Help with Internal Control
(Internal Controls—Office Service Client) Brown Company provides the following
Office support services for more than 100 small clients:
1. Supplying temporary personnel
2. Providing monthly bookkeeping services
3. Designing and printing small brochures
4. Copying and reproduction services
5. Preparing tax reports
Some clients pay for these services on a cash basis, some use 30-day charge accounts,
And others operate on a contractual basis with quarterly payments.
Brown’s new office manager was concerned about the effectiveness of control
Procedures over sales and cash flow. At the manager’s request, the process was reviewed
And the following facts were disclosed:
a. Contracts were written by account executives and then passed to the accounts
Receivable department, where they were filed. Contracts had a limitation (ceiling)
On the types of services and the amount of work covered. Contracts were
Payable quarterly in advance.
b. Client periodic payments on contracts were identified on the contract, and a
Payment receipt was placed in the contract file. Accounting records showed
Credit Revenue; Debit Cash.
c. Periodically, a clerk reviewed the contract files to determine their status.
d. Work orders relating to contract services were placed in the contract file. Accounting
Records showed Debit Cost of Services; Credit Cash or Accounts
Payable or Accrued Payroll.
e. Monthly bookkeeping services were usually paid for when the work was
Complete. If not paid in cash, a copy of the invoice (marked “Unpaid
$ _________ ”) was put into a cash-pending file. It was removed when cash
Was received, and accounting records showed Debit Cash; Credit Revenue.
f. Design and printing work was handled like bookkeeping’s work. However, a
Design and printing order form was used to accumulate costs and compute the
Charge to be made to the client. A copy of the order form served as a billing
To the client and, when cash was received, as a remittance advice.
g. Reproduction (copy) work was generally a cash transaction that was rung up
On a cash register and balanced at the end of the day. Some reproduction work
Was charged to open accounts. A billing form was given to the client with the
Work, and a copy was put in an open file. It was removed when paid. In both
Cases, when cash was received, the accounting entry was Debit Cash; Credit
Revenue.
h. Tax work was handled like the bookkeeping services.
I. Cash from cash sales was deposited daily. Cash from receipts on account or
Quarterly payments on contracts was deposited after being matched with evidence
Of the receivable.
j. Bank reconciliations were performed using the deposit slips as original data for
The deposits on the bank statements.
k. A cash log of all cash received in the mail was maintained and used for reference
Purposes when payment was disputed.
l. Monthly comparisons were made of the costs and revenues of printing, design,
Bookkeeping, and tax service. Unusual variations between revenues and costs
Were investigated. However, the handling of deferred payments made this
Analysis difficult.
Required
a. List the eight elements of poor internal control that are evident.
b. List six elements of good internal control that are in effect.
