An efficient finite-difference method for solving the heat transfer equation with piecewise discontinuous coefficients in a multilayer domain is developed. The method may be considered as a generalization of the finite-volumes method for the layered systems. We apply this method with the aim to reduce the 3D or 2D problem to the corresponding series of 2D or 1D problems. In the case of constant piecewise coefficients, we obtain the exact discrete approximation of the steady-state ID boundary-value problem.