Internal Control Activities

Control activities are the policies and procedures that help ensure management ..... are carried out.

Control activities occur throughout the organization, at all levels and in all functions, and include a range of activities as ..... as approvals, authorizations, verifications, reconciliations, reviews of operating performance, security of assets and segregation of duties.

..... information must be identified, captured and communicated in a form and time frame that enable people to carry out their responsibilities.

Information systems produce reports containing operational, financial and compliance-..... information that make it possible to run and control the business.

They deal not only with internally generated data, but also information about external events, activities and conditions necessary to ..... business decision-making and external reporting.

Internal control systems need to be monitored - a process that assesses the quality of the system's performance ..... time.

Internal control deficiencies should be reported ....., with serious matters reported to top management and the board.

There is synergy and linkage among these components, forming an integrated system that reacts dynamically to changing conditions; the internal control system is ..... with the entity's operating activities.

Internal control is most effective when controls are built into the entity's infrastructure and are a part of the ..... of the enterprise.

In sum, internal control can help an entity get to where it wants to go, and avoid ..... and surprises along the way.