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Essentials of Payroll: Management and Accounting

Your one-stop-shop for unparralled coverage of payroll control systems, best practices, measurements and reports, cost account, and outsourcing. Includes a step-by-step checklist of activities to follow when setting up a payroll system and how to install controls that combat payroll fraud. 

Resource Specification
Category: Payroll Management
Title: Essentials of Payroll: Management and Accounting
PURCHASE INFO: http://www.cpa-pro.org/buy-0471264962.htm
Released Date: January 15, 2003
Cost: $23.07
Pages: 288 pages
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 0471264962
Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition
Author: Steven M. Bragg
Keywords: payroll, accounting
Description / Comment: I think this is a good beginner-to-intermediate level book about payroll. While I doubt this book can serve as your only source to setting up a payroll system (a claim never made by the author), it can serve as a valuable guide to implementing or reviewing your current payroll internal controls, best practices and payroll policy manual. It may also help you analyze whether you are paying too much money or spending too much time on your job costing system. If you like examples, the author uses many short case studies to clarify his main points.

He keeps the book up-to-date by discussing topics such as payroll information technology, current payment alternatives and Internet references. He discusses other issues in detail, such as fringe benefits, vacation pay, minimum wage laws, payroll calculations, retirement plans, and stock option plans.

Given the popularity of outsourcing the payroll function, I think the book could have went into more detail about how to select the right payroll outsource vendor and how to ensure that the outsource vendor maintains proper internal controls (e.g. obtaining an annual SAS 70 Type II). Also, I felt I could have skipped the payroll tax portion and read IRS publication 15, 15a and 15b and my state's corresponding payroll tax publication. Finally, to help improve the books longevity, the author could have either left out the current year tax rates and limitations altogether or listed Internet references where the current and future rates and limitations could be referenced.

Nevertheless, overall I think this is a good book that I will use from time to time to brush up on my payroll process knowledge. Therefore, I think the book is worth buying, reading and referencing.

 

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