Question

Carefully study the Scenario below and highlight Ten (10) internal control weaknesses.

Discuss how the identified internal control weaknesses can be addressed.

Bart Simpson is the accountant and cashier of a small company exporting its products to Europe and Asia. The company purchases parts from both local and overseas suppliers. Any employee working in the factory can initiate a purchase request and send it to the purchasing department to avoid delay. The purchasing department will use the same supplier for the last purchase to reduce the work load and send the purchase order to the supplier.

The staff members of the receiving department always rely on the purchase order to fill in the receiving report without actually checking the delivery from the suppliers.

When a vendor invoice is received, Bart checks for a corresponding purchase order. If he locates the purchase order, he then rings the receiving department for an oral confirmation that the goods have arrived. If the goods have arrived, Bart prepares an internet Banking transfer through the which bank and authorizes the transfer himself for local supplier. In case of an overseas supplier, Bart buys foreign currency from his sister Lisa who owns a foreign exchange business. Bart then puts the foreign currency and the remittance advice in an envelope and then mails it to the overseas supplier in order to save bank fees and charges.

If Bart cannot locate the purchase order, he places the invoice in the ‘pending invoice’ tray until he receives a reminder notice from the supplier. He then repeats the process above if the purchase order is found. In the unlikely case that Bart cannot locate the purchase order after receiving the reminder notice from the supplier, he calls the purchasing department and request another copy of the purchase order.

As Bart has been busy, he rarely remembers to pay the suppliers on time to take advantage of special cash discounts offered by them. In one or two occasions, Bart paid the same invoice twice. Luckily no major financial loss incurred as the suppliers agreed to refund the overpayment in most cases.

Answer 1