The Controllership Series: The Controllers Role in Internal Controls

Overview

This course in part of our series on the Controllership Role. Internal control is relevant to everyone in the workplace. It represents our moral responsibility to understand & comply with organization policies & procedures. It also provides the means to hold individuals accountable for their work. The controller is an impactful position that affects a company's processes including financial, compliance & operational.

Controller functions vary across companies often following the size & complexity of the business & the industry. Smaller companies require more versatility for the controller Larger companies are more able to segregate job responsibilities across other employees.

The controller should be knowledgeable of the various controls to create a control system that will appropriately safeguard company assets & processes. Internal controls are typically comprised of control activities such as authorization, documentation, reconciliation, security & segregation of duties.