My favorite books for those wanting to build excellence in accounting and finance

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m obsessed with spreading the word about best practices when it comes to the accounts payable function. It’s a lot more complicated than you might imagine – if you want to avoid fraud, excess costs, duplicate payments, problems with the IRS, etc. I regularly speak at both online and live events. As the host of the AP Now YouTube channel, I’m able to share opinions, interview industry thought leaders, and share the latest business intelligence needed to run an efficient, cost-effective accounts payable and payment function. I’ve written over 20 business books, most of them focusing on various aspects of the accounts payable function.


I wrote...

127 Best Practices for Accounts Payable

By Mary S. Schaeffer,

Book cover of 127 Best Practices for Accounts Payable

What is my book about?

In an ideal world – one none of us live in – you would be able to put best practices in place for any business function and then forget about it. Sadly, that is not the world we live in. New and frightening frauds, new technology and applications, and continually changing regulatory issues all impact your accounts payable function and hence the best practices needed to run an effective operation. In this book I identify 127 Best Practices every organization should be using in their accounts payable and payment process. 

Recognizing that few are able to implement all of them, I also identify what I call “Almost Best Practices.” For each task, I identify the many Worst Practices companies still use related to each of the 127 issues.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of MrExcel 2022: Boosting Excel

Mary S. Schaeffer Why did I love this book?

It goes without saying that every accounting and finance professional should be skilled when it comes to Excel.

When looking for tips and tricks to take Excel skills to the next level, I turn to the man, a Microsoft MVP, who has written over 60 books on the topic, taught thousands of seminars on the issue and is known as MrExcel. This book shares information, the "aha" tips that uncover secret methods in Excel.

By Bill Jelen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked MrExcel 2022 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Inspiring Excel tips designed to save 100 hours per year.

Originally designed for Bill Jelen's live Power Excel seminars, the target audience already uses Excel 40 hours a week. These tips are the "aha" tips that uncover secret methods in Excel. The book covers general Excel functions, pivot tables, and formulas such as VLOOKUP and the new XLOOKUP. It introduces elements of modern Excel such as the Power Pivot Data Model and cleaning data with Power Query. Updated annually, this edition for 2022 adds information on collaboration features, LET and LAMBDA functions, amazing new data types, dynamic array formulas, and…


Book cover of Embezzlement: How to Detect, Prevent, and Investigate Pink-Collar Crime

Mary S. Schaeffer Why did I love this book?

Did you know that women excel when it comes to embezzlement?

It’s the one type of fraud that is more likely to be committed by a woman than a man. That’s why embezzlement is often referred to as pink-collar crime. But, as Paxton points out, the crime has more to do with position rather than gender as most embezzlement is committed by lower-level employees, such as the bookkeeper who runs the accounting and finance side of an office.

This is especially true in smaller businesses. Packed with numerous real-life stories, Paxton shares tips every organization should use to ensure this type of crime does not happen on their watch. She also is known for creating fraud-related hashtags, my favorite being #trustisnotaninternalcontrol.

By Kelly Paxton,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Embezzlement as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Your most trusted employee. Your right hand. However, something just doesn’t feel right about your business. Could an employee be stealing from you? Certainly you’re mistaken, right?

After all, this person helped you grow your business, has full access to everything from passwords to bank statements. Sure, that gives your employee the opportunity, but he or she would never take advantage of it.

We lock our cars and our houses to protect ourselves. What do you do to protect your business? This book is designed to help you prevent, detect, and investigate embezzlement. You will learn how opportunity, pressure, and…


Book cover of The Honest Truth About Fraud: A Retired FBI Agent Tells All

Mary S. Schaeffer Why did I love this book?

Fraud continues to plague the business community and learning out to deal with it is crucial, especially when it comes to putting a fraud protection framework in place.

Too often, organizations focus heavily on stopping small petty frauds, while leaving the door wide open for some of the more virulent frauds that can literally bring an organization to its knees. Think Enron, Worldcom, etc. Hartman worked on both and shares insights learned from these and other white-collar crimes he investigated while working for the FBI. 

By Victor E. Hartman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Honest Truth About Fraud as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A retired FBI explains the current fraud threat picture that any individual or organization may face. Armed with this knowledge, the author walks the reader through the Fraud Live Cycle: Prevention, Detection, Investigation, Mitigation, and Remediation. This book has particular significance to the many professionals who are responsible for overseeing fraud-related issues, including auditors, general counsels, compliance officers, board members, human resource professionals, chief audit executives, heads of security, criminal and civil investigators, regulators, and frontline managers. The book is also used as a textbook for university students studying forensic accounting.

The book is also for the casual observer who…


Book cover of How to Write a Killer LinkedIn Profile

Mary S. Schaeffer Why did I love this book?

In today’s business environment, having a LinkedIn profile is essential. But just slapping some basic information up there is no longer adequate.

If you want to compete for the very best positions, recognized by those looking to hire without posting, and simply put your best foot forward when it comes to marketing yourself and networking, then you need some expert help – which Bernstein provides by the truckload.

By Brenda Bernstein,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Write a Killer LinkedIn Profile as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, hosts the profiles of nearly 800 million people in over 200 countries and 2.8 million locales -- and up to 47% of them are active users. LinkedIn reports 97 million monthly unique visitors worldwide, 57% of whom log on via mobile devices. In the U.S., 27% of adults (180+ million users) have LinkedIn profiles. Over 30 million companies have company pages on LinkedIn. Furthermore, according to LinkedIn, there are executives from every Fortune 500 company using this social network, and 95% of those companies use LinkedIn's licensed recruiting software to search for job candidates.

LinkedIn is…


Book cover of MrExcel 23: The Greatest Excel Tips of All Time

Mary S. Schaeffer Why did I love this book?

Because I believe it is critical for all accounting and finance professionals to be as proficient as possible with Excel, I’ve included a second Excel book on this list.

This about-to-be-published book represents the latest iteration of MrExcel LX - The Holy Grail of Excel Tips published in 2019. Without a doubt, like his many other books, it will provide tips and tricks to help the audience perfect their much-needed Excel skills.

By Bill Jelen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked MrExcel 23 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Excel tips to skyrocket white-collar productivity.

Originally designed for Bill Jelen's live Power Excel seminars, the target audience already uses Excel 40 hours a week. These tips are the "aha" tips that uncover secret methods in Excel. The book covers general Excel functions, pivot tables, and formulas such as VLOOKUP and the new XLOOKUP. It introduces elements of modern Excel such as the Power Pivot Data Model and cleaning data with Power Query. Updated annually, this edition for 2021 adds information on LET and LAMBDA functions, amazing new data types, dynamic array formulas, and more.


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