Internal Control Weakness

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1. In scenario one, the internal control weaknesses center around the use of the petty cash fund. There are two specific internal control weaknesses. The first is the lack of separation of duties. In the scenario, John Smith is the petty cash custodian and performs all functions of the petty cash fund. He approves all requests for payment, he accounts for all of the charges at the end of each month, and he receives a check written to him to replenish the account. Therefore, by performing all three functions there is no separation of duties creating an inherent internal control weakness. To remedy this issue, the company should appoint separate people to perform each duty. Therefore, one person would approve requests for payment, another person would be in charge of accounting for charges, and a third person would receive the check to replenish the account. As an additional internal control measure, it would be beneficial to have a second independent person account for the charges. The second internal control weakness is that there is never any mention of receipts. The scenario says that John approves all requests for payment but makes no mention of how those requests for payment are corroborated. Therefore, all charges and requests for payment should be confirmed via a receipt for that individual purchase. The use of receipts provides evidence for both the person approving purchases and the person accounting for purchases. 2. The internal control weaknesses in scenario 2 center around a company’s cash disbursements. The first internal control weakness is the point in time purchases are approved. According to the scenario, Dan Leiser, the Chief Accountant approves all vouchers. However, ideally all purchases should be authorized prior to the purchase being made. The second internal control weakness centers on the preparation of the checks. While it is good that a

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