Case Study -Internal Control

LJB Company, a local distributor, has asked your accounting firm to evaluate their system of internal controls because they are planning to go public in the future. The President wants to be aware of any new regulations required of his company if they go public so he met with a colleague of yours at a local restaurant. The President of the company explained the current system of internal controls to your colleague. Your colleague has since been promoted to a tax position so she has passed on the information below so you can generate recommendations for the partner at your accounting firm to share with the President of LJB Company. Since LJB Company is a relatively lean organization, they have a lot of faith in their long-term employees. They have one accountant who serves as Treasurer and Controller which streamlines many of their processes. In this dual role, he purchases all of the supplies and pays for these purchases. He also receives the checks and completes the monthly bank reconciliation. The accountant is so busy that the company handles petty cash a bit differently. All employees have access to the petty cash in a desk drawer and are asked to only place a note if they use any of the cash. The accountant has recently started using pre-numbered invoices and wants to buy an indelible ink machine to print their checks. The President is waiting to hear from you if this is a necessary purchase before authorizing. On payday, the checks are picked up by the accountant and left in his office for pick-up. Before he leaves for the weekend, he will move the checks into a safe in his office. The President is still quite embarrassed because he had to fire one of his employees for viewing pornography on a company computer. He later found out this individual was a convicted felon who served time for molesting children. The company had a hard time getting the employee to admit it was him because the company does not assign individual passwords. The President expressed his frustration because both he and the accountant both interview and approve all of the new hires.

Required:
Based on the above information, prepare a Word document to address the following: 1. Inform the President of any new internal control requirements if the company decides to go public. (7 points) 2. Advise the President of what the company is doing right (they are doing some things well) and also recommend to the President whether or not they should buy the indelible ink machine. When you advise the President, please be sure to reference the applicable internal control principle that applies. (13 points)

3. Advise the President of what the company is doing wrong (they are definitely doing some things poorly). Please be sure to include the internal control principle that is being violated along with a recommendation for improvement. (20 points) You must prepare a formal report for the partner to distribute to the President so no abbreviations or short-hand answers.

Internal Control

Under SOX, all public traded U.S. corporations are required to maintain an adequate system of internal controls. Corporate executives and boards of directors must ensure that these controls are reliable and effective. As with any business, the transformation of going from a private to public requires some extensive planning and preparation. It is recommended that LJB being a relatively small sized company in terms of its employees should reevaluate the costs versus the benefits of being a public traded company. If LJB decides to issue stock it would be wise to answer the following questions (1) How many shares should be authorized for sale?(2) How to issue the stock?(3) What value should be assigned to the stock? The content of this Internal control report is based on the related methods and measures adopted within an organization to safeguard its assets, enhance the reliability of its accounting records, increase efficiency of operations, and ensure compliance with laws and regulations. The major independent components/variables of the internal control system should include:

Control environment Risk assessment Control activities Information and communication Monitoring

It has been observed that not all the components of an effective internal control system are present in the control components of a company. If LJB decides to go public in the near future there are some new internal control requirements to be aware of. The most basic component of the internal control system is the company management/leadership in the control environment. In our opinion, it is the responsibility of top management to make it clear that the organization values integrity and that unethical activity will not be tolerated. This should clearly indicate the Tone at the top. The second component of the internal control system is the company leading/managing its control activities. The control activities are the backbone of the companys effort to address the risks it may face, such as fraud. In order to reduce the occurrence of fraud, management must design policies and procedures to address the specific risks faced by the company. Since LJB is a relatively small company in terms of number of employees, this gives it an advantage over its competitors in the industry. Not only does it show the faith you have in your long-term employees, but it also develops loyalty and employee retention. With a smaller

organization it will be easier to set new expectations and implement new rules throughout the organization. The accountants recent decision to switch to pre-numbered invoices was a great idea, and the purchase of an indelible ink machine will be an excellent investment. Prenumbered invoices will help to prevent a transaction from being recorded more than once, or conversely, from not being recorded at all. Second, the control system requires that employees promptly forward source documents for accounting entries to the accounting department. This control measure will help to ensure timely recording of the transaction and contributes directly to the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. Indelible ink machine will help organize as well as simplify the accounting duties. Use of physical controls is essential. The accountants act of keeping the checks in a safe in his office is in accordance with the Physical controls principle. This reflects the safeguarding of assets and enhances the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. It has been observed that the company is violating the principle of control activity of segregation of duties. The accountant is acting as the Treasurer and Controller. In this dual role, he purchases all of the supplies and pays for these purchases. He also receives the checks and completes the monthly bank reconciliation. Various frauds are possible when one person handles related activities. Use of the three principles of internal control segregation of recordkeeping from physical custody, documentation and independent internal verification is recommended. This will deliver an effective system of internal controls. Any attempt at fraudulent activity will be detected unless there is collusion among the employees. Internal controls over cash receipts should include: (a) designating only personnel such as cashiers to handle cash; (b) assigning the duties of receiving cash, recording cash, and having custody of cash to different individuals; (c) obtaining remittance advices for mail receipts, cash register tapes for over-the-counter receipts, and deposit slips for bank deposits; (d) using company safes and bank vaults to store cash with access limited to authorized personnel, and using cash registers in executing over-the-counter receipts; (e) making independent daily counts of register receipts and daily comparisons of total receipts with total deposits; and (f) bonding personnel who handle cash and requiring them to take vacations. Internal controls over cash disbursements include: (a) having only specified individuals such as the treasurer authorized to sign checks; (b) assigning the duties of approving items for payment, paying the items, and recording the payment to different individuals; (c) using pre numbered checks and accounting for all checks, with each check supported by an approved invoice; after payment, stamping each approved invoice paid; (d) storing blank checks in a safe or vault with access restricted to authorized personnel, and using a machine with indelible ink to imprint amounts on checks; (e) comparing each check with the approved invoice before issuing the check, and making monthly reconciliations of bank and book balances; and (f) bonding personnel who handle cash, requiring employees to take vacations, and conducting background checks. The principle of establishing responsibility does not appear to be strictly applied by company in petty cash handling. All employees have access to the petty cash in a desk drawer and are asked to only place a note if they use any of the cash. In this scenario it might be impossible to determine who is responsible for the error. An essential principle of internal control is to assign responsibility to specific employees. Therefore it is recommended to establish responsibility of only one person for a petty cash control. Petty case should be in a safe box and one person should be in charge of keeping a log and a supervisor should reconcile it at least once a week. Also, petty cash has to be entered in the system for replenishing the funds.

The hiring process is the most important and inexpensive measure for human resource control activities. The companys human resource department should conduct thorough background checks. By conducting thorough background checks they are not risking the companys information/security. After getting hired each employee should have their own computer login, such as identifying pass codes that keep track of employees who log in at a particular time. Also, the company should block all websites that are not appropriate to view at work. By having their own log in they cant blame other people for what activity they are involved in. The president or any other employee designated by the company should be the only ones able to access all sites. This will allow the company to have better human resource control and physical internal control.