The purpose of this paper is to discuss whether having a strong vs. weak internal control would affect the financial audit process and the auditor’s opinion. As part of the audit process, auditors are required to understand and assess the strength of their client’s internal control environment even if they are not required to express an opinion in that regard. However, auditors are required to express an opinion on the internal control effectiveness and to disclose any material weaknesses. The existence of a strong internal control assures users of the reliability of information in an organization’s financial statements (Lehmann, 2010, p.741) and it helps auditors during their audit process as it reduces the amount of substantive testing they need to perform.
Understanding internal control components Whittington & Delaney (2011) stated the definition of internal control as published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) as, a process-effected by an entity’s board of directors [those charged by governance], management, and other personnel- designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of objectives in the following categories: reliability of financial reporting, effectiveness and efficiency of operations, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
The reliability of financial reporting is most relevant to the audit while the other two categories may or may not be related depending on its materiality and
Scoping and Evaluation Judgments in the Audit of Internal Control over Financial Reporting 12.1 EyeMax Corporation . . Evaluation of Audit Differences
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
3. In the auditor 's report the financial statements on which the opinion is being expressed
Internal control is one of the integral parts of an organization. It is a system which controls different types of risks,
Auditors have the responsibilities as well as management to report internal controls. The auditors must examine closely management’s claim of effectiveness and also physically test the controls. After the examination, the auditors should express their opinion and any recommendations to fix any internal control weaknesses.
Information contained in financial statements should be verifiable by an independent auditor. The information should be sufficiently accurate enough that any financial expert can take the information and report identical conclusions. Reliability in GAAP means the financial statements describe an accurate snap shot of an organization’s solvency.
Internal controls are vital to any company’s business and financial sustainability. Internal controls consist of measures taken by a company safeguarding against fraud, and theft. Internal controls ensure accuracy and reliability in accounting data, and secure policies within the organization. Further, internal controls evaluate all levels of performance. These are addressed with five principles
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
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
The final responsibility for the integrity of an SEC registrant’s internal controls lies on the management team. U.S. companies need to refer to a comprehensive framework of internal control when assessing the quality of financial reporting to determine that financial statements are being presented under General Accepted Accounting Principles, GAAP. The widely used framework is referred as COSO, Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, sponsored by the following organizations American Accounting Association, the American Institute of CPA’s, Financial Executives International, the Institute of Internal Auditors, and the Institute of Management Accountants. COSO’s defines internal control as:
The control environment is what sets the tone for an organization and is the foundation for all other components of internal control. It provides discipline and structure and reflects the ethical values, integrity and competencies of the organization. The control environment is very important to effective internal control over financial reporting to an audit client like WorldCom, because good designs can prevent and detect frauds and errors. But because WorldCom had such a poor control environment, the company would require more testing for an audit. This shows that the board did not exercise oversight responsibilities over financial reporting or internal controls.
Internal auditors cannot effectively provide an analysis on the company’s internal dealings as they are part of the company. External auditors, however, can observe these processes from the outside and then determine where the funds of the company and whether the dealings adhere to the regulations. Using external auditors in a company prevents conflict of interest from happening. Conflict of interest is a situation where an individual or organization has multiple interests and of those multiple interests, one could possible corrupt the motivation for an act on the other when the auditor has any kind of beneficial interest in their client’s performance. In other circumstances, there is also the threat of familiarity where auditors become
A business can not work out without an account system, which includes internal. Internal controls are used by companies to make sure financial information is accurate and valid. Strong internal controls are signs of a financially healthy company and protect the company’s integrity. Strong internal controls can also increase a company’s profitability. There are several types of internal controls that companies used to protect themselves such as: Segregation of duties, asset purchases, supervisor review, internal audits and adequate documents and records. This paper will discuss several topics from a case study about And the Fraud
Effective internal controls protect a company’s assets, maintain compliance, improve operations, prevent fraud, and promote accuracy in financial reporting. In 1992 the
The role of internal audit is to provide independent declaration that an organization’s threatadministration, governance and internal control processes are functioning effectively. Internal auditors deal with concerns that are essentially important to the existence and success of any organization. Unlike external auditors, they aspect beyond financial possibilities and statements to reflect wider problems such as the organization’s reputation, development, its power on the location and the approach it treats its organizations.In summary, internal accountantssupport organizations to thrive.