Details

Cost Recovery

Turning Your Accounts Payable Department into a Profit Center
1. Aufl.

von: Richard B. Lanza
69,99 €
Verlag:	Wiley
Format:	PDF
Veröffentl.:	30.07.2009
ISBN/EAN:	9780470526125
Sprache:	englisch
Anzahl Seiten:	320

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Beschreibungen

Titelbeschreibung

<ul> <li>Cost Recovery: Turning Your Accounts Payable Department into a Profit Center shows how to identify a company's hidden financial assets.</li> <li>It provides tools to assist organizations generate cash recoveries, stop profit leaks, move away from control issues, and work towards process improvements.</li> <li>The book shows how to incorporate profit recovery technology, and how to pair a company with a recovery expert best suited to the company's needs to achieve bottom line results.</li> <li>The book discusses how to utilize free services offered by cost recovery consultants, using of top money-saving proves improvements, and how to create a plan to maximize recovering technology.</li> </ul>

Inhaltsverzeichnis

About the Author xiii Foreword xv Preface xvii Acknowledgments xxi How to Use This Book xxiii CHAPTER 1 Benefits of Recovery Services 1 U.S. General Accounting Office Report “Recommends” Recovery Auditing 1 Top Benefits of Cost Recovery 2 Top Reasons for Recovery 4 Recovery Estimates—Embrace the Uncertainty 5 When Recovery Becomes Fraud 6 Sarbanes-Oxley Implications 9 CHAPTER 2 Overcoming Obstacles to Getting Recovery Started 15 Overcoming Obstacles to a “No Brainer” Service 15 Why Internal Audit Department Are Sometimes the Worst Resource for Doing Recovery Audits 19 Why Internal Audit Departments Are Truly the Best Resource for Doing Recovery Audits 20 Why Select a Provider for Your First Audit 23 CHAPTER 3 Assessing Opportunities and Risk 25 Focusing on the Largest Fish 25 Scattergraphing: A Powerful Tool to Identify Changes in Company Activity 27 Going Deeper and Data Auditing Vendor Accounts 30 Using Vendor Toolsets 33 The Top 10 Questions to Ask When Deciding to Do a Recovery Audit 33 CHAPTER 4 The Overall Cost Recovery Marketplace 36 How the Industry Worked in the Past 36 Recovery Consulting Today 37 The Evolving and Continuous Recovery Process at Companies 38 Why Recovery Consulting Is so Popular 39 Dimensions of Recovery 41 Recovery Categories 44 How the Recovery Areas Are Defined in This Book 47 CHAPTER 5 Accounts Payable and Procurement 49 Case Study 5.1: American Auto Runs a Tight Ship 49 Case Study 5.2: Public Utility with Staffing Problems 51 Case Study 5.3: Contract Compliance with Pinpoint Profit Recovery Services, Inc. 53 Case Study 5.4: International Personal Goods Manufacturer with Retail Outlets 54 Case Study Wrap-Up 56 Recoveries to Find 58 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 59 Conclusion 62 CHAPTER 6 Advertising Agency Audits and Media Reviews 63 Overview 63 Case Study 6.1: Reluctant Marketing Department Hiding Its Intentional Agency Benefit 63 Case Study 6.2: Exit Audit after an Agency Transition 64 Case Study 6.3: Media Management 65 Case Study 6.4: Global Software Company 66 Case Study Wrap-Up 67 Recoveries to Find 71 Prioritizing the Opportunity 73 Conclusion 74 CHAPTER 7 Audit Firm Benchmarking 76 Overview 76 Case Study 7.1: An Auditor in Trouble? 77 Case Study 7.2: Utility Service Firm Paying too Much 81 Case Study Wrap-Up 84 Recoveries to Find 87 Questions to Ask 87 Conclusion 87 CHAPTER 8 Escheatment (Unclaimed Property) 88 Overview 88 Case Study 8.1: Accounts Receivable Overcrediting 92 Case Study 8.2: Pinpoint Profit Recovery Assists Large Services Corporation 93 Case Study Wrap-Up and Recoveries to Find 96 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 99 Conclusion 100 CHAPTER 9 Freight Bill Auditing 101 Overview 101 Case Study 9.1: When Freight Classes and Descriptions Make a Difference 102 Case Study 9.2: Aluminum Manufacturer and Distributor Post-Audit 102 Case Study Wrap-Up 102 Recoveries to Find 107 Questions to Ask 108 Conclusion 108 CHAPTER 10 Health Benefits Auditing 109 Overview 109 Case Study 10.1: Midwest Municipality Cuts Costs 111 Case Study 10.2: Employer Takes Control 114 Case Study 10.3: Holding Company Uses Comparison to Advantage 116 Case Study Wrap-Up 117 Recoveries to Find 121 Questions to Ask 122 Conclusion 123 CHAPTER 11 Lease Audits 124 Overview 124 Case Study 11.1: The Portfolio Assessment of a National Consulting Firm 125 Case Study 11.2: Variety of Issues at a National Banking Corporation 126 Case Study 11.3: Park Avenue, New York City, with Inappropriate Cleaning and Utility Costs 127 Case Study 11.4: Multinational Corporation Audits One Lease for Big Savings 129 Case Study Wrap-Up 130 Recoveries to Find 133 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 134 Conclusion 135 CHAPTER 12 Order to Cash Reviews 136 Overview 136 Case Study 12.1: Construction Materials Not Reporting All Cement Loads or Pricing Them Properly 136 Case Study 12.2: Too Many (Fraudulent) Fourth-Quarter Sales 138 Case Study Wrap-Up 139 Recoveries to Find 141 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 143 Conclusion 148 CHAPTER 13 Payroll Tax Credits 150 Overview and Recoveries: Savings to Find 150 Other Federal Programs 153 State and Local Incentives and Credits 154 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 154 Conclusion 155 CHAPTER 14 Proactive Fraud Audits 156 Overview 156 Case Study 14.1: Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report to the Nation 158 Case Study Wrap-Up 159 Recoveries to Find 174 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 175 Conclusion 175 CHAPTER 15 Project Fraud Audits 177 Overview 177 Case Study 15.1: California State Welfare Automation Project 178 Case Study Wrap-Up 180 Recoveries to Find 183 Questions to Ask to Assess the Opportunity 184 Conclusion 186 CHAPTER 16 Real Estate Cost Segregation 187 Overview 187 Case Study 16.1: Franchise Restaurant 188 Case Study 16.2: Apartment Complex 189 Case Study 16.3: Assisted Living 191 Case Study 16.4: Two-Story Medical Office Facility 192 Case Study Wrap-Up 193 Recoveries to Find 194 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 195 Conclusion 199 CHAPTER 17 Research and Development Tax Credits 200 Background 200 Case Study 17.1: Engine Service Firm R&D Credits 201 Case Study Wrap-Up 203 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 208 Conclusion 208 CHAPTER 18 Strategic Sourcing 210 Overview 210 Case Study 18.1: $1.6 Million in Annual Savings for Food Distribution Company 211 Case Study 18.2: Private College Saves More than $200,000 212 Case Study 18.3: Multi-Project Strategic Sourcing 212 Case Study Wrap-Up 214 Recoveries to Find 219 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 221 Conclusion 221 CHAPTER 19 Telecommunications Auditing 223 Overview 223 Case Study 19.1: Refund of Local Service Charges at a Transportation Company 224 Case Study 19.2: Future Savings of Local Service Charges at a Multi-Location Retail Chain 224 Case Study 19.3: California School District 225 Case Study 19.4: Future Savings of Wireless Charges at a Media Company 225 Case Study Wrap-Up 226 Recoveries to Find 227 Questions to Ask 230 Conclusion 230 CHAPTER 20 Travel and Entertainment Reviews 231 Overview 231 Case Studies 20.1: How to Make $20,000 in One Year, Tax-Free: Specific Schemes 232 Case Study Wrap-Up 233 Automation Benefits 236 Recoveries to Find 237 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 238 Conclusion 239 CHAPTER 21 Utility Reviews 240 Overview 240 Case Study 21.1: Fortune 1,000 Manufacturer Cuts Its Utility Costs in Several Ways 241 Case Study 21.2: Hospital Water Cost Leak Plugged 242 Case Study 21.3: Small Town Manufacturer—Electric Refund 244 Case Study 21.4: Entertainment Company with Multiple Locations Chooses Deregulation for Select Sites 245 Case Study Wrap-Up 246 Recoveries to Find 247 Questions to Ask When Assessing the Opportunity 248 Conclusion 249 CHAPTER 22 Selecting a Provider 250 Overview 250 Applying Discipline . . . It’s a Good Thing 250 Step 1: Form the Team 251 Step 2: Set Requirements and Success Metrics 252 Step 3: Draft a Request for Proposals 253 Step 4: Negotiate 257 Step 5: Complete Decision Analysis 260 Conclusion 262 CHAPTER 23 Technology Used in Recovery Efforts 263 Introduction 263 Data Analysis/Mining/External Data 265 Assessing Vendors against Watch Lists 282 Making the Scattergraph 286 Continuous Monitoring 288 Pre-Formatted Workpapers/Process Workflow/Client Management Dashboards 293 Conclusion 295 CHAPTER 24 Conclusion 298 Where Do We Go from Here? 298 What Else Can You Do? 298 APPENDIX 1 Additional Publications Related to Business Cost Savings 301 APPENDIX 2 Accounts Payable 304 Risk Assessment Questions by Profit Leak 304 APPENDIX 3 Records Retention and Right to Audit 312 APPENDIX 4 Discussion Paper Continuous Controls Monitoring with ACL AuditExchange 2009 and Scripted Analytics 314 Purchasing Payables and Payments 315 ACL AuditExchange 2009 316 Purchase-to-Payment Cycle: Critical Processes and Activities 316 ACL Analytics Technology 317 Customer Successes 319 Client Benefits 319 APPENDIX 5 Tapping the Strategic Potential of Procurement 322 Challenges 324 Key Success Factors 326 Fulfilling Potential 330 Index 331

Rezension

"Now every organization can generate cash recoveries, stop profit leaks, move away from control issues, and work toward process improvements with the tools found in Cost Recovery. Authoritatively showing how to incorporate profit recovery technology to achieve stellar-bottom-line results, this insightful and highly readable book provides step-by-step guidance for completing a cost recovery effort of any company's spending." (AccountingWEB.com, February 8, 2010) "Mr. Lanza has authored an excellent how-to book for auditing your accounts payable functions to determine how you might recover costs for your company…it is logically organized, clearly written and meant to be a work guide. This book should be on every financial manager, controller and CFO's desk." (Executive Leader Coach, December 2009)

Autorenportrait

Richard B. Lanza, CPA, CFE, PMP, is the President of Cash Recovery Partners, LLC, the author of twelve publications and, over 100 articles for major audit and accounting publications. With nearly two decades of experience in audit technology and recovery auditing, he has become a leading authority in these areas. He also provides training courses in audit software and recovery, including forty-three speaking engagements in the last eighteen months. He has consulted on how to save money through the use of technology and recovery auditing for companies ranging in size from $30 million to $30 billion.

Back cover copy

Praise for Cost Recovery "Is your company leaking cash without even knowing it? Lanza's easy-to-read book gives practical points on how to increase profits with little or no added cost. This is the corporate equivalent of finding money on the sidewalk; just reach down and pick it up!" —Joseph T. Wells, CFE, CPA, founder and Chairman, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners "Rich pours a great deal of his extensive knowledge into this guide. It is an encyclopedic approach to the hows and whys of cost recovery services. Not only does the reader learn about the basic mechanics of how cost recovery works, but also has access to numerous case studies showing how it works in key areas such as payables, advertising, health benefits, leasing, and telecommunications. The guide may prove to be the masterwork in this field." —Steven M. Bragg, CFO, Xedar Corporation "An easy action reference tool on how reduced disbursements can increase income significantly more than an equivalent rise in sales. Your ROI on this book will exceed any other investment!" —David H. Margulies, former Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns, responsible for Controller's Shared Services "In an economy where revenue streams are constricted, using Cost Recovery techniques to find money or save money seems like an obvious strategy, but it's perceived as a daunting task for most organizations. Rich Lanza's Cost Recovery guide provides a step-by-step process that's feasible to implement and easy to read." —Jacqueline A. Breslauer, SVP Corporate Audit, The CIT Group Inc. "Rich Lanza, the 'Data Magician,' has elevated the art of data recovery audit and analysis to the next level. His passion for applying data analytics to the workplace has defined him as a pioneer in the area of cost recovery. I commend Rich for his thinking outside the box that has pushed organizations to review their approach to data recovery and cost control with the result of saving millions of dollars!" —Jim Kaplan, CIA, CFE, President/CEO, AuditNet.org, The Global Resource for Auditors