Accounting Policies and Procedures

Why Attend

Well-defined accounting policies and procedures are essential for producing reliable financial information, maintaining effective internal controls, and ensuring consistent financial practices across an organisation. Without clear accounting guidelines, businesses may experience inconsistent transaction recording, reporting errors, weak approval controls, delayed financial closing, and increased exposure to financial misstatements or compliance failures.

Accounting policies establish the principles and methods used to recognise, measure, present, and disclose financial transactions, while accounting procedures translate these principles into practical responsibilities, workflows, documentation requirements, and control activities. Developing both effectively requires an understanding of financial reporting standards, business processes, internal controls, and organisational governance.

The Accounting Policies and Procedures course provides finance and accounting professionals with practical techniques for developing, documenting, implementing, reviewing, and improving accounting policies and operational procedures. Participants explore financial reporting requirements, accounting manuals, transaction processing, financial closing, reconciliations, segregation of duties, approval frameworks, and accounting process standardisation.

The programme also examines how to maintain accounting policies as business requirements and reporting standards evolve, strengthen compliance monitoring, and use financial systems and automation to improve accuracy, efficiency, and accountability.

Professional Problems This Course Is Designed to Solve

• Inconsistent accounting practices: Establishing standard accounting policies and procedures to ensure transactions are recorded and reported consistently across departments and business units.

• Unclear financial responsibilities: Defining accounting roles, approval authorities, segregation of duties, and accountability for financial transactions and reporting.

• Frequent accounting errors and adjustments: Improving transaction processing, supporting documentation, reconciliations, and financial review procedures.

• Weak financial reporting compliance: Aligning accounting policies with applicable financial reporting standards, regulatory requirements, and organisational governance expectations.

• Delayed month-end and year-end closing: Developing structured closing calendars, reconciliation procedures, reporting deadlines, and review controls.

• Outdated accounting manuals: Establishing procedures for policy ownership, periodic review, version control, staff communication, and controlled updates.

• Inefficient accounting workflows: Standardising processes and identifying opportunities for financial system integration, digital approvals, and appropriate automation.

Course Methodology

The programme combines instructor-led discussions, accounting process case studies, financial control assessments, policy drafting exercises, process mapping workshops, and practical accounting manual development activities.

Participants work with realistic financial transaction scenarios, accounting policy examples, approval matrices, reconciliation templates, and closing procedures. Exercises focus on translating accounting principles into documented operational procedures that can be implemented, monitored, and improved within different organisational environments.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish accounting policies from accounting procedures and understand their respective purposes

• Identify the financial reporting and governance requirements influencing accounting policy development

• Develop a structured accounting policies and procedures manual

• Establish consistent accounting treatment for significant financial transactions

• Design accounting workflows with clear responsibilities and approval authorities

• Implement appropriate segregation of duties and financial control procedures

• Strengthen documentation, reconciliation, and transaction verification requirements

• Develop effective month-end and year-end financial closing procedures

• Evaluate accounting process risks and identify control improvement opportunities

• Apply document management, version control, and policy review procedures

• Integrate accounting procedures with ERP systems and digital financial workflows

• Establish monitoring mechanisms to assess accounting policy compliance and operational effectiveness

Target Audience

This course is suitable for:

• Finance managers and financial controllers

• Chief accountants and senior accountants

• Accounting supervisors and accounting officers

• Financial reporting and consolidation professionals

• Internal auditors and internal control specialists

• Finance operations and shared services managers

• Governance, risk, and compliance professionals

• Accounting policy and financial governance specialists

• ERP finance implementation and process improvement professionals

• Professionals responsible for developing or updating accounting manuals

Target Competencies

Participants will develop competencies in:

• Accounting policy development

• Accounting procedures documentation

• Financial reporting compliance

• Accounting process standardisation

• Internal financial control design

• Segregation of duties and approval controls

• Financial closing and reconciliation management

• Accounting manual development

• Accounting governance and compliance monitoring

• Financial process improvement and automation