Internal Controls over Business and IT Processes
Many reasons account for the need to ensure that every aspect of an organization is well controlled, irrespective of its vision and mission. Stakeholders, such as owners, creditors, customers, management, boards of directors, employees and governments, want their diverse interests to be well protected. Given the sheer number of activities and transactions performed by organizations using humans, processes and technology, it is quite natural that without an effective and efficient mechanism in place to minimize the risks of lapses, the interests of stakeholders will not be catered for satisfactorily.
Unhealthy Situation
Organizations look up to their internal control mechanisms as a means to prevent potential problems, such as errors, anomalies, fraud, embezzlement, defects, omissions, dissatisfaction, penalties and sanctions. Sadly enough, with business circumstances changing all the time, internal controls are not promptly and adequately updated to keep pace with the changing environment. In some cases, internal controls are virtually non-existent. In other cases, organizations concentrate solely on the internal controls for their core businesses and neglect the crucial controls needed for the IT environment within which the core business functions are performed. These organizations forget that without having effective and efficient IT controls in operation, core business controls, which depend on IT, could be circumvented.
Right the Wrong
With no margin of error for organizations these days, there is the need to design, implement and operate effective and efficient internal controls over business and IT processes to ensure that the interests of all stakeholders are adequately catered for.
To address your internal controls concerns, contact us for any of the services listed below and more.
Design
Implementation
Identification
Documentation
Assessment (design and operating effectiveness)
Remediation/improvement