Question

Discuss the internal controls in a business. What are they? Describe in detail. Why are they important?

Answer 1

Internal controls are the mechanisms, rules, and procedures implemented by a company to ensure the integrity of financial and accounting information, promote accountability, and prevent fraud. Besides complying with laws and regulations and preventing employees from stealing assets or committing fraud, internal controls can help improve operational efficiency by improving the accuracy and timeliness of financial reporting.

Internal controls are policies and procedures put in place to ensure the continued reliability of accounting systems. Accuracy and reliability are paramount in the accounting world. Without accurate accounting records, managers cannot make fully informed financial decisions, and financial reports can contain errors. Internal control procedures in accounting can be broken into seven categories, each designed to prevent fraud and identify errors before they become problems.

The seven internal control procedures are separation of duties, access controls, physical audits, standardized documentation, trial balances, periodic reconciliations, and approval authority.

Internal controls are typically comprised of control activities such as authorization, documentation, reconciliation, security, and the separation of duties. And they are broadly divided into preventative and detective activities.

Preventive control activities aim to deter errors or fraud from happening in the first place and include thorough documentation and authorization practices. And the separation of duties ensures that no single individual is in a position to authorize, record, and be in the custody of a financial transaction and the resulting asset. Authorization of invoices and verification of expenses are internal controls. In addition, preventative internal controls include limiting physical access to equipment, inventory, cash, and other assets.

Dective controls are backup procedures that are designed to catch items or events that have been missed by the first line of defense. Here, the most important activity is reconciliation, used to compare data sets, and corrective action is taken upon material differences. Other detective controls include external audits from accounting firms and internal audits of assets such as inventory.

Importance.

Internal controls help to prevent misstatement of financial statements.

Internal Controls help to prevent and detect fraud.

Internal Controls help to address financial statement assertions.

Internal Controls help to understand and mitigate risks.

Internal controls help to establish company practices.