Internal Control Under Computerized Accounting

Internal control refers to all kinds of rules and regulations, organizational measures, management methods, business process formalities and other measures taken to prevent possible risks in the accounting work of enterprises and institutions in order to maintain the accuracy and reliability of accounting data, the effectiveness of business operations and the integrity of property.

With the development of computer and information system, the vast majority of enterprises in China have dumped manual accounts and implemented computerized accounting information system.

Computerized accounting has an unparalleled advantage over traditional manual accounting in the timeliness and accuracy of data processing, but with the popularity and deepening of computerization, computer related fraud cases occur frequently, and the amount involved and the losses often caused are much larger than that of manual systems.

The main reason is that computerization has brought a series of influences on the internal control of the traditional manual accounting information system. The internal control has changed from manual control to human and computer control. The original internal control has been unable to meet the requirements of computerized accounting information system.

This requires us to adapt to the characteristics of computerized accounting information system and establish and strengthen the internal control system under computerization.

First, under the computerization accounting, the contents of internal control of enterprises are from the traditional manual accounting to the computerized accounting system. Although the objectives and main features of accounting internal control have not changed, the basic principles and methods of balancing the double entry bookkeeping and lending in accounting have not changed. However, due to the computerization of accounting information processing methods and methods, the accounting business process and work organization have undergone qualitative changes, resulting in some new characteristics and changes in the internal control system of accounting information system.

After accounting computerization, internal control is divided into organizational control and functional control according to its different ways of implementation.

Organizational control refers to the internal control established through the establishment of rules and regulations and the rational division of labor among staff members.

Functional control refers to the internal control realized by designing certain functions in the accounting information system.

According to the different environment, internal control can be divided into application control and general control.

Application control refers to the internal control implemented in the process of accounting data processing by computers.

According to its nature and purpose, internal control can also be divided into management control and accounting control.

Management control refers to internal control to ensure the completion of plans, budgets and quota tasks and improve economic efficiency.

Accounting control refers to the internal control to maintain accurate and reliable accounting data and protect the integrity of the unit's property.

Two. The necessity of strengthening internal control under computerized accounting. Because computerized accounting information system is different from manual accounting information system in many aspects such as accounting process and organization mode, and because of its unique potential risks, computerized accounting system must be established in scientific internal control system to ensure the true and reliable accounting data.

1. The change of authorization mode under computerized accounting requires strengthening internal control. In a manual accounting system, an economic business occurs from forming to the corresponding accounting processing information. Every link of its experience should be processed by the relevant personnel who have the corresponding management authority to examine the signature.

Although the traditional management method is slow in processing, it can effectively prevent cheating.

However, under computerized accounting, the main function of the division of authority is password authorization.

Passwords are not stored in the computer system as a seal, but are stored in the computer system. Once the password is peek or stolen, it will bring huge risks. This case has occurred in reality.

If a certain accountant is bought by a client, stealing the password, illegally checking off the accounts receivable and related information of the customer, and selling the personnel to steal the customer's information and resell the customer information to other companies.

2, the paperless pformation of accounting archives calls for strengthening internal control under the manual mode. Accounting information is stored on different papers in the form of accounts, certificates and forms. The addition, deletion and modification of accounting vouchers or accounting books can distinguish responsibilities from their handwriting and seals. Therefore, it is difficult to modify or forgery without trace.

But after computerized accounting, the accounting information is stored in magneto optical media in the form of database files. Such paperless credentials and accounts are easy to be tampered with and falsified without leaving traces, thus bringing new challenges to internal control.

In addition, magnetic or optical media require high preservation environment and are easy to damage. Once damaged, it is difficult to recover. This undoubtedly raises higher requirements for internal control.

3, the development of network technology also calls for strengthening the rapid development of internal control network technology, which has brought far-reaching influence to computerized accounting information system.

At present, the network functions of financial software include: remote reimbursement, remote reporting, remote auditing, online payment, online charging, online tax return, online procurement, online sales, Internet banking and so on.

Because the network environment is open, and a large amount of accounting information is pmitted through the Internet, it may cause the network accounting information system to be attacked by "hackers" or "viruses". It may also lead to accounting information being stolen or deliberately tampered with. This series of problems can not be solved without the improvement and development of the internal control system.

Three, the current situation of internal control of computerized accounting in China, 1, the lack of composite talents, the overall quality of computerized accountants needs to be improved, computerized accounting system is a system of man-machine integration, it requires both familiar with computer operation accounting personnel, and also needs to be proficient in computer hardware maintenance, information system management and basic financial knowledge of system administrators.

But this kind of talents in our country is still quite scarce. It will take some time to train this kind of talents.

2, the understanding of the unit leadership is not in place, the breadth and depth of computerization work needs to be promoted. Many leaders have not fully realized the importance of computerized accounting, and have not realized that the development of computerized accounting is the necessity of the development of the times and the need for the modernization of management.

At present, a considerable part of the computerized accounting work of enterprises is only in a single or several accounting business and report collection work. Wages, fixed assets, sales accounting and cost accounting have not yet been computerized. There are few enterprises in the country that achieve computerized accounting. The breadth and depth of computerized accounting are not enough, so the difficulty of establishing and perfecting computerized accounting internal control system is increased.

3, accounting software can not be upgraded in time. Software security and confidentiality are poor. Many enterprises believe that computerization is merely "replacing machines with machines". Software only needs to be invested one time.

From Pentium II to Pentium IV, models have been changed several times, but financial software still stays in the "old" DOS version of Foxbase development.

On the other hand, most enterprises are always busy developing, buying hardware and accounting software, and obtaining the correct output of accounts, certificates and tables. However, they seldom ask whether the computer system is safe and reliable, and whether the internal control of enterprises and departments is sound, which leads users of accounting information to be skeptical about the reliability of computerized data.

Four, strengthen the computerization accounting under the enterprise internal control proposal 1, strengthen the control of the relevant organization and management (1) establish an organization adapting to computerized accounting system, after realizing the computerized accounting, enterprises should adjust the original organization in time, and can be divided into computerized accounting supervisor, software operation, audit accounting, computerized maintenance, computerization review, data analysis and other posts according to the accounting post and responsibilities.

The setup of the organization is in line with the actual situation of the enterprise, and is conducive to the realization of the management objectives of the enterprise. At the same time, it should also take into account the issue of cost.

(2) the establishment of a strict management system for computers is based on the safety and confidentiality of computerized accounting information system. The computer used by enterprises for computerized accounting system should ensure that special personnel are used as much as possible. At the same time, enterprises should set up a strict system of computer management to ensure that every staff member should do his or her own work on his own computer and his own jurisdiction.

Generally speaking, the management measures of computers for the computerized accounting system should include rotation duty system, computer record system, perfect operation manual, boarding time arrangement, operation log and so on.

(3) to conscientiously carry out the separation of duties and to implement mutual supervision and manual accounting, the computerized accounting system can not be handled by one person or a department by any accounting system that may lead to forgery.

In computerized accounting system, incompatible duties are mainly system development, development duties and system operation duties; data maintenance management positions and computerized audit duties; data entry duties and audit accounting duties; system operation duties and system archives management duties.

In order to prevent fraud or fraud, enterprises should set up a set of internal control system that accords with the principle of division of duties, and establish a job rotation system.

(4) to strengthen file management, enterprises should archive all accounting information in time and regularly backup all files.

The accounting software used by enterprises should have the function of mandatory backup and restore to the nearest state.

(5) pay attention to internal audit function. Internal audit is not only an important part of internal control system, but also an institutional arrangement to strengthen internal accounting supervision.

Internal audit itself is a kind of organization control.

adopt

The departments independently and impartially monitor and evaluate the quality and integrity of information in computerized accounting system, which is conducive to the establishment and improvement of internal self-restraint and self motivation mechanism within the system.

2, strengthen the control of the system development related to the computerized accounting system before implementation. This work is mainly aimed at the enterprises that independently develop the accounting information system.

The control measures implemented during the development of the system are mainly to ensure the legality and effectiveness of the activities in the system development. The main contents include: making clear the development goals, carrying out the feasibility study and analysis of the system, ensuring the consistency of the development goals of the system in the course of development, and controlling the progress of the development, monitoring the quality of development, checking the rationality of the various functional modules, and improving the quality of the system.

The development of computerized accounting system must follow the standards and norms formulated by relevant state departments, so that the system developed is safe and reliable.

stay

If the accounting system is in the running process, if it finds loopholes in accounting software, it is necessary to modify it in time. The whole revision process must be carefully planned and strictly recorded. Every link in the process of modification must be set up with necessary control. The reason for modification should be written report, computerized accounting system.

Can not participate in software modification, all records related to software modification should be printed and archived.

3, to strengthen the control of computerized daily management, we should first make up the operation rules, mainly including the operation rules of hardware and software, and the operation time of computers.

In the event of an economic operation, the rationality, legality and integrity of the business shall be checked and controlled through the control procedure of the computer.

Secondly, a set of internal control system should be set up to strictly control the input data and ensure the accuracy of data input.

Because of the ability of computers to process data, the processing speed is very fast. If the input data is inaccurate, the processing result will be wrong, which will affect the normal operation of the whole system.

Therefore, the system should strictly control the input data to ensure the accuracy of data input.

Data input control requires that the input data should be authorized and checked by the relevant internal control department. At the same time, various technical means should be adopted to verify the accuracy of the input data, such as balance check, two input check, etc.

In addition, in order to prevent errors in data pmission, such as mistakes, loss, divulge and other accidents, enterprises should adopt various technical means to ensure the accuracy, safety and reliability of data in the pmission process.

Finally, the event type, user identity, operation time, system parameters and status, and sensitive resources of the system are monitored and recorded in real time. The necessary permissions are set up to enable users to identify different kinds of permissions and identify remote requests.

To sum up, the popularity of computerized accounting in China's enterprises has brought convenience and efficiency to accountants. Meanwhile, it has undoubtedly increased the hidden danger of information.

Of course, everything is not perfect. Only when we conform to the trend of computerization development, we should establish an internal control system with clear division of responsibilities, power and responsibility, and strict operation, and implement it in real time. Only in this way can we give full play to the accuracy and efficiency of computerized accounting system, so as to provide accurate and timely decision information for the management of enterprises, so as to achieve the goal of maximizing enterprise value.