Cost Financial and Internal Control
Course Objectives
- Apply controls in the accounting processes
- Appraise functions and roles within the accounting department to maximize controls while optimizing performance
- Implement segregation of duties and internal controls in the accounting department and related functions
- Describe how to decrease the likelihood of fraud through the organization based on the reliability of the processes
- Develop operational policies and procedures in accordance with internal control requirement
- Design and maintain financial controls
Cost control
- Budget as a control tool
- The control process
- Characteristics of an effective control system
- Responsibility reporting
- Variance analysis: identifying the components of variance
- Variance analysis: taking the corrective action
Cost management decisions
- Decision making process
- Identifying relevant costs
- Evaluating alternatives
- Outsourcing decisions : make or buy
- Add or drop product or business line
- Replacing equipment
- Special order pricing decisions
Financial controls
- Controlling access to financial assets
- Controls on financial reporting
- Controls through budgets
- Controls through management reporting
- Implementing financial controls through policies and procedures
Purpose of internal controls
- Compliance requirements through internal controls
- Compliance requirements for oversight boards
- Examples of compliance requirements
- Other considerations: fraud prevention and customer satisfaction
Strategic need for analyzing and managing costs
- Definition of cost management
- Dimensions of cost management
- Product costing systems: concepts and design issues
- Cost behavior, types and hierarchy
- Cost accumulation job shop
- Batch production operations
- Variable versus absorption costing
Implementing controls in business cycles
- Controls in purchase and payment cycle
- Controls in inventory and costing cycle
- Controls in sales and collection cycle
- Controls in fixed assets life cycle
- The human element role in controls
- Technology role in implementing controls
- Segregation of duties in business cycles
- Required reporting in business cycles
- Approvals and authorization in business cycles
- Risks to corporation in lack of control in the cycle
- Controlling assets and inventory movements within the company
- Preventing fraud through proper controls
Information System Controls
- Safeguarding data
- Access to communication systems
Course Methodology
The course is based on presentations and examples by the instructor.