Ethics, Fraud, and Internal

Control

Introduction to Accounting Information

Systems, 8e
James A. Hall

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 Objectives for Chapter 3

▪ Broad issues pertaining to business ethics

▪ Ethical issues related to the use of information
technology
▪ Distinguish between management fraud and
employee fraud
▪ Common types of fraud schemes
▪ Key features of SAS 78 / COSO internal control
framework
▪ Objects and application of physical controls
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 Business Ethics

Why should we be concerned about ethics in

the business world?
▪ Ethics are needed when conflicts arise—the
need to choose
▪ In business, conflicts may arise between:
▪ employees
▪ management
▪ stakeholders
▪ Litigation
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 Business Ethics

Business ethics involves finding the answers to

two questions:
▪ How do managers decide on what is right in
conducting their business?
▪ Once managers have recognized what is right,
how do they achieve it?

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 Four Main Areas of Business Ethics

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 Computer Ethics…
concerns the social impact of computer technology (hardware,
software, and telecommunications).
What are the main computer ethics issues?
▪ Privacy
▪ Security—accuracy and confidentiality
▪ Ownership of property
▪ Equity in access
▪ Environmental issues
▪ Artificial intelligence
▪ Unemployment and displacement
▪ Misuse of computer

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 Legal Definition of Fraud
▪ False representation - false statement or
disclosure
▪ Material fact - a fact must be substantial in
inducing someone to act
▪ Intent to deceive must exist
▪ The misrepresentation must have resulted in
justifiable reliance upon information, which
caused someone to act
▪ The misrepresentation must have caused
injury or loss
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 Figure 3-1 Fraud Triangle
Pressure Opportunity
No Fraud

Pressure Opportunity

Ethics

Fraud
Ethics 8
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 2008 ACFE Study of Fraud
▪ Loss due to fraud equal to 7% of revenues—
approximately $994 billion
▪ Loss by position within the company:
Position % of Frauds Loss $
Owner/Executive 23% $834,000
Manager 37% 150,000
Employee 40% 70,000

▪ Other results: higher losses due to men,

employees acting in collusion, and employees
with advance degrees
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 Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia
Underlying Problems
▪ Lack of Auditor Independence: auditing firms also engaged by their
clients to perform nonaccounting activities
▪ Lack of Director Independence: directors who also serve on the
boards of other companies, have a business trading relationship,
have a financial relationship as stockholders or have received
personal loans, or have an operational relationship as employees
▪ Questionable Executive Compensation Schemes: short-term stock
options as compensation result in short-term strategies aimed at
driving up stock prices at the expense of the firm’s long-term health
▪ Inappropriate Accounting Practices: a characteristic common to
many financial statement fraud schemes
▪ Enron made elaborate use of special purpose entities.
▪ WorldCom transferred transmission line costs from current
expense accounts to capital accounts.

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 Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Its principal reforms pertain to:
▪ Creation of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (PCAOB)
▪ Auditor independence—more separation between a
firm’s attestation and non-auditing activities
▪ Corporate governance and responsibility—audit
committee members must be independent and the
audit committee must oversee the external auditors
▪ Disclosure requirements—increase issuer and
management disclosure
▪ New federal crimes for the destruction of or
tampering with documents, securities fraud, and
actions against whistleblowers
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 Employee Fraud

▪ Committed by non-management personnel

▪ Usually consists of: an employee taking cash
or other assets for personal gain by
circumventing a company’s system of internal
controls

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 Management Fraud
▪ Perpetrated at levels of management above the
one to which internal control structure relates
▪ Frequently involves using financial statements to
create an illusion that an entity is more healthy and
prosperous than it actually is
▪ Involves misappropriation of assets, it frequently is
shrouded in a maze of complex business
transactions

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 Fraud Schemes

Three categories of fraud schemes according to

the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners:
A. fraudulent statements
B. corruption
C. asset misappropriation

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 A. Fraudulent Statements

▪ Misstating the financial statements to make

the copy appear better than it is
▪ Usually occurs as management fraud
▪ May be tied to focus on short-term financial
measures for success
▪ May also be related to management bonus
packages being tied to financial statements

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 B. Corruption
▪ Examples:
▪ bribery
▪ illegal gratuities
▪ conflicts of interest
▪ economic extortion
▪ Foreign Corrupt Practice Act of 1977:
▪ indicative of corruption in business world
▪ impacted accounting by requiring accurate records
and internal controls

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 C. Asset Misappropriation

▪ Most common type of fraud and often occurs as

employee fraud
▪ Examples:
▪ making charges to expense accounts to cover theft of
asset (especially cash)
▪ lapping: using customer’s check from one account to
cover theft from a different account
▪ transaction fraud: deleting, altering, or adding false
transactions to steal assets

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 Internal Control Objectives
According to AICPA SAS
1. Safeguard assets of the firm
2. Ensure accuracy and reliability of accounting
records and information
3. Promote efficiency of the firm’s operations
4. Measure compliance with management’s
prescribed policies and procedures

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 Modifying Assumptions to the
Internal Control Objectives
▪ Management Responsibility
The establishment and maintenance of a system of internal
control is the responsibility of management.
▪ Reasonable Assurance
The cost of achieving the objectives of internal control should
not outweigh its benefits.
▪ Methods of Data Processing
The techniques of achieving the objectives will vary with
different types of technology.
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 Limitations of Internal Controls

▪ Possibility of honest errors

▪ Circumvention via collusion
▪ Management override
▪ Changing conditions--especially in companies
with high growth

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 Exposures of Weak Internal
Controls (Risk)
▪ Destruction of an asset
▪ Theft of an asset
▪ Corruption of information
▪ Disruption of the information system

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 The Internal Controls Shield

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 Preventive, Detective, and Corrective
Controls

Figure 3-3
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 SAS 109 / COSO
Describes the relationship between the firm’s…
▪ internal control structure,
▪ auditor’s assessment of risk, and
▪ the planning of audit procedures
How do these three interrelate?
The weaker the internal control structure, the higher the
assessed level of risk; the higher the risk, the more auditor
procedures applied in the audit.

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Five Internal Control Components:
SAS 109 / COSO
1. Control environment
2. Risk assessment
3. Information and communication
4. Monitoring
5. Control activities

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 1: The Control Environment
▪ Integrity and ethics of management
▪ Organizational structure
▪ Role of the board of directors and the audit
committee
▪ Management’s policies and philosophy
▪ Delegation of responsibility and authority
▪ Performance evaluation measures
▪ External influences—regulatory agencies
▪ Policies and practices managing human
resources
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 2: Risk Assessment
▪ Identify, analyze and manage risks relevant to
financial reporting:
▪ changes in external environment
▪ risky foreign markets
▪ significant and rapid growth that strain internal
controls
▪ new product lines
▪ restructuring, downsizing
▪ changes in accounting policies

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3: Information and Communication
▪ The AIS should produce high quality information
which:
▪ identifies and records all valid transactions
▪ provides timely information in appropriate detail to
permit proper classification and financial reporting
▪ accurately measures the financial value of
transactions
▪ accurately records transactions in the time period in
which they occurred

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Information and Communication
▪ Auditors must obtain sufficient knowledge of the IS to
understand:
▪ the classes of transactions that are material
• how these transactions are initiated [input]
• the associated accounting records and accounts used in processing
[input]
▪ the transaction processing steps involved from the
initiation of a transaction to its inclusion in the financial
statements [process]
▪ the financial reporting process used to compile
financial statements, disclosures, and estimates
[output]
[red shows relationship to the general AIS model]
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 4: Monitoring
The process for assessing the quality of internal
control design and operation
[This is feedback in the general AIS model.]
▪ Separate procedures—test of controls by internal
auditors
▪ Ongoing monitoring:
▪ computer modules integrated into routine
operations
▪ management reports which highlight trends and
exceptions from normal performance
[red shows relationship to the general AIS model]
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 5: Control Activities
▪ Policies and procedures to ensure that the
appropriate actions are taken in response to
identified risks
▪ Fall into two distinct categories:
▪ IT controls—relate specifically to the computer
environment
▪ Physical controls—primarily pertain to human
activities

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 Two Types of IT Controls

▪ General controls—pertain to the entitywide

computer environment
▪ Examples: controls over the data center, organization
databases, systems development, and program
maintenance
▪ Application controls—ensure the integrity of
specific systems
▪ Examples: controls over sales order processing,
accounts payable, and payroll applications

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 Six Types of Physical Controls

▪ Transaction Authorization
▪ Segregation of Duties
▪ Supervision
▪ Accounting Records
▪ Access Control
▪ Independent Verification

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 Physical Controls
Transaction Authorization
▪ used to ensure that employees are carrying
out only authorized transactions
▪ general (everyday procedures) or specific
(non-routine transactions) authorizations

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 Physical Controls
Segregation of Duties
▪ In manual systems, separation between:
▪ authorizing and processing a transaction
▪ custody and recordkeeping of the asset
▪ subtasks
▪ In computerized systems, separation between:
▪ program coding
▪ program processing
▪ program maintenance

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 Physical Controls
Supervision
▪ a compensation for lack of segregation; some
may be built into computer systems
Accounting Records
▪ provide an audit trail

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 Physical Controls

Access Controls
▪ help to safeguard assets by restricting
physical access to them
Independent Verification
▪ reviewing batch totals or reconciling
subsidiary accounts with control accounts

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 Nested Control Objectives for Transactions
TRANSACTION

Control
Objective 1 Authorization Processing

Control
Objective 2 Authorization Custody Recording

Control General
Objective 3
Journals Ta 1 Subsidiary
Ledgers Ledger

Figure 3-4
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Physical Controls in IT Contexts

Transaction Authorization
▪ The rules are often embedded within
computer programs.
▪ EDI/JIT: automated re-ordering of inventory
without human intervention

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Physical Controls in IT Contexts
Segregation of Duties
▪ A computer program may perform many tasks that
are deemed incompatible.
▪ Thus the crucial need to separate program
development, program operations, and program
maintenance.

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Physical Controls in IT Contexts

Supervision
▪ The ability to assess competent employees
becomes more challenging due to the greater
technical knowledge required.

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Physical Controls in IT Contexts

Accounting Records
▪ ledger accounts and sometimes source documents
are kept magnetically
▪ no audit trail is readily apparent

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Physical Controls in IT Contexts

Access Control
▪ Data consolidation exposes the organization to
computer fraud and excessive losses from disaster.

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Physical Controls in IT Contexts

Independent Verification
▪ When tasks are performed by the computer rather
than manually, the need for an independent check
is not necessary.
▪ However, the programs themselves are checked.

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 Application Controls
▪ Risks within specific applications
▪ Can affect manual procedures (e.g., entering
data) or embedded (automated) procedures
▪ Convenient to look at in terms of:
▪ input stage
▪ processing stage
▪ output stage

INPUT PROCESSING OUTPUT

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 Application Input Controls
▪ Goal of input controls - valid,
accurate, and complete input data
▪ Two common causes of input
errors:
▪ transcription errors – wrong character
or value
▪ transposition errors – ‘right’ character
or value, but in wrong place
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 Application Input Controls
▪ Check digits – data code is added to produce
a control digit
▪ especially useful for transcription and
transposition errors
▪ Missing data checks – control for blanks or
incorrect justifications
▪ Numeric-alphabetic checks – verify that
characters are in correct form

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 Application Input Controls
▪ Limit checks – identify values beyond
pre-set limits
▪ Range checks – identify values outside
upper and lower bounds
▪ Reasonableness checks – compare one
field to another to see if relationship is
appropriate
▪ Validity checks – compares values to
known or standard values

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 Application Processing Controls

▪ Programmed processes that

transform input data into
information for output
▪ Three categories:
▪ Batch controls
▪ Run-to-run controls
▪ Audit trail controls
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 Application Processing Controls
▪ Batch controls - reconcile system
output with the input originally
entered into the system
▪ Based on different types of batch
totals:
▪ total number of records
▪ total dollar value
▪ hash totals – sum of non-financial
numbers
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 Application Processing Controls
▪ Run-to-run controls - use batch
figures to monitor the batch as it moves
from one programmed procedure (run)
to another
▪ Audit trail controls - numerous logs
used so that every transaction can be
traced through each stage of processing
from its economic source to its
presentation in financial statements
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 Transaction Log to Preserve
the Audit Trail

Figure 3-7

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 Master File Backup Controls

▪ Sequential master file system

▪ GFS Backup Technique
▪ Batch system using direct access files
▪ Destructive update approach calls for
▪ Separate master back up procedure
▪ Real-time system master file backup
▪ Processed continuously, therefore
▪ Backup at pre-specified intervals through the day

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 Application Output Controls
▪ Goal of output controls is to ensure
that system output is not lost,
misdirected, or corrupted, and that
privacy is not violated.
▪ In the following flowchart, there are
exposures at every stage.

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 Stages in the Output Process

Figure 3-12
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 Application Controls Output

▪ Output spooling – creates a file

during the printing process that may
be inappropriately accessed
▪ Printing – create two risks:
▪ production of unauthorized copies of
output
▪ employee browsing of sensitive data
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 Application Controls Output
▪ Waste – can be stolen if not
properly disposed of, e.g., shredding
▪ Report distribution – for sensitive
reports, the following are available:
▪ use of secure mailboxes
▪ require the user to sign for reports
in person
▪ deliver the reports to the user

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 Application Controls Output
▪ End user controls – end users need to
inspect sensitive reports for accuracy
▪ shred after used
▪ Controlling digital output – digital
output message can be intercepted,
disrupted, destroyed, or corrupted as it
passes along communications links

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