company perform a hard close? is there any analytical review on financial statements?11.3.2record standard entries/adjustments does the company have a standardized journal entry form that is used to create the electronic or paper copy of the journal entry before it is recorded in the general ledger module? does the company have a checklist of standard journal entries created at month end? who can create and who can post journal entries into the system? who reviews and approves all journal entries? what support accompanies the journal entries? are significant estimates and judgments supported with schedules or memos? are they updated and reviewed on a regular basis? 11.3.3record non-standard entries/adjustments who reviews and approves all non-standard journal entries? what support accompanies the non-standard journal entries? what process is in place to identify the need to obtain technical assistance on non-standard complex accounting issues? are significant estimates and judgments supported with schedules or memos? are they updated and reviewed on a regular basis?11.3.4accrued liabilities does the company have policies and procedures for accrued liabilities? what are your significant accruals? what types of memos are prepared in conjunction with the accrual estimation process? how does the company ensure that all accrued liabilities are recorded prior to period end? who reviews, approves and records accruals? how often are accruals revisited / reviewed? are accruals reviewed subsequent to period end to determine how actual expenses varied from the recorded estimate? are there standard journal entries for accruals?11.3.5account reconciliations is the process for account reconciliations manual or automated? who performs account reconciliations? how does the company determine which accounts are significant or material to reconcile for the closing process? how does the company ensure account reconciliations are performed in a timely manner? does the company use standard forms for reconciling accounts? how are errors that are identified during the reconciliation process resolved? does the company have an appropriate post-closing adjustment process established?11.4prepare internal reporting documents11.4.1prepare internal reporting documents what types of internal reporting documents are prepared each month? are variance analysis completed on a monthly basis? who reviews the internal reporting documents? does the accounting/finance department have a monthly review process of internal reporting documents? are reports distributed to other departments (sales, marketing, etc.)?11.5prepare gaap financial statements (bal sheet, inc stmt, etc.)11.5.1 prepare gaap financial statements does the company have documented policies and procedures for preparing gaap financial statements? who prepares the gaap financial statements? who reviews the gaap financial statements? does the bod and ac review and approve the statements before they are filed with the sec? how does the company ensure that all statements are in compliance with gaap? what types of meetings does management have when preparing gaap financial statements? who prepares and maintains the schedules that support the gaap financial statements?11.6prepare gaap disclosures (e.g., footnotes)11.6.1prepare gaap disclosures what kind of checklist is used by accounting/finance? who completes the gaap disclosure checklist? who reviews and approves the checklist to make sure that is was properly completed? 11.7prepare other required disclosures (e.g., md&a, market risk, etc.)11.7.1prepare other required disclosures who prepares the md&a? who reviews the md&a? who prepares and maintains the schedules that support the md&a? does the company utilize a md&a checklist? 11.8prepare regulatory reports/statutory filings11.8.1prepare regulatory reports/statutory filings who edgarizes (if applicable for us sec filings) the companys financial statements? is this process outsourced or is it done internally? who ties-out the financial statements after they are edgarized and before they are filed with the us sec? when does the companys internal/external legal counsel review the filings? who is responsible for identifying events that require 20-f, 6k, 8-k, form 4 or other necessary filings? how is the need to file filing communicated to the accounting/finance department? 11.9prepare and issue press releases11.9.1 prepare and issue press releases is there a standard press release template used by the company? who initiates or identifies the need to issue a press release? who prepares press releases? who reviews the press releases? 11.10consolidation process11.10.1 prepare consolidating and consolidated financial statement who performs consolidation? how many consolidated financial statements are prepared? how many