Audit
Internal Controls That Are Worth the Effort for a Growing Business
Internal control frameworks designed for large organisations rarely transfer well to a business with a small finance team. Segregation of duties in particular is difficult to apply when only two or three people handle the entire finance function.
What tends to work better is a focused set of controls over the areas carrying the most risk: payment authorisation, supplier master data changes, credit notes and journal entries posted outside the normal cycle.
Reviewing these areas periodically — rather than attempting a comprehensive review infrequently — surfaces issues while they are still small, and produces findings that can realistically be acted on.
Where duties genuinely cannot be separated, a compensating review by someone outside the process is usually more practical than a control that exists on paper but is not performed.
SR Accounting Advisory Team
This article is general information based on UAE legislation and published FTA guidance at the time of writing. It is not advice for a specific business — please get in touch to discuss how the rules apply to your circumstances.
