Introduction of Dentistar and the problem Dentistar, Inc. was formed in 1985 to provide dental and orthodontic services to subscribers of their prepaid dental plans. This report examines the western region’s office, located in Los Angeles, and its issuance of excessive manual checks that resulted in multiple bank overdrafts. Results indicate that only minimal efforts have been made for internal control measures in this office and companywide, and that weaknesses have allowed the Finance Coordinator to embezzle funds. There are many issues to be addressed, and several remedial actions to be taken to prevent these types of losses going forward. Strengths in the internal control system Dentistar’s internal control system has some …show more content…
If any unauthorized transactions took place, the evidence is gone when the account is deleted. Errors in segregation of duties are prevalent as well. The current tasks for the Finance Coordinator position leave Dentistar open to internal control nightmares. This position is given responsibility to consolidate information and calculate amounts for manual disbursements, prepare checks, maintain regional accounting files, collect past due accounts receivable, organize financial data for audit, and assist with human resources. Beyond that he is indirectly, through severe weaknesses in internal control, given the ability to authorize refunds, issue payments for operating expenditures and affect the general ledger. These duties and implied responsibilities effectively give him custody, authority, recording, and review powers, which is a gross disregard for internal control. Moreover, all personnel can create operating expenditures instead of one or a small number of people, so auditors aren’t able to trace expenses to individuals. Adequate speed of updating information and open lines of communication are important for all companies. However, slow reactions are causing control deficiencies. Regional employees are allowed to issue disbursements that would take too long for the home office to make, but these transactions draw from accounts with an unknown balance, and they have no
First of all, that they have one accountant who plays the role of both Treasurer and Controller is an area of great risk. The Controller and Treasurer are meant to play opposite roles in which they provide oversight and checks and balances to
Dentistry is a unique and beautiful healthcare field. We as individuals whom work in the dental office can impact the lives of those around us. There are those who abuse the system, instead of having the patient’s best interest at heart. This causes many patients to become fearful, and loose trust within the professionals whom work in the dental field. Not only are there ethical issues that arise across the country; there are legal issues as well. It is common that the two go hand-in-hand. Dental insurance fraud is one of the most common hardships that people come across. Dental fraud not only affects the company that pay for the care, it affects the business in which it occurred, it affects those who pay for the insurance, and ultimately the patient. The patient should be the primary concern of the whole dental team.
According to the case study, "Managing Costs and Revenues at Happy Town Neurology," in order to receive a promotion an individual must demonstrate the ability to plan, organize and direct the functional structure within that department. The neurology clinic offers its employees opportunities for assistant to the chief financial officer who has been with the company for in this case is interested in a position asked by the CFO to produce a cash flow budget and a report that is needed to acquire a loan for the hospital. In order, for the assistant to accomplish the goal assigned; she will need assistant from the controller. The controller is the chief accounting officer who manages the finance department and generates portfolios that are essential for capital fund acquisition (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). Moreover, the controller manages the accounting function and performance, which includes navigating the third party risk-based model procedure.
o Segregation of duties, allows the correction of mistakes and ensures that tasks are assigned to individuals who were segregated from processing and managing the same task, this process helps companies to ensure balance check. In the case of MCI, Pavlo was collecting and applying the cash which allowed him to manipulate the transactions. A red flag that an auditor did not challenge.
My understanding of this article is that the monitoring of internal control is performed through application of ongoing evaluations and separate evaluations. Over time, these evaluations make sure that other components of internal control continue to function. In addition, another principle is that the evaluations assist the progress identification of internal control deficiencies and communicate them to the parties responsible for taking corrective actions.
It should be noted that the research paper should identify whether the lack of reporting measures are solely because the financial representatives are withholding financial information or it may be a matter of the compliance department not having the proper protocols in place to identify irregularities when reviewing account information. Lastly, this author wonders if training plays a vital role and will include training protocols, such as how information is disseminated and procedural communication as
I completed the Internal Control Program requirements for the International Affairs Foreign Military Sales D/NGA FY16 Statement of Assurance to the Secretary of Defense. This assessment tests the effectiveness of mission-essential processes and key internal control activities, to identify areas of risk associated with foreign military sales work procedures. Further, I reviewed and completed a process document detailing the high level process flows and narratives for the NGA Foreign Military Sales program. This document is critical in showing internal auditors the program has healthy operational and financial manual and systemic controls that are in alignment with Defense Security Cooperation Agency policy. It also ensures International Affairs
In a not-for-profit organization, such as VHL, with limited financial resources there is a higher risk that segregation of duties will be compromised as employees often hold multiple roles and responsibilities, as is the case with the accounting functions at VHL. With only one accountant responsible for deposits, custody, disbursement of funds, maintaining financial records and preparing financial reports it raises the risk for potential material misstatement due to error or fraud. This could erode the trust and confidence the stakeholders have in VHL and their stewardship of contributed resources, possibly impacting future donations. This must be taken into
Timely report the status of accounts, at Board meetings, or through email if the information is urgent and there is no Board meeting that week
Chris and Pat Anderson are majority shareholders and founders of Cupcakes-Palooza (CP), a privately held corporation located in Janesville, WI. CP’s office hours are Monday thru Friday 8:00 A.M. until 4:30 P.M. and bakery hours are 4:00 A.M. until 12:30 P.M. During bakery operations, CP produces and sells roughly 15,000 cupcakes weekly to selective grocery stores in the Janesville area.
Dell was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell and it’s headquarter is located in Round Rock, Texas. Dell Inc develops, design, manufactures, markets, sells, supports computers and related products and services. It is the one of the largest technological corporation in the world. Almost 48% of employment is in United States and rest of 52% of its employment in other countries. Dell offers its services to almost all kind of market such as corporate businesses, government, education, healthcare organizations, law enforcement agencies, small and medium-sized businesses, individual customers, and retailers. Its product line include personal computers, servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals, HDTVs, cameras,
The framework describes internal control as a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of objectives in the following categories:
Product planning clerks knows too many things because they have a full access to all the sensitive production data. Hence, the manager should limit the job scope of product planning clerks and diversify the jobs and tasks to other staff that hold other positions. Not only that, they should sign the non-disclosure agreements with company to ensure that the sensitive data will not disclose to the public. Once they resign from the position of production planning clerk, they should not work for the competitors for 3 to 5 years. This is a method to protect the secret recipe of company because the current recipe will obsolete and replaced by more innovative ideas and become worthless after 3 to 5 years.
Standards should be set to measure the performance. Standards are commonly measured by using different outputs. Some of the standards are as.
It is essential that every single bank have an internal audit department to make sure that their accounting principles provide an effective means of recording and reporting monetary transactions, providing organisation information and securing the company’s asset from fraud and misappropriation (Achibong, 1993). Strong internal controls can help to certify that aims and purposes of banking organisations will be met; the banks will achieve lasting cost-effective goals and keep dependable monetary and administrative reporting system. Such a structure can also help to make sure that the banks will act in accordance with rules and regulations as well as policies, strategies and processes and reduce the possibility of unforeseen losses or damages to the bank’s status. The most commonly accepted meaning of internal control is that of Committee of Sponsoring Organisation of the Treadway Commission (COSO, 1992): It’s the overall system of control, monetary or otherwise, well-known by the organisation in order to keep the business of the company in an organised, proficient way and make sure the organisation obeys the management function specifically laid down for the benefits of the organisations.