Internal Control/Anti-Fraud Program Design for the Small Business: A Guide for Companies NOT Subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

PART TWO Anti-Fraud Control Activities: Raising the Walls

THE DESIGN OF CONTROL activities is a critical stage in the development of the anti-fraud program. If you were to review the anti-fraud programs of two companies, this area would contain the majority of differences in the overall programs because companies differ in size, industry, and complexity of operations. The lack of a one-size-fits-all model is most evident in this part.

Without personally working with your business, I cannot provide you with all of your unique and necessary control activities, but I have provided you with a simple method to understand your own needs.

The chapters included in Part II address the major differences that can be encountered in designing control activities through the presentation of the following topics:

• The absolute control activities that should be included in every anti-fraud program regardless of these differences.
• Control activities that can be implemented when segregation of duties is impossible.

This part also addresses the fact that certain control activities should be designed for transaction processes, and certain activities need to be designed for specific financial statement line item areas.