Top 11 Accounting Problems and Solutions in 2023

Accounting Problems and Solutions

Keeping up with technology and regulatory transformations are significant considerations of 51% and 24%, respectively, of CPA and accounting firm survey participants, according to Accounting Today’s survey, The Year Forward: 2022 in Numbers. 

Delays in advanced software technology adoption and defeats in regulatory adherence can guide accounting challenges and concerns for corporations. These accounting problems possess mistakes in financial statements, fraud and safety risks, and the possibility of huge fines and incarceration for regulatory non-compliance.

Qualified business finance teams operating advanced software technology that automates regulatory compliance and can overcome specific (and unique) accounting issues.

What Are Accounting Problems?

Accounting problems are challenges or barriers preventing accountants from functioning well in their positions. Accountants can overcome these problems by devising unique skills, remaining updated on news and trends in the industry, promoting feedback from associates, and taking a flexible approach. Whether you work as a staff accountant, accounting team leader, or accounting firm proprietor, you can help by investigating problems that may occur at work and how you can manage them.

What Causes Accounting Problems?

Some accounting problems are caused by exploiting outdated software technology for accounting. Intentional fraud due to desire and inadequate internal control compels other financial issues. Insufficient staffing levels can generate accounting problems. Not preparing the financial team generates accounting problems associated with improperly using GAAP. The corporation must protect itself against cybersecurity attacks and stay up-to-date on transforming regulatory compliance problems

How Do Businesses Solve Accounting Problems?

Financial professionals in businesses should operate the software with advanced technology competent in tolerating current accounting standards, including revenue recognition and lease accounting, and regulatory necessities to avoid or crack significant accounting problems. Demanding CPA employees and accountants to take appropriate continuing education courses can help businesses solve accounting problems. Acceptable staffing groups allow accountants to crack accounting matters.

11 Common Accounting Problems With Solutions

In its fiscal year 2021, the SEC obtained 1,913 whistleblower complaints linked to corporate exposures and financials, signalling potential accounting problems in these publicly-held companies. The SEC also obtained whistleblower objections connected to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

11 Common Accounting Problems With Solutions as Follows -

1. Revenue Recognition 
2. Lease Accounting
3. Impairment Write-Downs and Fair Market Valuation
4. Payroll Errors
5. Cash Flow Statement
6. Outdated Accounting Software Technology
7. Not Enough Financial Analysis
8. Inadequate Internal Control
9. Fraud
10. Regulatory Non-compliance
11. Inadequate Security

1. Revenue Recognition 

Problem

Improperly involving GAAP revenue recognition standards, forming fraudulent revenue strategies, including inappropriate accounting for consignments and third-party inventory shipments above the level of potential usage, and using opinionated estimates, are income recognition problems. 

Solution

Discover an accounting software or ERP solution that allows your company to accomplish appropriate revenue recognition. Your accounting and finance groups require satisfactory training on FASB accounting standards to yield GAAP revenue recognition. Excel spreadsheets are popular in working revenue calculation but spreadsheets are error-prone and inefficient. If feasible, pursue a distinct software explanation.

2. Lease Accounting

Problem

Transformations to GAAP lease accounting standards need lessee companies to capitalize their operating leases with tenant right of use (ROU) and a period of over twelve months. Shorter operating leases (including office space leases) can even be registered monthly as rent expenditures. The leases are amortized over the period. 

Solution

Business accounting teams require sufficient training to pursue the latest GAAP standards on Lease accounting. And they will help immensely by using technological lease accounting software.

3. Impairment Write-downs and Fair Market Valuation 

Problem

Accountants may skip making impairment write-downs or needed adjustments for recording needed assets or liabilities at a fair market valuation. 

Transforming economic and business requirements need accountants to periodically evaluate whether asset valuations have been wounded (to recognize the loss of value). Accountants must even consider adjustments to the fair value of specific assets and liabilities. Accounting specialists make adjustments through journal entries and financial statement exposures when GAAP demands.

Supply chain backlogs and economic conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic initiated accounting problems to watch for, including impairment and fair value accounting, according to EY, a top-tier accounting enterprise. 

Illustrations of asset impairment possess:

• Evaluating goodwill from M&A transactions yearly for impairment
• Assessing capitalized lease asset impairment
• Recording inventory at the lower of cost or market (LCM), where market value is restrained by an upper content not surpassing net realizable value and a lower range of net realizable value less a normal profit margin. 

Illustrations of fair market valuation possess:

• Trading securities (debt and equity) carried as short-term investments; gains or losses on trading securities flow to Net Income on the income statement
• Available-for-sale securities (debt and equity) maintained as investments to be traded before maturity; net gains or losses are comprised in Shareholders’ Equity as Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), documented below Retained Earnings 
• Liabilities calculated under ASC 820 Fair Value Measurements and Revelations

Solution

Accountants must enclose sufficient training to adequately register asset impairments and fair market valuation when needed by GAAP and complete essential financial statement disclosures. Analysis of financial statement areas subject to accounting problems with impairment.

4. Payroll Errors

Problem

If a small business determines to compute its payroll, payroll taxes, and advantages, payment mistakes, and accounting problems may occur. Payroll issues like miscalculating paychecks for salary payments and hourly wages damage worker confidence and productivity.

Solution

Outsource payroll to a skilled corporation delivering those services, like ADP or Paychex. If the correct number of hours and payroll knowledge are furnished then payments and taxes withheld should be accurately computed and appreciative of tax laws. You can predict objective reports to account for those items. Your company can complete payroll tax remittances on the term when due.

5. Cash Flow Statement

Problem

The cash flow statement may contain errors in the category by activity type and may not have specified cash, a more recent GAAP provision. 

Solution

Cash flow statement problem-solving requires maintaining up-to-date with FASB updates and training matters connected to cash flow statement rehearsal to comprehend the basics. 

6. Outdated Accounting Software Technology

Problem

Outdated accounting software technology isn’t efficient, doesn’t provide real-time outcomes for visibility in operating the corporation or its sales & marketing strategies, depends on manual data entry and writing documents for business transaction processing and recording, and doesn’t automate regulatory observation. 

Outdated ERP techniques may not be cloud-based. On-premises software systems generate inefficiencies in accessing the software and need more IT department help to update the system and address software and hardware issues at the company’s site. These ERP systems not deployed on the cloud aren’t perfect for the changed existence of remote or hybrid work conditions.

Solution

Upgrade outdated software technology in accounting software or ERP techniques by switching to current cloud-based software. If you don’t have the funding for an ERP system overhaul, believe in incorporating third-party add-on software to fulfil your requirements for:

• AP automation and international mass expenses software, also automating regulatory observance 
• Forecasting, planning, and currency managing software
• Customer relationship management (CRM) software to improve efficiency and adequately track the sales and marketing strategy 
• Lease analysis specialty software
• Revenue recognition software functionality, if not incorporated in your ERP 
• Data visualization software for data analytics and business intelligence

7. Not Enough Financial Analysis

Problem

An accounting unit without efficient accounting systems spends too much time completing the books, departing less time for value-added employment. The financials research adds value by computing ratios, spotting and managing business trends, and delivering judgment help for new opportunities.

Solution

Use improved cloud-based ERP systems and third-party add-on software with built-in artificial intelligence/device knowledge that automates accounting procedures and financial computation to the degree feasible.

We need real-time dashboards with your organization’s KPIs (key performance indicators), including trend analysis that all operational locations with authorization rights can access. 

Increase these systems with data visualization software like Tableau or Microsoft Power BI for data analytics with real-time credentials and the regular automatic report runs for data your establishment tracks as timeline trends. Data visualization software embeds machine understanding mechanisms to provide business intelligence. 

8. Inadequate Internal Control

Problem

Small businesses may not contain sufficient staffing to achieve the partition of duties required for satisfactory internal control. Their accounting systems may be inadequate to control fabrication and duplicate payment mistakes. 

Solution

When segregation of responsibilities isn’t accomplished, get the company owner involved in the authorization procedure as a corresponding dealer invoice document analyst and second signature. 

9. Fraud

Problem

Fraud, including embezzlement, may result from insufficient internal control and worker collaboration. 

Solution

Use current cloud-based automation software that allows you to find fraud and mistakes like duplicate payments. Employ variance research and follow up on meaningful distinctions for budget and actual costs. 

Review vendor master files, perform 3-way document matching for invoices and validate vendors for genuineness before delivering them. 

Desire to perform satisfactory segregation of duties with employee task assignments. Possession or custody of assets and recording transactions in the books ought to be performed by various workers. 

10. Regulatory Non-Compliance

Problem

Regulatory compliance protects various areas, including taxation, data solitude and protection, sanctions indexes like OFAC, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act shields not producing bribes in foreign nations. And the FCPA’s content extends far beyond containing bribes.

Breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other laws could result in the following:

• Enormous penalties for companies and sentenced individuals
• Confinement or Imprisonment
• Staining a company’s and condemned individual’s business reputation and values

Solution

Introduce your company, including the financial and accounting staff, with regulatory problems applying to your enterprise and corporation. Accomplish a project to establish regulatory situations and distribute the outcomes widely. Maintain a training session for business workers. 

11. Inadequate Security

Problem

Cybersecurity is a substantial problem that can compromise business intellectual property and customer data and employee documents in your working system. 

Solution

Execute multiple advanced cybersecurity software. Develop and spread an up-to-date company procedure on needed steps for attaining acceptable cybersecurity. Train workers on how to bypass the email and other scans that can result in hacks compromising organization safety. 

Conclusion

Real-time SaaS automation software and ERP approaches with current technology can control or decode several types of accounting issues and concerns, including fraud, accounting errors connected to dealer invoices and payments, GAAP adherence in financial reporting, and regulatory compliance. And the acceptable activity of the finance and accounting team stops or solves accounting problems. 

Accounting Regulations furnish for the use of various methods by various companies for an identical problem. Further, the companies are even allowed to move from one accounting method to another. These two requirements impair the comparability factor of quality accounting data. Similarly, there are several emerging accounting problems for which objective measurement, though seductive and essential, is not possible. Furthermore, diverse methods, with the opportunity to shift from one to another, are suggested. As a result, the companies can manipulate their accounts misinterpreting their revenues and other financial information.

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