Richard Palm is the accounting clerk of Olive Limited. He uses the source documents such as purchase orders, sales invoices and suppliers’ invoices to prepare journal vouchers for general ledger entries. Each day he posts the journal vouchers to the general ledger and the related subsidiary ledgers. At the end of each month, he reconciles the subsidiary accounts to their control accounts in the general ledger to ensure they balance. Discuss the internal control weaknesses and risks associated with the above process. (maximum 300 words)

Lack of segregation of duties

Explanation:

Internal Controls are set of rules and guidelines that are followed to ensure effectiveness of business operations. The main risk in the business is weak internal controls. There are some organizations with strong internal controls but implementation of such controls is a challenge for organizations. There are human errors, IT security risks, fraud and compliance risk.

The risks associated with Olive limited is that there is no segregation of duties, Richard Palm is preparing journal vouchers, posts the journal vouchers and reconciles the balance himself. If he makes an error in recording a transaction there is no one who reviews his work and can identify an error. Also if Richard is involved in a fraud and collaborates with purchase department or sales department staff, he can pass a transaction without any supervision.