List of Financial Controls. The list is useful as an aide-memoire when you are considering how to solve a control gap.

1. Financial Controls.
Objectives and types

2. Objectives of Financial Control are
 To protect the assets of the company
 To enable financial reports to be produced
 To ensure that the company’s business is
carried on in an orderly way
 To ensure compliance with company policies
and legislation.
A control is an activity or restrictive measure that contributes to a
control objective.
A key control is a control upon which auditors can rely to base their
opinion.
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3. Objectives of Financial Controls
Internal control activities are designed to provide reasonable
assurance that particular objectives are achieved.
• Existence (akaValidity): All transactions are valid
• Completeness: All transactions are processed that should be
(i.e., no omissions)
• Accurate/Valuation:Transactions are calculated using an
appropriate method
• Cutoff:Transactions occurred during the reporting period.
• Rights & Obligations: Assets represent the rights of the company,
and liabilities its obligations, as of a given date.
• Classification:Transactions and balances are properly classified
(by type or account) and described.
• Reasonableness: transactions and balances appear reasonable
relative to other data or trends.
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4. Types of Control (SOAP SPAM IR)
• Segregation of duties - separating authorization, custody,
and record keeping roles to limit risk of fraud or error by
one person.
• Organisational – Making sure that all of the tasks required
of the company are undertaken by somebody.
• Authorisation - review of particular transactions by an
appropriate person.
• Physical safeguards - usage of cameras, locks, physical
barriers, etc. to protect property, such as inventory, fixed
assets or supplies
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5. Types of Control (SOAP SPAM IR)
• Supervision - Monitoring of operations - observation or
review of ongoing operational activity.
• Personnel – Recruiting people with appropriate skills or
qualifications, receiving references for them and then
giving them the proper training. In this way you have
staff who have the integrity and the skills they need to do
their job properly.
• Accounting/arithmetic – Accounting procedures such as
bank reconciliations, control accounts, control totals,
debtors reports, cash forecasts, numeric sequences for
transactions and documents etc
• Management - Top level reviews - review of reports
comparing actual performance versus plans, goals, and
established objectives etc. metrics, and other key
performance indicators (KPIs). 5

6. Types of Control (SOAP SPAM IR)
• IT System Security - usage of passwords, access logs,
etc. to ensure access restricted to authorized personnel.
• Retention of records - maintaining documentation to
substantiate transactions.
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