1) The Bank statement balance may differ from the company
checkbook balance for some following reasons:
- Cheques issued by the Company have not been presented by the
receiving party to the bank
- Cheques received by the Company not deposited or deposited at
the end of the day of end of the month.
- A check that was not honored by the bank of the entity issuing
the check, on the grounds that the entity's bank account does not
contain sufficient funds
- a banking transaction, such as a credit received, or a charge
made by the bank, has not yet been recorded in the organization's
books
- either the bank or the organization itself has made an
error.
The above has to be reconciled by preparing the Bank
Reconciliation Statement.
2) There are five basic elements that lead to a good system of
internal control.
- Control Environment. Any good system of
internal controls must begin with the control environment,
particularly the top level management. You must make it clear to
employees, investors, vendors and customers that the company will
be run honestly and ethically and deviations from this policy will
not be tolerated.
- Risk Assessment. Once a proper tone is
established, you should then perform a risk assessment. You want to
assess the areas where there is the greatest risk that your
organization will not be successful.
- Control Activities. Once risk has been
assessed, institute policies and procedures that mitigate those
risks. A system of internal controls must be designed specifically
to address the greatest areas of risk, whether the risk is the
occurrence of fraud or error. Activities that mitigate risk include
segregation of duties, safeguarding of assets and policies related
to information processing.
- Monitoring. Monitoring of the internal control
system may include internal audits, testing of procedures, follow
up on errors and reaction to perceived deficiencies.
- Communication. Finally, there must be clear
communication of information. Provide all levels of employees with
the information that they need to properly carry out the activities
of the organization and adhere to the developed controls.