Internal control plays an increasingly significant role in firms and many other organizations. Businesspeople, especially managers, pay more attention to internal control and its relationship with management (Krishnan, 2005). They tend to discover how internal control affects the operation of the companies. Although managers of some companies have doubts on the value of internal control, it directly helps managers to make open and effective management of the companies when designing, undertaking and optimizing their plans. The definition of internal control is presented in the first section. Then next section shows the importance of internal control, which mainly functions as risk assessment, effective communication and monitoring, …show more content…
Risk assessment is the most basic function of internal control that helps companies to prevent risks. Risks are analyzed, considering possibility and influence, as a basis for determining how they should be dealt with, thus, those potential risks can be identified before financial losses occur (Feng et al., 2009). For example, a company purchases an advanced fire-prevention system including the smoke detectors and fire alarms. This control behavior can reduce the possibility of fire accidents that may destroy the company’s physical assets. Therefore, the system is worthwhile because it prevents the company suffering from the likelihood of fire and avoids financial losses. Internal control systems have been advocated as a mechanism for establishing high quality management (Altamuro et al., 2010). It is impossible to run companies without any risks. What managers need to do is to assess the possibility of the risk and take relevant measures to prevent it occurring. The model of risk assessment is applied to decide whether the control should be implemented. There is a tiny flaw of the internal control. From the example it can be seen that if the cost of purchasing the fire-prevention system surpasses the total value of the company assets, this kind of control will lose its significance. Internal control makes great contribution to reducing
1. To have a strong internal control system, a business must have good administrative controls. Administrative controls include: A. B. C. D. the reconciliation of the bank statement. the accuracy of the recording procedures. assessing compliance with company policies. maintenance of accurate inventory records.
Internal control is one of the integral parts of an organization. It is a system which controls different types of risks,
There are many rules companies must follow whenever documenting financial information or any other data which is gather during any business transactions. In order for said companies to report financial information internal controls have to be put in place as companies have to adhere to certain laws and regulations. Internal controls can be defined as a process which companies follow in order to ensure all financial reporting is done in a reliable and lawful manner. Some think of it as a system which works within a system as it plays a major role on the success of a company’s accounting system. At the organizational level, internal control objectives relate to the reliability of financial
Internal controls represent an organization’s processes and procedures used to meet its goals and objectives and serve as a defense in safeguarding assets and preventing and detecting errors, fraud, and abuse. Effective internal controls provide reasonable assurance that an organization’s objectives are achieved through (1) reliable financial reporting, (2) compliance with laws and regulations, and (3) effective and efficient operations. The passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as the numerous corporate frauds and bankruptcies over the past decade—including some
Internal controls, no matter how well designed and operated, provide only reasonable assurance to management regarding the achievement of a department’s objectives. Certain limitations are inherent in all internal control systems. Despite these limitations, the reasonable assurance that internal control does provide enables a department to focus on reaching its objectives while minimizing undesirable events. Managers can start by analyzing the two circumstances most likely to threaten the achievement of objectives, change and inherent risk. The examples listed below are not all-inclusive, nor will every item apply to every department. The risk to accomplishing objectives increases dramatically during a time of change. Because any change increases risk, managers must diligently monitor and assess all significant changes within their departments. Some examples of change that expose a department to increased risk are: Changes in personnel. Changes in the regulatory environment. New or revamped information systems and technology. Rapid growth or expansion of operations Moving to a new location. New programs or services. Reorganizations within or between
Having internal controls is one thing, but how the company evaluates that control is a matter all by itself. Being an independent auditor, it is our job to understand an entity and
The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) defines internal control as a process, effected by and entity’s board of directors, management and other personnel, designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability or financial reporting, the effectiveness and efficiency of operations, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. (Louwers, Ramsay, Sinason, Strawser, & Thibodeau, 2015). Internal Control helps entities achieve important objectives and sustain and impose performance. A properly
Security cameras will be placed strategically around the shop and warehouse and will be watched by employee number 4, he will overlook all security cameras in the warehouse on the weekends when stock will be transferred from the warehouse to store. If any theft occurs during the week when employee 4 is not present, the alarm system installed in the warehouse will sound and 2 men from Sniper (the security service in use) will go to the warehouse to see whether the thieves are still there, they will then report to the owner (you). On weekdays employee 4 will watch the cameras at the store, if any theft does occur from either the employees or customers, employee 4 will detain the thief until the police arrive to take him/her away. A log book will be handled by the manager, when the driver or any employee (transfers stock from warehouse to store) chooses to use company vehicles they will record their check in times, destination and time brought back in the log book, any changes made to the vehicle i.e. Fill up with petrol, must also be recorded in the log book. When vehicle expenses are claimed, one method of substantiating is to maintain a log book. A log book is a written record of your business use of a vehicle over a period
Internal controls prevent errors and irregularities from happening. If errors or irregularities do happen to occur internal controls will help ensure that they are detected in a timely manner. Internal controls also encourage adherence to prescribe policies and procedures. Internal control are also put into place in order to protect employees by outlining tasks and responsibilities, providing checks and balances, and also from being accused of misappropriations, errors and irregularities.
The framework describes internal control as a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of objectives in the following categories:
The first component mentions, control environment sets the tone of an organization, influencing the control consciousness of its people, (Cleverly, Song, & Cleverly, 2011). The authors mention of this rule being the foundation for all the components providing discipline and structure for all other internal control components. The next interrelated internal control is risk assessment is the entity’s identification and analysis of relevant risks to achievement of its objectives, forming a basis for determining how the risks should be managed, (Cleverly, Song, & Cleverly, 2011). Then, there is the information and communication are the identification, capture, and exchange of information in a form and time frame that enable people to carry out their responsibilities, (Cleverly, Song, & Cleverly, 2011). This is very helpful for health care organizations to implement and follow through carefully in their departments and especially billing and coding. The last internal control rule states, monitoring is a process that assesses the quality of internal control performance overtime, (Cleverly, Song, & Cleverly, 2011). These internal controls related to the corporate compliance program are all impertinent to health care
“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.
The assets of the company need to be protected. In order to do so, the company needs to review for risks. The company needs to develop a plan for what internal control measures they would want to put into place. Internal controls will help guide how we protect our
Effective internal controls protect a company’s assets, maintain compliance, improve operations, prevent fraud, and promote accuracy in financial reporting. In 1992 the
Fraud prevention is a concern to both small businesses and large corporations alike. Business owners place their trust into employees who are hired to perform duties that contribute to the success of the company. When that trust is broken, or ideally before this occurs, businesses must look to their internal controls in an effort to limit the opportunity for such malicious behavior. The purpose of this paper is to define internal controls, explain the purpose it serves in the business environment, and common internal control measures. Additionally, an example of internal control from this author’s employer will be discussed as well as an incidence of embezzlement found while researching this topic. Let’s first take a look at its definition and some examples.