Internal Control Material Weaknesses and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Violations

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. A80-A104
Author(s):  
Yi-Hung Lin ◽  
Meghann A. Cefaratti ◽  
Chih-Chen Lee ◽  
Hua-Wei Huang
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Regulatory Compliance ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Control Environment ◽  
Control Material ◽  
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between internal control material weaknesses (ICMWs), as measured by presence, number, and type, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations. Our results indicate that firms with ICMWs are more likely to violate the FCPA and firms with multiple ICMWs have a higher likelihood of violating the FCPA than firms with fewer ICMWs. Further, firms with ICMWs related to the risk assessment, control environment, and control activities components of internal controls (based on the COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework) present a higher risk of FCPA violations than firms without ICMWs in those areas. These findings substantiate the importance of effective internal controls in supporting firms' regulatory compliance. JEL Classifications: M42; M48; D73.

scholarly journals Material Weaknesses in Tax-Related Internal Controls and Last Chance Earnings Management

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristi A. Gleason ◽  
Morton Pincus ◽  
Sonja Olhoft Rego
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Control Material ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Implementation Period ◽  
Tax Expense

ABSTRACT We investigate the consequences of tax-related internal control material weaknesses (ICMWs) for financial reporting. We hypothesize that the presence of ineffective controls over the tax function makes earnings management through the income tax accrual (both income increasing and income decreasing) easier to implement relative to firms with effective controls. We also predict that the remediation of tax-related ICMWs has the effect of constraining earnings management through the tax accrual. The results provide support for our predictions. We also find that last chance earnings management via tax-related ICMWs is concentrated in the early years of our sample, during the initial SOX implementation period. Our results suggest that tax-related ICMWs were initially associated with greater tax-expense management but that SOX internal control assessments subsequently improved the quality of financial reporting by reducing opportunities for tax-expense management.

scholarly journals Impact of Internal Control on Audit Program Effectiveness: The Case of Vietnam

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Thi Que Nguyen ◽  
Manh Dung Tran ◽  
Thi Viet Ha Hoang
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Program Effectiveness ◽  
Environmental Control ◽  
Control Environment ◽  
Internal Auditors ◽  
Internal Control System ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Audit Program

This research is conducted to examine the relationship between components of risk assessment, environmental control and control activities of internal control system and the effectiveness of the audit program in Vietnamese firms. Data were collected by sending questionnaires to management, internal auditors, and accountants of Vietnam firms and feedback of 87 responses. By testing Cronbach’s Alpha, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Analysis of Variables (ANOVA), the results show that control environment, risk assessment and control activities contribute significantly to an effective audit program. These results indicate that Vietnamese firms lack required experiences to cope with the current instruments of internal control assessment.

scholarly journals Effects of Risk Assessment, Control Environment and Control Activities on Performance of Listed Banks in Ghana

2020 ◽  
pp. 18-33
Author(s):  
Redruth Nyaaba Ayimpoya ◽  
David Amoah Akolgo ◽  
Simon Akumbo Eugene Mbilla ◽  
Michael Kwame Gbegble
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Control Environment ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Risk Areas ◽  
And Control

Globally, internal controls serve many important purposes for public private and public help organizations. There is however an increasing call for better and improved internal control systems especially in firms that are listed on public market. However, internal control systems, irrespective of how well conceived and implemented cannot provide absolute assurance of management and boards regarding the achievement of objectives. This research focused on the three components of internal control systems namely control environment, risk assessment, and control activities. This study therefore formulated four objectives and investigated how risk assessment, control activities, and control environment affects the performance of Ghanaian banks. In this quantitative study, representatives from twelve listed banks were engaged. Descriptive and regression analysis was performed on the field data. The study result shows while Risk assessment has a strong significant effect on financial performance, Control environment and Control activities, have a weak significant effect on financial performance. The practical implication of the study is that, when assessing the performance of banks, risk areas must be examined critically to reduce or eliminate their impacts on bank performance.

Business Strategy, Internal Control over Financial Reporting, and Audit Reporting Quality

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 49-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen A. Bentley-Goode ◽  
Nathan J. Newton ◽  
Anne M. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Jel Classifications

SUMMARY This study examines whether a company's business strategy is an underlying determinant of the strength of its internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) and auditors' internal control reporting quality. Organizational theory suggests that companies following an innovative “prospector” strategy are likely to have weaker internal controls than companies following an efficient “defender” strategy. Consistent with theory, we find that firms with greater prospector-like characteristics are more likely to report and less likely to remediate material weaknesses, incremental to known determinants of material weaknesses. We also find that auditors' internal control reporting quality is lower among clients with greater prospector-like characteristics when measured using the timeliness of reported material weaknesses. Our findings indicate that business strategy is a useful summary indicator for evaluating companies' internal control strength and suggest that internal control reporting is an important area for audit quality improvement among prospector-like clients. JEL Classifications: D21; 21; M41. Data Availability: Data are obtained from public sources as indicated in the text.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Effectiveness of Internal Control Systems of Adamawa State Ministries, Departments and Agencies in Adamawa State, Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 57-71
Author(s):  
Ahmed Adamu Ishaku ◽  
Mohammed Mahmud Kakanda ◽  
Sagir Danladi
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Control Environment ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Internal Auditors ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Key Staff ◽  
And Control

Aim: This study examines the effectiveness of internal control systems (ICS) of Adamawa state Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Study Design: Survey research design. Place and Duration of Study: Sample: Ministries, Departments and Agencies in Adamawa State in 2019. Methodology: The sample size of the study was one hundred and sixty-five (165) target respondents which consist of all heads of MDAs, Directors of Finance, internal auditors’ and two key staff from accounts and audits of the ministries, departments and agencies. The study used primary data and questionnaire was used in collecting data used for analyses. The effectiveness of the internal control systems under four dimensions: control environment (CE), control activities (CA), information, and communication (IC), and monitoring of controls (MC) were analyzed using descriptive statistics while ANOVA test was used to test the hypothesis of the study. Results: The study found that the effectiveness of ICS for the MDAs in Adamawa state was good. The Departments category generally had the highest rating for CE, CA, IC and MC. This is reflected in their overall effectiveness. However, other categories (Ministries & Agencies) had moderate ICS effectiveness, particularly the Agencies that recorded the lowest rating in concerning to CE and CA. Recommendation: The study recommends that Departments should maintain their level of internal control systems through effective monitoring and separate evaluations of their systems of control. This will help enhance or maintain the current level of their internal control systems. Ministries and Agencies should strengthen their Control Environment through mechanisms such as a commitment to integrity, ethical values, and competence, and Control Activities by ensuring that unauthorized transactions are not processed and more controls are put in place to avoid overspending. This will render the other components of internal controls more effective.

The Severity of Internal Controls over Financial Reporting Deficiencies: Differences among Types and Industries

2014 ◽  
pp. 55-77
Author(s):  
Tatiana Mazza ◽  
Stefano Azzali
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Service Companies ◽  
Finance Industry ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Fixed Assets

This study analyzes the severity of Internal Control over Financial Reporting deficiencies (Deficiencies, Significant Deficiencies and Material Weaknesses) in a sample of Italian listed companies, in the period 2007- 2012. Using proprietary data the severity of the deficiencies is tested for account-specific, entity level and information technology controls and for industries (manufacturing and services vs finance industries). The results on ICD severity is compared with one of the most frequent ICD (Acc_Period End/Accounting Policies): for account-specific, ICD in revenues, purchase, fixed assets and intangible, loans and insurance are more severe while ICD in Inventory are less severe. Differences in ICD severity have been found in the characteristic account: ICD in loan and insurance for finance industry and ICD in revenue, purchase for manufacturing and service industry are more severe. Finally, we found that ICD in entity level and information technology controls are less severe than account specific ICD in all industries. However, the results on entity level and information technology deficiencies could also mean that the importance of these types of control are under-evaluated by the manufacturing and service companies.

Real Earnings Management before and after Reporting SOX 404 Material Weaknesses

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuukka Järvinen ◽  
Emma-Riikka Myllymäki
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Public Disclosure ◽  
High Quality ◽  
The Public ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Internal Control System ◽  
Before And After

SYNOPSIS The purpose of this study is to investigate whether SOX Section 404 material weaknesses manifest in real earnings management behavior. The empirical findings indicate that, compared to companies with effective internal controls, companies with existing material weaknesses in their internal controls engage in more manipulation of real activities (particularly inventory overproduction). This implies that the weak commitment by management to provide effective internal control system and high-quality financial information relates to a tendency to use real earnings management methods. Moreover, we find evidence suggesting that companies employ real earnings management (overproduction and reduction of discretionary expenses) after disclosing previous year's material weaknesses. We conjecture that the public disclosure of material weaknesses induces management to strive to mitigate the expected negative reactions of stakeholders to the disclosure by engaging in real earnings management, which is not easily detected or constrained by outsiders. Overall, this study suggests that material weaknesses in internal controls signal an environment where management is more inclined to employ real earnings management.

Board Independence and Internal Control Weakness: Evidence from SOX 404 Disclosures

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangyang Chen ◽  
W. Robert Knechel ◽  
Vijaya Bhaskar Marisetty ◽  
Cameron Truong ◽  
Madhu Veeraraghavan
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Negative Relation ◽  
Internal Control Weaknesses ◽  
A Company ◽  
Jel Classifications

SUMMARY In this paper, we investigate whether board independence has an impact on the likelihood that a company reports weaknesses in internal controls. Using a sample of 11,226 firm-year observations spanning the period 2004–2012, we establish several findings. First, we document a negative relation between board independence and the disclosure of internal control weaknesses. We also document that the negative relation is stronger for firms with unitary leadership (combined positions of CEO and chairman) than for firms with dual leadership. Next, we show that board independence is associated with both fewer account-specific and company-level weaknesses. Finally, we show that board independence is associated with timely remediation of internal control weaknesses and that the implementation of Auditing Standard No. 5 in 2007 weakens the effect of board independence on the disclosure of ICW. JEL Classifications: G10; G18.

Who's in Control of the Ark? A Study of Internal Controls in Operating and Auditing A Small Preschool

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth V. Grace ◽  
Ashley Davis
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Auditor Independence ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Control Environment ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
Analytical Thinking ◽  
Financial Transactions

ABSTRACT This instructional case encourages analytical thinking about internal controls in both the operations and audit of a small, not-for-profit organization. Students examine a control environment characterized by unauthorized expenditures, lack of documentation, and missing documents. Using the COSO (2013) framework, students demonstrate understanding of business processes as they identify internal control risks and deficiencies, and recommend control improvements. Auditing students additionally apply management assertions about financial transactions and assess auditor independence. Students gain practical experience in developing flowcharts of accounting processes and writing a management letter for a familiar organization: a preschool.

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