To do management, we must know the top ten loopholes in internal control.
1, the cashier receives the bank statement and prepares the bank reconciliation statement.
This problem is listed at the top of the top ten problems because it is very common and has serious consequences. It is often seen in the media that the cashier of a certain unit embezzled public funds for several years before being discovered, which is caused by the defects of internal control in this respect. Regrettably, until today, there are still many units that are not aware of this problem at all, or although they are aware of it, they don't think so, underestimating the serious consequences it may cause.
Separation of incompatible work is the basic principle of internal control. Incompatible tasks that usually need to be separated include authorization and execution, execution and audit, execution and recording, custody and recording. Manage money regardless of accounts, manage accounts regardless of money? It is a typical application of the principle of incompatible job separation. Money funds are the easiest to falsify. If the cashier is responsible for receiving and compiling the bank statement, the cashier may misappropriate or occupy the company's monetary funds and cover up his fraud by forging the statement or tampering with the balance reconciliation statement. According to the author's understanding, more than 80% of enterprises have the phenomenon that cashiers receive bank statements and prepare balance reconciliation tables. The reason is mainly from the perspective of work convenience, because cashiers often go to the bank to handle various payments, so it is convenient. Is it logical? Collect bank statements and prepare balance reconciliation statements. I don't know that this customary practice hides great risks. In fact, it is not difficult to guard against this risk. As long as someone other than the cashier is responsible for collecting bank statements and verifying the balance of bank deposits, the key is to pay attention to it ideologically.
2、? A pen? Examination and approval, lack of perfect internal control system and process guarantee
Leadership? A pen? On the surface, it seems that the control is very strict and it is not easy to go wrong, but in fact, this? A pen? Control reflects the backwardness of the internal control mode of the unit. First of all, everything is approved by the leaders. Due to the limitation of time and energy, leaders may eventually get tired of dealing with it and be unable to prioritize and approve it or not. A pen? Become a signature? A pen? , control is a mere formality. Secondly, without relevant supporting materials, leaders cannot judge the rationality of revenue and expenditure. A pen? You'll lose control. For example, if the manager applies for the purchase of a certain equipment, and the leader does not have relevant data on the economic feasibility and price rationality of the equipment, the approval will become a mere formality. Third, leadership? A pen? It will lead to a high degree of centralization, which is not conducive to the restriction and supervision of leaders and may lead to corruption. Therefore, reasonable internal control should be authorized at different levels and approved step by step according to its importance.
3, relying too much on business personnel, enterprises lose control of business development.
The business resources of an enterprise are completely in the hands of the salesman, which is a very dangerous thing for the enterprise. In reality, it can often be seen that once the salesmen of many enterprises change jobs or leave their jobs, the original customer and business relationship will also be taken away, resulting in a passive situation in which enterprises rely too much on business personnel. What's more, some enterprise salesmen openly use the resources of the unit to secretly develop their business for themselves or their relatives and friends, seek personal gain and seriously damage the interests of enterprises. In view of this phenomenon, enterprises should improve the system design, such as establishing a unified customer file and customer relationship management system, involving more than two people in the same business, appropriately rotating jobs, strengthening financial control over business processes, and allowing customers to recognize the enterprise itself rather than individuals, so that the business of enterprises will not rely on one or two people, thus maintaining sustained and stable development.
4. There are many written descriptions of the internal control system, but few flow charts and supporting tables.
Many units have such a phenomenon that employees have been working in a certain position for a long time, and they are familiar with it and have rich experience. However, once employees are transferred or resigned because of something, it will take a long time for their successors to get familiar with the situation and explore their working methods again. The reason for this phenomenon is that the enterprise system is mainly literal, lacking clear job description and work flow chart, and the people who implement it often rely on their own experience and others? Lead by example? To do things, novices don't know where to start at first, and generally need long-term study and familiarity. So we need a complete system. A complete enterprise system should include three parts: (1) supporting system documents described in words; (2) A written description of the work flow chart or process; (3) the style summary of relevant vouchers, forms and documents. By drawing a clear work flow chart, everyone can understand the procedures, departments, personnel and rules and regulations at a glance, which can solidify the good experience formed by the work. Moreover, it is easier to find the shortcomings and risk points in internal control through the flow chart, which is conducive to the continuous improvement of internal control in enterprises.
5. Internal control system? Fire fighting? More, lack of systematicness and integrity.
Many enterprises' internal control systems are gradually established in the process of development, and it is often found that there are some problems in management, so a system is introduced to regulate them accordingly. For example, if the telephone bill is found to be high today, a management method of communication fee will be formulated, and if the waste of office supplies is found to be serious tomorrow, the procurement and use method of office supplies will be formulated. This kind? Fire fighting? Our system can only guard against the risks that have occurred, without considering the risks that have not occurred. In addition, such a system lacks systematicness and completeness in content and form, has no scientific and reasonable classification, and even there are contradictions or overlaps between different systems. Some units and different departments make systems and policies according to their own needs, and they fight with each other. One unit I have contacted only bought one computer, which can be purchased through the information department, because the information department is responsible for the computer software and hardware system of the whole unit; You can also go through the administrative office, because computers belong to office supplies, which are managed by the office; It can also be purchased through the equipment department responsible for managing fixed assets, because computers are fixed assets. To this end, enterprises should have a set of standardized system formulation procedures and formal norms, including the number, format, classification, content, examination and approval procedures, implementation and other matters needing attention of the system for unified and standardized management, and bound in writing.
6. When employees are on temporary leave or on business trip, there is no clear work handover system.
In any post, employees will always be unable to go to work normally due to unexpected events, illness, business trips and other reasons. Many units have not considered the question of who will take over the job when employees leave temporarily. In practice, when employees take temporary leave or travel, they will temporarily assign relevant personnel to take part-time jobs. But in fact, this practice of cramming for the Buddha's feet in an emergency is slightly improper and may bring risks to enterprises. In the normal work arrangement of an enterprise, incompatible positions are usually held by more than two people, in order to contain each other. The practice of temporarily assigning someone to hold the position may lead to the incompatible positions being held by the same person. For example, check seals are usually kept by two people separately. If one person is temporarily occupied and the other person is designated to temporarily hold all blank checks and seals, the risk of check theft will greatly increase. Therefore, it is necessary for enterprises to clearly stipulate the work handover system for some important positions to prevent employees from getting out of internal control during temporary leave or business trip? Vacuum? Phenomenon.
7. Pay attention to the written test and interview when recruiting personnel, ignoring the background investigation.
Even the best control can't prevent fraud if dishonest people are hired. If an enterprise does not carefully screen candidates and therefore hires dishonest employees, it is likely to suffer. Many enterprises also attach great importance to the integrity of candidates in the recruitment process, but pay more attention to written tests or interviews. ? However, who knows what lies behind a beautiful resume? . Background investigation can effectively find out whether the applicant has fictitious personal information, whether there is a record of dishonesty and the work of his former employer, thus helping enterprises to identify candidates and prevent unqualified personnel from being recruited. Moreover, the background investigation itself does not need complicated technology, and only needs to make a few phone calls or send a letter to the unit where the applicant once worked, and some very useful information can be obtained, and the implementation cost is relatively low.
8. There is no compulsory rotation or paid vacation system for key positions.
After working in a certain position for a long time, employees will be more familiar with internal control loopholes and have greater possibility of fraud. In reality, many frauds, such as embezzlement or corruption, are discovered during the handover of work. Through compulsory rotation or paid vacation, the work during the vacation is temporarily taken over by others. Because the employee will be supervised by others when he leaves his job, his chances of committing and covering up fraud will be greatly reduced. The U.S. Monetary Authority requires American bank employees to take a week off every year. During the employee's vacation, other successors are arranged to do his work, just to prevent employees from cheating. For enterprises in China, for some key positions, such as finance and procurement, the establishment of compulsory rotation and paid vacation system can not only improve the working ability of employees, but also be an effective measure to prevent and detect fraud.
9, too much emphasis on cost control, to go beyond the system on the grounds of efficiency.
There is no doubt that the implementation of internal control needs cost, and it will affect the operating efficiency to a certain extent. Therefore, some unit managers often oppose the implementation of internal control measures on the grounds of affecting efficiency. In fact, if all the functions are entrusted to a certain department or person, there is no need for authorization, approval and audit, which may be very efficient, but the risks arising therefrom will also rise sharply. Therefore, in order to prevent some major risks from bringing catastrophic losses to enterprises, sacrificing a certain degree of efficiency is the cost that must be paid to control risks. In reality, it is often encountered that the implementation of new internal control system by enterprises often involves the breaking and adjustment of the original interest pattern. At this time, some managers oppose the implementation of new internal control measures on the grounds of affecting efficiency, but in fact the interests of individuals or departments are affected. Because the loss caused by the imperfect internal control system may be related to the life and death of the enterprise, and efficiency is the speed of enterprise development. As the leader of an enterprise, we should not overemphasize the cost factor and neglect the construction of internal control system, but should reasonably weigh the relationship between internal control cost and efficiency.
10, say one thing, do another, the system is empty.
Whether the internal control system has been effectively implemented is an old-fashioned question, but it has to be said that many problematic cases are often not because the system lacks provisions, but precisely because the system has explicit provisions but has not complied with them. There are two main reasons why the internal control system cannot be effectively implemented: First, the system itself is unreasonable? Or too idealistic, or with the emergence of new situations, the original system has been unable to adapt but has not been revised in time? So that the system is not operable, and naturally it will not be implemented; Second, there is no mechanism to ensure the implementation of the system. Some units have neither inspected and supervised the implementation of internal control, nor have corresponding rewards and punishments measures. It is not surprising that the internal control system has become a wall decoration and a dead letter. Therefore, on the one hand, enterprises need to improve the operability of the system, on the other hand, they need to strengthen the execution of the system, and they cannot make the system for the sake of the system.