<p>Syfte:                                                                         </p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur organisation, intern kontroll och eventuella bolagsstyrningsrapporter förändrats i de tre undersökta bolagen i och med införandet av den reviderade koden den 1 juli 2008. Vidare är vårt syfte att undersöka om revisorernas arbete påverkats i och med införandet av den reviderade koden och hur Kollegiet upplever att implementering av densamma fungerat.</p><p>Metod:                                                     </p><p>Undersökningen bygger på en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där primärdata studerades i form av bolagsstyrningsrapporter från de granskade bolagens årsredovisningar samt intervjuer av semistrukturerad karaktär. Intervjuerna har gjorts med representanter för tre revisionsbyråer, tre börsnoterade bolag som följer koden sedan 1 juli 2008 samt Per Lekvall representant för Kollegiet för svensk bolagsstyrning.</p><p>Slutsats:                                                   </p><p>Författarna har kommit fram till att implementeringen av den reviderade koden inte har blivit så omfattande och krävt några större förändringar som många av de mindre/medelstora bolagen kanske oroat sig för. Anledningen till detta är att bolagen redan följer många delar av koden sedan tidigare samt att koden inte innehåller några revolutionerande förändringar för bolagen.</p> / <p>Purpose:                                                   </p><p>The purpose with this thesis is to study how the organization, intern control and possible corporate governance reports changed in three companies since they started to follow the modified code 1 july 2008. Further is the purpose to study if the work of the audits has been affected since the adoption of the modified code and how the Swedish Corporate Governance Board has experienced the implementation of the Swedish code of corporate governance.</p><p>Method:                                                   </p><p>The Research is built on a qualitative method where primary data was studied in form of corporate governance reports reports taken from the reviewed companies annual reports and from semi-structured interviews. The interviews has been done with representatives from three audit bureaus, three companies noted on the Swedish stock exchanged, who has followed the code since 1 july 2008 and Per Lekvall from the Swedish Corporate Governance Board.</p><p>Conclusion:                                             </p><p>The Authors has realised that the implementation of the modified code has not brought any big changes as many of the small/ medium-sized companies maybe worrying about. The reason is that many of these companies are already following a large part of the code and that the code does not contain any revolutionary changes.</p>

<p>The Swedish Code for Corporate Governance was introduced on July 1, 2005. All companies then listed at OM Stockholmsbörsen A-list and those on the O-list with a market value of more than three billion SKr must implement the rules in the Code. The Code includes rules for corporate governance as a complement to the legislation. The Code is based on the principle comply or explain. This means that the companies are aloud to diverge from the rules if they explain why. The reason for this principle is that it enables a much higher level of ambition in the Code than if it would be legislated.</p><p>The Swedish Code for Corporate Governance has introduced much tougher rules on internal control than the existing legislation demands. The Code demands a good internal control without defining what it means. The idea is that the companies themselves are responsible for developing a standard for good internal control. It also includes that the board should sign an annual report about the companies internal control and establish a special internal audit function for evaluating the internal control system.</p><p>The main purpose with this paper is to study the implementation of the Code in Swedish companies concerning the rules on internal control of the financial reporting.</p><p>The paper is limited to the companies listed at OM Stockholmsbörsen former A-list which apply with the Code. Five companies are being interviewed on their work with internal control. All companies at the former A-list are included in the study of the existence of an internal audit function.</p><p>The paper is based on both secondary and primary data, mainly focused on the latter. The secondary data is collected from literature, journals, internet and annual reports from the companies included in the study. Primary data has been collected via e-mail and telephone contacts. One of the interviews was done via telephone and the others through meetings at the companies head offices.</p><p>The study shows that exactly half of the companies have an internal audit function and the existence of the function is strongly related to the ownership structure. Only companies with a wide spread in ownership and nationalized companies has the function.</p><p>There is a great uncertainty about what good internal control means. A suitable solution to apply with the rules in the Code is therefore to use COSO’s definition and recommendations on internal control. The framework also includes guidelines on how to evaluate and improve internal control.</p>

<p>Small and medium size enterprises are currently the major part of economic activities through out the world. Nowadays, they represent about 99% of all types of enterprises in Sweden, with providing high job opportunities to its labour force as these enterprises need focus in their development; the internal control mechanism is a means and a way of directing, monitoring and measuring the SMEs resources. It plays an important role in preventing and detecting fraud and protecting the physical and intangible resources as well as leading to high efficiency of the business operation. one since it contributes a lot for the majority of business enterprise involved in SMEs.</p><p>This study examines and describes the effectiveness of internal control systems in Swedish small and medium size enterprises. The study focuses on the main five components of internal control and their impact on achieving the company’s objectives. In so doing, the study creates a better understanding of effective internal control that may be applicable to the context of SMEs and establish theoretically the features of an effective internal control for sampled SMEs. To achieve this objective we formulate one research question: system of SMEs comply with the principles of effective internal control? into how closely SMEs follow the virtues of effective internal control in their business operation.</p><p>Applying an inductive approach in qualitative interview, the study found out that, contrary to what is generally suggested, SMEs are aware of the importance of having a good internal control system. The findings of the research enabled the emergence of a theory grounded in the collected data. Indeed, the major features of an effective internal control system applicable for SMEs are found to be control activities, effective information and communication system, effective monitoring and evaluation system framework.</p><p>Key words: <strong>SMEs, internal control, control environment, risk management, control activities, information and communication, monitoring and evaluation</strong></p>

The problem area was identified due to the fact that research within internal audit is fragmented and insufficient, simultaneously to internal audit becoming more common in the public debate. Crises and scandals in companies such as Enron in the US and Skandia in Sweden have resulted in new regulations regarding how companies should be governed. These regulations have been established in Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) in the US, and in Sweden the Swedish code for corporate governance will be implemented in 2005. The regulations imply that companies must provide sound internal control and to accomplish that, companies should have an auditing and consulting internal audit function. The Swedish code for corporate governance denotes that companies can decide to comply or explain why the code is not complied. SOX on the other hand require that the regulation is being followed. The raised question is how internal audit is performed. International research has thrown light upon this question but few studies have been made in a Swedish perspective. The purpose with this thesis is to describe the role of internal audit in Swedish companies, to examine if the role is perceived as a watchdog or as a consultant, and to analyze to what extent present regulations affect internal audit. The choice of method in the thesis has taken the form of a profound qualitative research in three companies accompanied by a quantitative research to examine if the results from the qualitative study could be confirmed. The qualitative research consisted of interviews with three companies, which all have an established internal audit function. The interviews were followed by a questionnaire presented to all companies listed on the Swedish stock exchange most traded A-list. The results show that of the companies listed on the Swedish stock exchange most traded A-list only 32 percent have an internal audit function. This can be perceived as low when previous studies in the area have shown that internationally it is a common function. In the companies where there is an internal audit function, the role has mainly transformed back to a watchdog perspective from previously been heading towards a consulting role. This shift in the role of internal audit mostly derives from the exceeded regulations within corporate governance. / Det identifierade problemområdet tar sin början i att forskning inom internrevision är fragmenterad och ofullständig samtidigt som internrevision har blivit allt vanligare i den allmänna debatten. Kriser och skandaler i företag som till exempel Enron i USA och Skandia i Sverige har lett till nya regleringar hur företag ska styras och förvaltas. Dessa regleringar har tillkommit i form av Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) i USA och i Sverige kommer Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning att implementeras under 2005. Regleringarna säger bland annat att företaget måste tillgodose en god intern kontroll och att företagen för att uppnå detta, bör ha en granskande och konsulterande internrevisionsfunktion. Den svenska koden anger dock att företaget kan välja att i stället förklara varför koden inte efterföljs, detta till skillnad från SOX som kräver att regelverket följs. Frågan väcks hur internrevisionen i företag ser ut. Viss internationell forskning har belyst denna fråga, men studier i ett svenskt perspektiv lyser med sin frånvaro. Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva internrevisionens roll i svenska företag, att undersöka om rollen upplevs som övervägande granskande eller konsulterande, samt att analysera i vilken utsträckning aktuella regelverk påverkar internrevisionen. Metodvalet i uppsatsen har tagit sig uttryck i en djupgående kvalitativ undersökning av tre företag, åtföljt av en kvantitativ undersökning för att undersöka om resultaten från den kvalitativa studien bekräftas. Den kvalitativa undersökningen består av intervjuer med tre företag som alla har en väl etablerad internrevisionsfunktion. Efter dessa intervjuer formulerades ett antal frågor som sammanställdes i en enkät. Dessa frågor ställdes till företag på Stockholmsbörsens A-lista, mest omsatta. Resultaten som framkom, visar att av företagen på Stockholmsbörsens A-lista, mest omsatta, är det enbart 32 procent som har en internrevisionsfunktion vilket kan anses som lågt då tidigare studier inom området pekar på att det internationellt är en vanlig funktion hos företagen. Där det finns en internrevisionsfunktion har dess roll till övervägande del gått tillbaka till att bli alltmer granskande, från att tidigare ha varit på väg mot en konsulterande roll. Detta skift i internrevisionens roll har framförallt sin grund i den ökade regleringen inom corporate governance.

Small and medium size enterprises are currently the major part of economic activities through out the world. Nowadays, they represent about 99% of all types of enterprises in Sweden, with providing high job opportunities to its labour force as these enterprises need focus in their development; the internal control mechanism is a means and a way of directing, monitoring and measuring the SMEs resources. It plays an important role in preventing and detecting fraud and protecting the physical and intangible resources as well as leading to high efficiency of the business operation. one since it contributes a lot for the majority of business enterprise involved in SMEs. This study examines and describes the effectiveness of internal control systems in Swedish small and medium size enterprises. The study focuses on the main five components of internal control and their impact on achieving the company’s objectives. In so doing, the study creates a better understanding of effective internal control that may be applicable to the context of SMEs and establish theoretically the features of an effective internal control for sampled SMEs. To achieve this objective we formulate one research question: system of SMEs comply with the principles of effective internal control? into how closely SMEs follow the virtues of effective internal control in their business operation. Applying an inductive approach in qualitative interview, the study found out that, contrary to what is generally suggested, SMEs are aware of the importance of having a good internal control system. The findings of the research enabled the emergence of a theory grounded in the collected data. Indeed, the major features of an effective internal control system applicable for SMEs are found to be control activities, effective information and communication system, effective monitoring and evaluation system framework. Key words: SMEs, internal control, control environment, risk management, control activities, information and communication, monitoring and evaluation

The Swedish Code for Corporate Governance was introduced on July 1, 2005. All companies then listed at OM Stockholmsbörsen A-list and those on the O-list with a market value of more than three billion SKr must implement the rules in the Code. The Code includes rules for corporate governance as a complement to the legislation. The Code is based on the principle comply or explain. This means that the companies are aloud to diverge from the rules if they explain why. The reason for this principle is that it enables a much higher level of ambition in the Code than if it would be legislated. The Swedish Code for Corporate Governance has introduced much tougher rules on internal control than the existing legislation demands. The Code demands a good internal control without defining what it means. The idea is that the companies themselves are responsible for developing a standard for good internal control. It also includes that the board should sign an annual report about the companies internal control and establish a special internal audit function for evaluating the internal control system. The main purpose with this paper is to study the implementation of the Code in Swedish companies concerning the rules on internal control of the financial reporting. The paper is limited to the companies listed at OM Stockholmsbörsen former A-list which apply with the Code. Five companies are being interviewed on their work with internal control. All companies at the former A-list are included in the study of the existence of an internal audit function. The paper is based on both secondary and primary data, mainly focused on the latter. The secondary data is collected from literature, journals, internet and annual reports from the companies included in the study. Primary data has been collected via e-mail and telephone contacts. One of the interviews was done via telephone and the others through meetings at the companies head offices. The study shows that exactly half of the companies have an internal audit function and the existence of the function is strongly related to the ownership structure. Only companies with a wide spread in ownership and nationalized companies has the function. There is a great uncertainty about what good internal control means. A suitable solution to apply with the rules in the Code is therefore to use COSO’s definition and recommendations on internal control. The framework also includes guidelines on how to evaluate and improve internal control.

Syfte:                                                                          Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur organisation, intern kontroll och eventuella bolagsstyrningsrapporter förändrats i de tre undersökta bolagen i och med införandet av den reviderade koden den 1 juli 2008. Vidare är vårt syfte att undersöka om revisorernas arbete påverkats i och med införandet av den reviderade koden och hur Kollegiet upplever att implementering av densamma fungerat. Metod:                                                      Undersökningen bygger på en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där primärdata studerades i form av bolagsstyrningsrapporter från de granskade bolagens årsredovisningar samt intervjuer av semistrukturerad karaktär. Intervjuerna har gjorts med representanter för tre revisionsbyråer, tre börsnoterade bolag som följer koden sedan 1 juli 2008 samt Per Lekvall representant för Kollegiet för svensk bolagsstyrning. Slutsats:                                                    Författarna har kommit fram till att implementeringen av den reviderade koden inte har blivit så omfattande och krävt några större förändringar som många av de mindre/medelstora bolagen kanske oroat sig för. Anledningen till detta är att bolagen redan följer många delar av koden sedan tidigare samt att koden inte innehåller några revolutionerande förändringar för bolagen. / Purpose:                                                    The purpose with this thesis is to study how the organization, intern control and possible corporate governance reports changed in three companies since they started to follow the modified code 1 july 2008. Further is the purpose to study if the work of the audits has been affected since the adoption of the modified code and how the Swedish Corporate Governance Board has experienced the implementation of the Swedish code of corporate governance. Method:                                                    The Research is built on a qualitative method where primary data was studied in form of corporate governance reports reports taken from the reviewed companies annual reports and from semi-structured interviews. The interviews has been done with representatives from three audit bureaus, three companies noted on the Swedish stock exchanged, who has followed the code since 1 july 2008 and Per Lekvall from the Swedish Corporate Governance Board. Conclusion:                                              The Authors has realised that the implementation of the modified code has not brought any big changes as many of the small/ medium-sized companies maybe worrying about. The reason is that many of these companies are already following a large part of the code and that the code does not contain any revolutionary changes.

This study presents results from a project named The OVE-project (Orator Verbis Electris i.e. electric speech machine). The aim of this thesis is to describe and to evaluate a set of computer - programs based on synthetic speech. The programs are designed for training phonological awareness and are intended to be used as a remedial tool for children with reading and writing problems. During the evaluation and data-collecting period the project was economically and technically connected to the department of Speech, Music and Hearing at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. My associate, during this period, late Karoly Galyas has been in charge of the technical part of the project while I have been responsible for the content and the design of programs as well as for the evaluation and the assessment studies. The thesis has two overall aims. The first is to describe, analyze and discuss the development of a specific work process based on computer based supervising with synthetic speech feedback intended for children with reading and writing problems. The second overall aim is to describe, analyze and discuss the effect of the speech feedback and the specific work process on children with reading and writing problems. The evaluation and the data collection has been done within three different phases and consists of three training studies and two experimental studies: one text reproduction study and one spelling test study. The results showed very convincingly that the speech feedback had a positive effect on the pupils' self esteem. Activity and motivation were highly improved. A remarkable improvement of the pupils' ability to concentrate and persevere was observed. The results from the spelling test study showed high improvement rates when speech feedback in ongoing writing was used compared to handwriting and ordinary computer writing without speech feedback. The potentials of the synthetic speech feedback as a means to improve reading and writing skills is discussed. / digitalisering@umu

Internal control disclosures mandated by section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) are designed to provide information about a firm’s financial reporting quality and in doing so may offer information on firm-specific tax planning activities. Internal control weaknesses disclosed under SOX are frequently related to a firm’s tax function (Ge and McVay, 2005; Gleason, Pincus and Rego, 2010) and thus raise the question of whether or not these frequent problems affect corporate tax avoidance. In this thesis, I test hypotheses that tax-related disclosures, particularly those that contain company-level internal control weaknesses (ICWs), provide information with respect to long-run tax avoidance. Furthermore, I test hypotheses that the combination of internal control quality and aggressive tax avoidance aid in assessing shareholder returns. To conduct these tests, I collect and construct firm-level SOX disclosure data from 2004 to 2006 across 1,286 publicly-owned corporations. I begin with an empirical analysis of the association between tax avoidance and firm-level ICWs and generally find that the presence of tax ICWs and company-level tax ICWs constrain long-run tax avoidance. For firms with low cash constraints however, company-level tax ICWs appear to lead to an increase in tax avoidance. Nevertheless, subsequent analysis of monthly abnormal returns implies that the stock market reacts negatively to the disclosure of company-level tax ICWs, regardless of whether or not tax aggressiveness is also present. This thesis contributes to the literature by documenting the first evidence that internal control disclosures provide information regarding firm-level tax planning. Although the number of internal control weakness disclosures is decreasing over time, the availability of these SOX disclosures represents a previously unavailable opportunity to examine and further understand internal governance mechanisms within the firm and their influence on tax planning. In addition, this thesis further corroborates prior literature that argues for the importance of the pervasiveness of internal control weaknesses by showing that the pervasive, company-level tax internal control weaknesses are associated with tax avoidance and lower shareholder returns. Finally, my dissertation implies that the presence of tax internal control weaknesses constrains tax avoidance and thus a focus on improving internal controls could help improve the tax planning function. However, my firm-level analysis also implies that effective tax planning is a sustainable process and thus a firm and its stakeholders may require several periods before the full benefits of these improvements are realized.

Bakgrund: Intresset kring internkontroll har ökat efter att ett flertal skandaler har uppdagats i större organisationer runt om i Sverige. Trenden visar att organisationer kommer öka sina satsningar på internkontroll de närmaste åren för att minska riskerna för oegentligheter. Det ställs också högre krav på kommunerna att utnyttja sina resurser så effektivt som möjligt och de har ett stort ansvar gentemot sina invånare när det gäller den externa redovisningen. En kommunal muthärva har nyligen uppdagats i Göteborgs Stad vilket ledde till en nödvändig granskning av internkontrollen och en stark förbättring krävs. Syfte: Utgångspunkten är att utifrån COSO - modellen, som är en erkänd metod för att säkerställa internkontrollen, se om Kungälvs kommun har tillfredställande rutiner. Syftet är att kunna ge förslag på förbättrande åtgärder. Genomförande: Studien genomfördes med både en kvalitativ och en kvantitativ metod. Författarna valde de här metoderna för att det ger en djupgående bild av verkligheten. Den kvalitativa delen bestod av fyra intervjuer och för att sedan öka urvalsgruppen skickades en enkät ut till sexton enhetschefer i kommunen. Resultat: Slutsatserna är att COSO-modellen skulle förbättra den befintliga internkontrollen på Kungälvs kommun. Ledarskapet är bra, vilket ger en bra grund för internkontrollarbetet. Förbättrande åtgärder för kommunen skulle vara att regelbundet se över internkontrollprocessen, förändra och utveckla processen i takt med att organisationen förändras. En bättre kommunikation mellan ledning och berörd personal är något kommunen bör titta närmare på och att informationen förenklas samt förtydligas så att alla förstår innebörden. Riskkartläggningar behöver upprättas inom fler verksamheter i kommunen för att lättare ha god tillsyn. / Background: The general interest in internal control have increased after several scandals have emerged in large organizations around Sweden. The trend shows that the organizations will increase their investments in internal controls over the next few years to reduce the risk of irregularities. There are also greater demands on local authorities to use their resources as efficiently as possible and they have a great responsibility towards its citizens in the external accounts. A major case of corruption has recently been revealed in Göteborg, which leads to an immediate analysis and improvement of internal control.  Purpose: The purpose is based on COSO - model, which is a recognized method for ensuring internal control, to see if Kungälv have satisfactory procedures. The aim is also to suggest corrective measures. Implementation: This study was conducted with both a qualitative and a quantitative method. The authors chose these methods because it provides a detailed picture of reality. The qualitative part consists of four expert interviews. This study increase the selection group with a survey sent to sixteen heads of units in the municipality. Results: The conclusions are that the COSO - model could improve the existing internal controls in Kungälv. Leadership is good, providing a good basis for internal control work. Upgrading of the municipality would be to regularly review the internal control process, changing and developing process as the organization changes. Better communication between management and the staff is something the municipality should look at and that the information be simplified and clarified so that everyone understands the meaning. Risk Surveys need to be established in more activities in the municipality to get a good oversight.