An internal control system consists of policies, procedures, and controls implemented by an organization to protect assets, ensure reliable financial reporting, and promote operational efficiency. The key objectives of an internal control system are to safeguard assets, ensure accurate and reliable accounting data, promote operational efficiency, and encourage adherence to managerial policies. An effective internal control system includes control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring functions based on the COSO framework. Control activities involve preventive, detective, and corrective controls to properly manage risk and ensure organizational objectives are met.

1. Chapter
8-1
Chapter
8-1

2. Chapter
8-2
Chapter
8-2
Chapter 8
Introduction to Internal Control Systems
Introduction
Internal Control Systems
 Definition
 Framework
Preventive, Detective, and Corrective Controls
Control Activities within an Internal Control
System
Cost-Benefit Concept for Developing Controls

3. Chapter
8-3
Chapter
8-3
Introduction
An organization’s financial resources can
be protected from loss, waste, or theft by
developing an internal control system
implementing it within its AIS
An internal control system
ensures reliable data processing
promotes operational efficiency

4. Chapter
8-4
Chapter
8-4
Internal Control
An internal control system consists of
various methods
 designed and
 implemented
several measures
 planned and
 executed

5. Chapter
8-5
Chapter
8-5
It aims to achieve four main objectives:
to safeguard assets
to check the accuracy and reliability of accounting
data
to promote operational efficiency
to encourage adherence to prescribed managerial
policies
Internal Control

6. Chapter
8-6
Chapter
8-6
Describes the policies, plans, and procedures
implemented by a firm to protect its assets.
people involved include:
 board of directors
 management
 other personnel
provides reasonable assurance of:
 effectiveness and efficiency,
 reliability of financial reporting, and
 compliance with applicable laws
and regulations
Internal Control

7. Chapter
8-7
Chapter
8-7
Objectives of the Internal
Control Structure
The objectives of the Control Structure are:
Safeguarding assets
Checking the accuracy and reliability
of accounting data
Promoting operational efficiency
Encouraging adherence to
prescribed managerial policies

8. Chapter
8-8
Chapter
8-8
Background Information
on Internal Controls
The key laws, professional guidance, and reports that
focus on internal controls are:
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977
Treadway Commission Report 1977
SAS No. 55 1988
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) Report
1992
SAS No. 78 1995
Control Objectives for Business and IT (COBIT) 1995
Information Federation for Information Processing 2001

9. Chapter
8-9
Chapter
8-9
Background Information
on Internal Controls
SAD No. 94 2001
Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Section 404 2002
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations
(COSO) Report 2004
CobiT, Version 4.0 2005

10. Chapter
8-10
Chapter
8-10
Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act
In 1977 the Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act (FCPA) makes
it illegal for publicly owned corporations to
bribe foreign officials
board members and managers personally
liable if illegal payments are made
only applies to publicly owned corporations

11. Chapter
8-11
Chapter
8-11
Provisions of the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act
The FCPA requires that
publicly held companies
 design and
 implement a system of control procedures
The control system must provide assurance that:
assets are accounted for appropriately
transactions are in conformity to GAAP
access to assets is properly controlled
periodic comparisons of existing assets to the accounting
records are made

12. Chapter
8-12
Chapter
8-12
Background of Internal Controls
The Treadway Commission Report
recommended:
 a common definition for internal control
 guidance for judging the effectiveness of internal
control
 methods to improve internal control

13. Chapter
8-13
Chapter
8-13
Background of Internal Controls
Results of The Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations (COSO) in 1992
 defines internal control and describes its
components
 presents criteria to evaluate internal control
systems
 provides guidance for public reporting on
internal controls
 offers materials to evaluate an internal control
system

14. Chapter
8-14
Chapter
8-14
The International Federation for Information
Processing in 2001 sponsored conference
“Integrity and Internal Control in Information
Systems” (ISACF) encouraged IT and Internal
control specialist:
to work together to develop reliable systems
which would enable managers to have more
confidence in the integrity of their information
systems and the data generated from those systems
.
Background of Internal Controls

15. Chapter
8-15
Chapter
8-15
Components of Internal Control
According to the 1992 COSO
Report
Control Environment
Risk Assessment
Control Activities
Information and
Communication
Monitoring

16. Chapter
8-16
Chapter
8-16
The Control Environment
The Control Environment
establishes the tone of a company,
influences the control awareness of the employees.
Factors included within the control environment are:
Integrity, ethical values and competence of employees
Management philosophy and operating style
Assignment of authority and responsibility
The attention and direction provided by the
board of directors

17. Chapter
8-17
Chapter
8-17
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment involves
recognition that every organization faces
risks to its success
recognition that the sources are internal
and external
identification, analysis and action
to achieve the company’s goals
use of cost-benefit analysis

18. Chapter
8-18
Chapter
8-18
Control Activities
Control activities:
are the policies and procedures that ensure
 management directives are carried out,
 protection of the assets of the firm
include a combination of
 manual controls
 automated controls.

19. Chapter
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Chapter
8-19
Can be categorized as
 approvals
 authorizations
 verifications
 reconciliations
 reviews of operating performance
 segregation of duties
Control Activities

20. Chapter
8-20
Chapter
8-20
Information and Communication
Management’s responsibility to
make sure the accounting system,
collects
measures
processes
communicates to individuals inside and
outside the firm

21. Chapter
8-21
Chapter
8-21
Information and Communication
Communication helps personnel
understand their roles and responsibilities
to internal control by the use of:
 policies and procedures manuals
 training sessions for new employees
 refreshers training for continuing
employees

22. Chapter
8-22
Chapter
8-22
Monitoring
Monitoring
is the process that assesses the quality
of internal control performance over time
involves evaluating the design and
operation of controls on a timely basis,
initiating corrective action when
specific controls are not functioning
properly.

23. Chapter
8-23
Chapter
8-23
2004 COSO Enterprise Risk
Management Framework
Internal Environment
Objective Setting
Event Identification
Risk Assessment
Risk Response
Control Activities
Information & Communication
Monitoring
Business
Unit
Subsidiary
Division

24. Chapter
8-24
Chapter
8-24
2004 Framework added
elements to 1992 COSO
Objective setting
Event identification
Risk response

25. Chapter
8-25
Chapter
8-25
Objective Setting
Enterprise’s objectives are viewed from
these four perspectives:
• Strategic; high level goals and mission
• Operations; day to day goals
• Reporting; internal and external
• Compliance; with laws and regulations

26. Chapter
8-26
Chapter
8-26
Event Identification and Risk
Response
Identify threats
Analyze the risks
Implement cost-effective
countermeasures

27. Chapter
8-27
Chapter
8-27
Control Procedures Analysis
Control Procedures can be classified as
Preventive Controls
 to prevent some potential problem from
occurring when an activity is performed
Detective Controls –
 alert us when preventive controls have failed
Corrective controls
 to remedy problems discovered through
detective controls

28. Chapter
8-28
Chapter
8-28
Interrelationship of Preventive
and Detective Controls
Preventive and detective control procedures
should not be treated as mutually exclusive.
are interrelated

29. Chapter
8-29
Chapter
8-29
Control Activities
Within an Internal Control System are
the following features
a good Audit Trail
sound personnel policies and competent employees
separation of duties
physical protection of assets
internal reviews of controls by internal audit
subsystem
Timely Performance Reports

30. Chapter
8-30
Chapter
8-30
Good Audit Trail
An audit trail enables auditors and accountants
to follow the transaction data
 from the initial source documents
 to the final disposition in a financial
report and vice-versa
to detect, in the processing data
 errors and
 irregularities

31. Chapter
8-31
Chapter
8-31
Sound Personnel Policies
Examples of sound personnel policies are:
Specific hiring procedures
Training programs
Good supervision
Fair and equitable guidelines for
employees’ salary increases

32. Chapter
8-32
Chapter
8-32
Sound Personnel Policies
Rotation of certain key employees in different
jobs
Enforced vacations
Insurance coverage on those employees who
handle liquid assets
Regular performance reviews

33. Chapter
8-33
Chapter
8-33
Separation of Duties
Segregating activities and responsibilities of
employees
allows different people to perform various
tasks of a specific transaction
The main functions that should be kept
separate are
custody of assets
recording transactions
authorizing transactions

34. Chapter
8-34
Chapter
8-34
Physical Protection of
Assets
Protection of assets is
keeping a company’s assets in a safe physical
location
minimizing the risk of damage to the assets or
avoiding theft by employees
or outsiders

35. Chapter
8-35
Chapter
8-35
Physical Protection of
Assets
Examples of accounting control procedure
a voucher system protects against
unauthorized cash disbursements.
a petty cash fund is used for small
expenditures where writing a check
would be inefficient.
cash receipts deposited intact each day

36. Chapter
8-36
Chapter
8-36
Internal Reviews of
Controls
Internal auditors
report to high-level management or to the
board of directors in order to remain
independent and objective as a separate
subsystem
perform periodic reviews on each department
to evaluate their efficiency and effectiveness
make recommendations of ways cost of
control procedures can be reduced

37. Chapter
8-37
Chapter
8-37
Timely Performance
Reports
Performance reports
provide information to management on
 efficiency of the internal controls and
 effectiveness of the internal controls
These reports
should provide timely feedback to
management on the
success of the internal controls or
failure of the internal controls

38. Chapter
8-38
Chapter
8-38
Cost-Benefit Concept for
Developing Controls
A cost-benefit analysis
should be conducted to make sure that the benefits
of planned controls exceed the cost of implementing
them in the system
controls are considered cost-effective when their
anticipated benefits exceed their anticipated costs
an ideal control is a control procedure that reduces
to practically zero the risk of an undetected error or
irregularity.

39. Chapter
8-39
Chapter
8-39
Cost Benefit Analysis
The benefits of additional control procedures
result from risk of loss reductions.
should include a measure of loss
 the exposure (potential loss associated with a
control problem) and
 risk (probability that the control problem will
occur).
are calculated as
 Expected loss = risk X exposure

40. Chapter
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Chapter
8-40
Copyright
Copyright 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
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information contained herein.

41. Chapter
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Chapter
8-41
Chapter 8