That gives CPAs a new consulting opportunity to document and test non-client companies' internal controls.
A firm interested in developing this niche has to know the skills it will need, the time and staff required, the depth of the market, the best way to approach clients, the limits on auditor involvement and what information technology tools are available.
The market exists because companies temporarily may be unable to meet the project management and staffing needs to design the section 404 internal audit functions that later will be checked by the company's external auditor. Others may be dealing with new concepts and technology.
What controls a company tests and exactly how its consulting CPA does so largely will depend on company circumstances and the internal control objectives.
One firm not only documents internal controls for nonaudit clients but also recommends improvements such as eliminating unnecessary manual controls in low-risk areas or adding some controls for high-risk transactions. It says small companies should pass any questions by their external auditors rather than guess at the PCAOB's intentions.
An auditor should keep some distance from management's internal control compliance project; it may explain to its client how a cash disbursement system works but should not advise the client how to assess its risks or which controls management needs to test, for example. Designing controls requires the CPA to have a high skill level and extensive knowledge of the client's business.
Opening Closed Doors of "Internal Control"
Internal control encompasses more than a company's accounting functions. A number of definitions of the term "internal control" primarily focus on "clarifying the portion of a company's internal control that an auditor should consider when planning and performing an audit of a company's financial statements." This, albeit, did not improve the level of understanding of "internal control," nor satisfactorily provide the guidance that auditors sought. In time, successive definitions followed and increased understanding. In time, it was determined that transactions be executed in accordance with management's general/specific authorization; that transactions be recorded as necessary; to permit preparation of financial statements in access to assets only in accordance with management's general and/or specific authorization, and during regular intervals, recorded accountability for assets be compared with existing assets.
Discussion of Amendments Implementing Section 404
Section 53 depicts duties and function of the state inspector general. he/she shall possess the following duties and responsibilities:
receive and investigate complaints from any source, or upon his or her own initiative, concerning allegations of corruption, fraud, criminal activity, conflicts of interest or abuse in any covered agency; inform the heads of covered agencies of such allegations and the progress of investigations related thereto, unless special circumstances require confidentiality; determine with respect to such allegations whether disciplinary action, civil or criminal prosecution, or further investigation by an appropriate federal, state or local agency is warranted, and to assist in such investigations; prepare and release to the public written reports of such investigations, as appropriate and to the extent permitted by law, subject to redaction to protect the confidentiality of witnesses. The release of all or portions of such reports may be deferred to protect the confidentiality of ongoing
Acts in the Interest of the People of NYS comprehensive legislative package aimed to reform public authorities will be jointly introduced with the New Jersey Legislature by Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) and Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Parlin). The package, which consists of two broad bills requires passage in both states. One bill solely focuses on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ("PANY/NJ"). The second bill expands New York's Public Authority and Accountability Act of 2005. As noted by Brodsky at the introduction of this paper, some argue that:
For far too long public authorities have operated behind closed doors without any real oversight or accountability and the result has been a systemic pattern of corruption and mismanagement. " This researcher recommends, along with Brodsky, that reforms York's public authorities in 2005, but the reforms need to be further implemented; that the Port Authority be given oversight. This "new" legislative package will help ensure, as Brodsky notes, "Soviet-style bureaucracies finally work in the interest of the people of this State."
Ermann and Lundman 1982, cited by Segal, stress that employees' systemic wrongdoing, violating society's norms while maintaining their organizations' internal norms' support "assumes that corruption can be reduced through accountability devices such as oversight, surveillance, audits, performance evaluations, sanctions and structural reorganizations (Sherman 1978; Susan Rose-Ackerman 1993; Maynard-Moody, Stull, and Mitchell 1986, cited by Segal). Contemporary debates contribute to one conventional belief that posits, if/when adequate...
Security A broad definition of information security is given in ISO/IEC 17799 (2000) standard as: "The preservation of confidentiality (ensuring that information is accessible only to those authorized to have access), integrity (safeguarding the accuracy and completeness of information and processing methods), and availability (ensuring that authorized users have access to information and associated assets when required" (ISO/IEC 17799, 2000, p. viii). Prior to the computer and internet security emerged as we
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