Internal Control and Risk Evaluation

Review of ABC Company and the directions it is targeting. The strategy of the company is to lift the expected sales in an aggressive fashion, with the expected end target being to triple the current levels. The plan is to push sales into the targeted range of $3 million within 3 years versus the current amount which sits at $1.2 million. We will identify the perceived risk factors that may impact this aggressive strategy and its successful execution. The following will be those risk factors:

The chances of failures can be decreased by executing the checks on the systems. These keep an eye on the systems preventing risks from occurring, and these checks are avoided as the interior controls. The motivation behind the inner controls is to keep the organization safe from risks associated with the modernized accounting-system risks. Organizations change their manual accounting systems to computerized accounting systems for different reasons, this incorporates the points of interest, and the explanation behind utilizing electronic accounting information is instinct. The organizations embrace the policies of their

#2. Internal Control Risks; audit planning decisions. Some internal control risks common among large, high-volume retail stores include dealing with inherent limitations and potential fraud. Even if a well-designed internal control system is in place, the employees using it are ultimately the deciding factors in its effectiveness. For example, management may instruct an employee or easily-influenced executive (of another company) to alter information or confirmations or multiple employees may conspire to steal assets or misstate records (collusion; misappropriation of assets).

A few controls that an organization can look into to reduce the danger of cash receipts deception incorporate utilizing cash registers that include interior tapes that can't be altered, carrying out surprise asset counts and contrasting money receipt tapes with actual money within the drawer, encouraging clients to keep their receipts by expressing that they are needed for exchanges, consecutively numbering all money receipts and carrying out reconciliations and abstracting bond insurance on every worker taking care of money

Kudler Fine Food should have written procedures and policies for everything, starting from work procedures to locking up the store. Kudler Fine Food does not have a written policy security of Finance and Accounting Systems, but it is recommended to written document. There should be a document of security features embedded by the software provider, including names of people with limited access and dollar limits. In addition, passwords

Discussion: The system’s administrative infrastructure shall be installed and tested before the software is connected to any POS stations. Training for administrative personnel will be conducted in three separate sessions at each Kudler location, in order to ensure that all backroom employees are not away from their duties at the same time. (Alternatively, training can be conducted after regular business hours, if Kudler Fine Foods would prefer this method.) Once the infrastructure is firmly in place, POS stations will be connected to the system and tested one at a time. This should require no additional training for the cashiers – the duty manager will be responsible for informing them about the new functionality of the card readers as they report for work.

With every internal control weakness a company needs to identify either a control policy or control procedure that will help prevent error or fraud from occuring in the future. Based on my suggestions as to what weaknesses existed at Goodner Brothers, Inc. I have suggested the policies or procedures that could be implemented to help prevent future issues. The internal control I would implement to hinder employee access to the accounting system would be to secure all computer programs with individual usernames and passwords to prevent access from others. The bookkeeper should be the only employee with access to the accounting system and to test this procedure the company would need to try and access the software without a username and password. To monitor the storage warehouse situation, the company should install computer scanning systems and video cameras at each location to supervize whether tires are being scanned in and out upon delivery and pick-up and to determine who and when these transactions are taking place. Semi-annual reviews should be conducted by sales managers to evaluate their sales representative. In addition, strengthening the tone at the top mentality should lie in the hands of each owner by personally reviewing all sales managers to create a top down effect.

Kudler Fine Foods is an upscale specialty food store, servicing the fine food conesouer from their three California locations. Kudler's business objective is to maximize profits by offering the highest quality products at competitive prices. Through adding the on-line ordering system, Kudler hopes to boost profits by increasing their customer base beyond customers in their local areas. The Kudler on-line ordering system will add three important advantages to Kudler customers. First, the on-line ordering system will allow current Kudler customers to access the system, place their order, and have it ready for pickup when they arrive at the store. The

Kudler policies and procedures will be reviewed using a risk-base audit approach. Attribute sampling technique will test internal controls of the POS System Observed sales transaction made at each store. Using the variable sampling technique, financial report from REMS system and bank statements obtained from the bank will be compared to Kudler 's bank reconciliation reports. After the evidence is gathered and reviewed an overall audit opinion will be given to determine if objectives were met and whether procedures were sufficient.

Risk analysis is an integral part of data safety within an organization and the analysis is vital to the mission and success of an organization. Risk analysis is used “to identify threats and then provide recommendations to address these threats” (Taylor et al, 2006). Risk analysis encompasses not only the equipment and programs used in an organization but also covers the culture, managerial, and administrative processes to assure data security. A key factor in risk analysis is to have a good Information Resource Management Plan.

The following report relates to the internal controls of Woolworths, and will look to describe and analyse them with the use of flow charts. The report will then move onto give details of an audit program that has been designed to test the internal controls of Woolworth’s accounts payable. Moreover, possible ways of how controls could be overridden as well as how the overall system could be realistically improved will also be discussed within the report.

After a risk and control self-assessment, Company XYZ finds that their operational losses are greater than expected. The company defines operational losses based on losses largely from fraudulent automobile accident personal injury claims. With this finding, Company XYZ has decided to commit the necessary resources to reinforce and strengthen their operational risk program. However, with the currently in place special investigations unit (SIU) that is responsible for investigating claims of potential fraudulent. , is understaffed. Looking at the Company XYZ’s goals and strategies to implement a companywide risk management system to consolidate risk data, and prevent data loss, a software application as a tool can be helpful.

“Internal controls are policies and procedures put in place to ensure the continued reliability of accounting systems” (Ingram 2017). WorldCom’s attempts at maintaining internal controls are less than favorable. Segregation of duties enables the division responsibilities to ensure that no employee completes two similar tasks. The CEO’s monitoring of WorldCom’s financial processes shows that the company has a lax segregation of duties, which makes it easier to commit fraud. Access controls protect financial data from unauthorized access, however, WorldCom’s extent is password-protected computers. No access inventories are taken to monitor employee usage, so there is no trail of when employees are doing during work.

Information security professional’s job is to deploy the right safeguards, evaluating risks against critical assets and to mitigate those threats and vulnerabilities. Management can ensure their company’s assets, such as data, remain intact by finding the latest technology and implementing the right policies. Risk management focuses on analyzing risk and mitigating actions to reduce that risk. Successful implementation of security safeguards depends on the knowledge and experience of information security staff. This paper addresses the methods and fundamentals on how to systematically conduct risk assessments on the security risks of information systems.

One well accepted description of risk management is the following: risk management is a systematic approach to setting the best course of action under uncertainty by identifying, assessing, understanding, acting on and communicating risk issues. In order to apply risk management effectively, it is vital that a risk management culture be developed. The risk management culture supports the overall vision, mission and objectives of an organization. Limits and boundaries are established and communicated concerning what are acceptable risk practices and outcomes. Since risk management is directed at uncertainty related to future events and outcomes, it is