The diploma thesis deals with the internal audit, its function and status in a particular organization. The passages look into the development of the profession, relation to the external audit and their comparison, demands on the internal auditor, internal audit structure and the procedure itself. A part of the thesis deals thoroughly with the internal audit in connection with a risk, fraudulent conduct and the importance of the internal control. At the end of the thesis, there are some practical examples of ethics violation in the auditor profession and the view of the current internal audit.

The diploma thesis is focused on corporate fraud problematic, on The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and on problematics of internal control systems and corporate governance, which relate closely with the Sarbanes-Oxley act. The goal of my diploma thesis is to highlight the significance of corporate fraud problematic and create an integrated summary of requirements placed on companies, which either have to or want to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley act. The opening part of the diploma thesis is focused on fraud theory, which is after that demonstrated on accounting scandal cases Enron, WorldCom and Arthur Andersen. The biggest losses were caused by fraudulent financial reporting. The Sarbanes Oxley act is a reaction on this fraud cases. The Sarbanes-Oxley act brought a range of significant changes in financial reporting, internal control, corporate governance, audit and other areas.

This study uses an institutional theory perspective to examine whether significant changes to the audit work and engagement practices required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) lead to improved audit quality in nonprofit hospitals. Unlike their for-profit counterparts, nonprofit organizations have been subject to audits of internal controls over financial reporting and program compliance for decades under Circular A-133 of the Single Audit Act of 1984, as amended. Circular A-133 audits represent the primary accountability tool over the billions of grant dollars awarded annually by the federal government. Despite the enormity of these awards and the substantial informational effect of the audit reports, prior empirical research suggests that the quality of these audits is problematic. Using the archival data of nonprofit hospital Circular A-133 audits and related hand-collected financial data from IRS Form 990s, bivariate and multivariate analyses are conducted on a cross-sectional sample of 875 audits for 141 nonprofit hospitals with audits during both pre-SOX (2001-2004) and post-SOX (2008-2011) periods. Audit quality is inferred from discretionary accruals (Modified Jones model) and auditor-reported internal control deficiencies (reportable conditions and material weaknesses). The results indicate support for improved audit quality from the pre- to the post-SOX period for all measures of audit quality. The results are different for the measures of audit quality used to examine the association between audit firm size and audit quality. Non-Big 4 audit firms experienced a significant improvement in audit quality when discretionary accruals are used as a proxy for audit quality. Conversely, Big 4 audit firms experienced a significant improvement in audit quality when internal control deficiencies are proxies for audit quality. In the post-SOX period audit firms provide approximately the same level of audit quality regardless of firm size when discretionary accruals or material weaknesses are the proxy for audit quality. When reportable conditions are the proxy, non-Big 4 firms have higher audit quality than Big 4 firms post-SOX. Client characteristics, specifically hospital size and the interaction of leverage and risk, are attributable to differences in post-SOX audit quality. Finally, the study fails to support the hypothesis that large audit firms self-select low risk clients.

This research provides initial empirical evidence on the association between municipal audit committees and internal control problems. Prior research has reported on the use and benefits of municipal audit committees and the quality of governmental accounting and reporting. This study extends prior literature by investigating an area of governmental accounting not heavily researched. This study also investigates the association between the presence of a municipal audit committee and the form of municipal governance, an area of governmental accounting not yet explored in the literature. Prior research on forms of governance indicates that the professional goals of the city manager, or the political goals of the mayor, may influence his or her decisions concerning municipal operations. Examining the association of the presence of an audit committee and form of governance allows for insight into a new area of municipal research. This research finds that the presence of an audit committee is not associated with reported internal control deficiencies, but is positively associated with reported internal control weaknesses. This suggests that municipalities with audit committees have higher incidences of reported internal control weaknesses. There is also partial support for an association between the presence of an audit committee and the form of governance. However, the results are not conclusive and suggest that the political climate beyond form of governance influences decisions with regard to having audit committees.

This study investigates whether the current lack of structure of internal control weakness disclosures (a narrative about the reliability of the financial reporting system) leads nonprofessional investors to make differential investment decisions. Using the non-accelerated filer (smaller public company) setting, where nonprofessional investors are likely to consume unaudited internal control reports in their investing judgments and decisions, I examine two facets of internal control disclosure formats: presentation salience and disaggregation of material weaknesses. A 2 x 2 between-participants behavioral experiment was conducted with internal control presentation salience (bulleted vs. in-text) and disaggregation level (a single material weakness vs. a combination of multiple control deficiencies that is a material weakness). I find that nonprofessional investors reward companies that disclose internal control weaknesses more saliently. The results also indicate that disaggregation interacts with salience in that it increases the effect of salience on investing judgments such that salient (stealth) disclosure of a combination of control deficiencies is viewed more positively (negatively) than salient (stealth) disclosure of a material weakness. These findings are contrary to Rennekamp (2012) who finds that processing fluency in bad news leads to more negative investment judgements. Additional analyses indicated that the results related to management trust and credibility are consistent with prior literature. The findings contribute to academia and practice by shedding light on the importance that needs to be placed on the presentation format of internal control disclosures.

The financial information is the document that the administration of a juridical entity issues to know his financial situation. The financial information is useful and confiable for the users of the financial information when this has been prepared under conditions of certainty. This certainty is provided by the administration when it establishes political and procedures of internal control, as well as the surveillance in the accomplishment of the internal control. This control incides in the financial information since it is inherent to the operative flow and extends itself in relevant information, veracious and comparable. This is important for users of the financial information, due to the fact that they take timely and objective decisions. / La información financiera es el documento que la administración de una entidad jurídica emite para dar a conocer su situación financiera. Esta es útil y confiable para los usuarios cuando es preparada bajo condiciones de certeza. La seguridad de que esta sea un documento confiable la proporciona la administración cuando establece políticas y procedimientos de control interno, así como su cumplimiento. A su vez, el control interno incide en la información financiera ya que es inherente al flujo operativo y trasciende en información relevante, veraz y comparable, lo cual es importante para los usuarios de la información financiera, pues les permite tomar decisiones oportunas y objetivas.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-07-28T14:17:30Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Dissertação _2016_ - Cosmo Alves (versão final).pdf: 1791510 bytes, checksum: 88b79efb065d2308e81db5208508b5bf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-28T14:17:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Dissertação _2016_ - Cosmo Alves (versão final).pdf: 1791510 bytes, checksum: 88b79efb065d2308e81db5208508b5bf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-29 / Controle interno é um processo integrado efetuado pela direção e corpo de funcionários, e é estruturado para enfrentar os riscos e fornecer razoável segurança de que, para a consecução da missão da entidade, os seguintes objetivos gerais serão alcançados: execução ordenada, ética, econômica, eficiente e eficaz das operações; cumprimento das obrigações de accountability; cumprimento das leis e regulamentos aplicáveis; e salvaguarda dos recursos para evitar perdas, mau uso e dano. Como o estabelecido pela AS/NZS 4360 – Standards Australia e Standards New Zealand; o do COSO – Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of The Treadway Commission; o CoCo – Criteria of Control Committee of Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants e o Turnbull Report. Dentre as metodologias existentes, o framework COSO é um dos mais recomendados por vários estudiosos. Historicamente, estes modelos foram emitidos para as entidades privadas, contudo, recentemente, diversas pesquisas tem se voltado para a análise da aplicabilidade na administração pública. Com vistas à melhoria dos processos de planejamento, gestão e controle, o Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU) vem avaliando os órgãos públicos com base nas premissas e orientações do COSO, sendo um destes trabalhos o Acórdão nº 1.074/2009 que proferiu diversas determinações às instituições integrantes do Poder Judiciário. Com fulcro nesta decisão, os Tribunais, por meio de suas Unidades de Auditoria Interna, passaram a adotar medidas necessárias ao cumprimento do citado Acórdão. Por esta razão, tornou-se imprescindível avaliar se o sistema de controles internos do Tribunal Regional Eleitoral da Paraíba encontra-se adequado aos pilares mestres do framework COSO, o qual foi fundamento para as determinações do TCU. Para orientar a referida avaliação, foi lançado como objetivo geral: verificar o grau de adequabilidade à metodologia COSO ERM do sistema de controles internos do Tribunal Regional Eleitoral da Paraíba. Para tanto, realizou-se uma pesquisa survey com todos os 340 servidores, dos quais 195 responderam. As respostas foram convertidas e examinadas utilizando-se o coeficiente de Jaccard, o qual calcula o grau de semelhança e dessemelhança entre o Modelo referencial COSO e o sistema de controles internos do Tribunal, captado pelo questionário. Os resultados demonstraram baixo nível de adequabilidade para todos os componentes (Ambiente de Controle (15,78%), Definição de Objetivos (14%), Identificação de Eventos (0%), Avaliação de Riscos (8,3%), Resposta aos Riscos (0%), Procedimentos de Controle (7,6%), Informação e Comunicação (18,18%) e (0%) para o Monitoramento) e para todo o sistema (10,55%), o que demonstra, na perspectiva do COSO ERM, fragilidade de controles e da gestão riscos corporativos. / Internal control is an integrated process carried out by the management and personnel, and is structured to address the risks and provide reasonable assurance that, to achieve the organization's mission, the following general objectives will be achieved: orderly execution, ethical, economic, efficient and effective operations; fulfillment of accountability obligations; compliance with applicable laws and regulations; and safeguarding of resources to prevent loss, misuse and damage. For better inter-relate these objectives, various international bodies have issued documents defining theoretical and practical framework for implementation, which are referred to in the literature as models of internal controls, as established by AS / NZS 4360 - Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand; the COSO - Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway The Commission; CoCo - Criteria of Control Committee of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Turnbull Report. Among the existing methodologies, the COSO framework is one of the most recommended by various scholars. Historically, these models have been issued to private entities, however, recently, several studies have focused on the analysis of the applicability of the public administration. In order to improve the planning, management and control, the Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU) has been evaluating public bodies based on assumptions and COSO guidelines, one of them works the Judgment nº. 1,074 / 2009 issued several determinations to the Judiciary member institutions. Fulcrum with this decision, the courts, through its Internal Audit Units have adopted necessary measures to comply with the said judgment. For this reason, it has become essential to assess whether the system of internal controls of the Tribunal Regional Eleitoral da Paraíba is appropriate for teachers pillars of the COSO framework, which was the basis for TCU determinations. To guide this evaluation, was released as a general objective: to verify the degree of appropriateness of the methodology COSO ERM system of internal controls of the Tribunal Regional Eleitoral da Paraíba. To this end, we carried out a survey research on all 340 servers, of which 195 responded. The answers were converted and examined using the coefficient of Jaccard, which calculates the degree of similarity and dissimilarity between the reference model and the COSO internal control system of the Court, captured by the questionnaire. The results showed a low level of fitness for all components (Control Environment (15.78%), Objective Setting (14%), Event Identification (0%), Risk Assessment (8.3%), risk Response (0%) Control activities (7.6%), Information and Communication (18.18%) and (0%) for monitoring) and for the entire system (10.55%), which demonstrates, in view of the COSO ERM, weak controls and enterprise risk management.

Approximately 51.3% of small manufacturing businesses lack effective internal controls to deter fraud. Internal control strategies, when adequately implemented, can mitigate fraud and improve profitability in small manufacturing businesses. The objective of this single qualitative case study was to explore the internal control strategies used in a small manufacturing business to mitigate assets misappropriation fraud and improve profitability. Agency theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Five business managers in a small manufacturing firm in Cameroon participated in face-to-face semistructured interviews. The data analysis process included Yin's 5-step process. Identified themes included (a) governance at a higher management level, (b) vendor-related management approach, and (c) operational practices at the department level. Business leaders in small manufacturing firms could benefit from implementing the internal controls and procedures highlighted in this study to deter fraudulent billing from vendors, deceitful payment disbursement to vendors, and misrepresentation of financial statements by company executives. Fraud reduction might help business leaders to safeguard the company's assets and improve production goals by streamlining operational practices, leading to company profitability. In turn, business profitability would result in company leaders paying more taxes, which government officials may use for social amenities and change benefiting people in the community.

Approximately 51.3% of small manufacturing businesses lack effective internal controls to deter fraud. Internal control strategies, when adequately implemented, can mitigate fraud and improve profitability in small manufacturing businesses. The objective of this single qualitative case study was to explore the internal control strategies used in a small manufacturing business to mitigate assets misappropriation fraud and improve profitability. Agency theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Five business managers in a small manufacturing firm in Cameroon participated in face-to-face semistructured interviews. The data analysis process included Yin's 5-step process. Identified themes included (a) governance at a higher management level, (b) vendor-related management approach, and (c) operational practices at the department level. Business leaders in small manufacturing firms could benefit from implementing the internal controls and procedures highlighted in this study to deter fraudulent billing from vendors, deceitful payment disbursement to vendors, and misrepresentation of financial statements by company executives. Fraud reduction might help business leaders to safeguard the company's assets and improve production goals by streamlining operational practices, leading to company profitability. In turn, business profitability would result in company leaders paying more taxes, which government officials may use for social amenities and change benefiting people in the community.

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are an important tool of poverty reduction which has gained grounds over the years and grown rapidly given the services they provide. The rapid growth of the MFIs has had huge challenges on their regulatory framework which in turn has resulted in the prevalence of fraudulent cases. With the devasting effects of fraud on MFIs and the importance of MFIs in many economies this thesis aims to examine how the design and use of internal control impact fraud detection and prevention in MFIs. To achieve this aim, a qualitative study was conducted with a case study on eight MFIs in Cameroon. Primary data will be obtained from fourteen semi-structured interviews. Data will be analysed manually using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that internal control has a positive impact on fraud detection and prevention in MFIs by reducing fraud incentive, opportunity, rationalization, and capability. Further, findings revealed that the greatest causes of fraud in MFIs are poor remuneration, weak monitoring, and a poor internal control system. Therefore, for the purpose of future fraud prevention, MFIs should ensure to improve their remuneration schemes, improve1 their monitoring system and ensure regular internal control system updates in term of software and design. The study also, suggests further research on this topic in MFIs with a case study in other countries of the world. It will also be interesting for other researchers to explore how the aspect of capability as a key determinant of fraud can be reduced. This thesis contributes to academic literature as there is lack of studies on the impact of internal control on fraud detection and prevention in MFIs.