According to the Accounting Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) and the relevant rules and regulations of the Ministry of Finance, all units (including state organs, social organizations, companies, enterprises, institutions and other economic organizations) shall establish an internal control system suitable for their own business characteristics and management requirements in accordance with the provisions of relevant state laws, regulations and norms, combined with the relevant internal control provisions of departments and systems, and organize their implementation.
The so-called internal control refers to the process that the board of directors, managers and other employees of an enterprise provide reasonable protection to ensure the reliability of financial reports, the efficiency and effectiveness of operations and the compliance with existing laws and regulations. Internal control involves the control environment, risk assessment, supervision and decision-making, information and transmission, self-testing and other aspects of enterprise production, and has a general perspective on all aspects of enterprise production. Its effective implementation will undoubtedly promote the production management of enterprises to a new level and promote the rationalization and standardization of business processes.
First, internal control will have a far-reaching impact on the production and operation activities of enterprises and external social and economic activities in practical work, and produce good results.
(a) to ensure the implementation of the management policies and objectives formulated by the enterprise
The internal control system consists of some specific policies, systems and procedures, which permeate all aspects of business activities. As long as there are business activities and management links within the enterprise, there are corresponding management methods and control measures, so as to effectively implement the business policy of the enterprise and ensure the realization of business objectives.
(two) to ensure the authenticity and reliability of accounting information and other management information, and to prevent business risks.
Perfecting the internal control system can standardize the process and behavior of enterprises in collecting, classifying, recording and summarizing all kinds of information, ensure the authenticity and reliability of accounting information, truthfully reflect the operating conditions of enterprises, find and correct all kinds of mistakes and abuses in time, and effectively control the operating risks of enterprises.
(3) Ensure the safety and integrity of assets and make effective use of them.
A perfect internal control system can scientifically and effectively supervise and restrict the purchase, measurement and acceptance of enterprise property and materials, control and manage the utilization of various resources and cash flow of enterprises, thus ensuring the safety and integrity of enterprise property and materials and preventing the loss of assets.
(four) to ensure the maximization of corporate profits.
Improve internal control, make the business activities of enterprises lively and orderly, reduce unnecessary costs and expenses, promote the effective operation of enterprises and achieve greater profit targets.
Second, in recent years, with the development of China's market economy and the deepening of enterprise reform, the understanding of enterprise internal control has been continuously improved from government departments to enterprise management. Most state-owned enterprises have established internal control systems to a certain extent and within a certain scope, but in actual operation, there are still many imperfections.
(A) the internal control environment is not perfect
The construction and effective operation of internal control system depends on the good corporate governance structure of enterprises. The separation of ownership and management rights of modern enterprises objectively requires the establishment of standardized corporate governance institutions and the strengthening of internal control to protect the legitimate rights and interests of owners, operators and creditors. However, from the current situation, although most state-owned enterprises have formally established corporate governance structure, due to unclear property rights, the absence of investors, inherent limitations of internal control and other reasons, internal control has weakened, economic business has increased at will, and the supervision mechanism has failed.
(B) accounting information distortion, increased fraud probability
In some enterprises, information distortion caused by accounting confusion and false accounting is more serious. For example, the conventional system of printing sheet (ticket) responsibility, the system of keeping and using important blank vouchers and the principle of "internal containment" of accounting personnel division of labor have not been really implemented; The filling of accounting vouchers lacks reasonable and effective original voucher support; Artificially fabricating accounting facts, tampering with accounting data, setting up off-balance-sheet accounts, spreading costs indiscriminately, concealing or falsely reporting income and profits; Unclear assets, false debts, etc. Fraud is common in listed companies, and the present situation in other enterprises is even more worrying.
(3) Costs are out of control and potential risks increase.
In some enterprises, the internal control management of property and materials is quite weak, the system exists in name only, the responsibility of procurement links is not strictly separated according to the regulations, the review system in economic exchanges is not strict, the procedures for issuing inventory are not perfect, and the reconciliation with the financial department is not timely, which leads to the failure to deal with the damage, scrap and shortage of inventory materials in time for many years, resulting in increased potential losses and increased operational risks. Some enterprises often have big management loopholes in the fund management of business activities. In order to invigorate the economy, department managers are allowed to pay a certain proportion of business expenses, but the scope of application of this part of expenses is not clearly defined, and there is no constraint from supervision institutions, which leads to extravagance and waste of department managers.
(D) Internal audit exists in name only
As the re-control of internal control, internal audit itself should re-supervise the economic supervision of enterprises objectively and fairly from the standpoint of a third party, and its position should be detached and independent. However, at present, the internal audit department of most enterprises is basically parallel to other functional departments, and the independence and authority of internal audit can not be guaranteed, and violations of law and discipline often occur. Thirdly, strengthening and perfecting the internal control system of enterprises is an important content of deepening enterprise reform and strengthening enterprise management. To continuously improve the internal control system of enterprises, we need to start from the following aspects.
(A) improve the internal control environment of enterprises, strict authorization and approval system.
In terms of corporate governance structure, the shareholders' meeting, the board of directors, the board of supervisors and the managers should form a relationship of power and responsibility distribution, incentives and constraints, and rights checks and balances to implement various management. In the setting of management departments, we should establish and improve a scientific internal organizational structure that conforms to the characteristics of enterprises, reasonably and effectively set up various departments and posts, establish a departmental post responsibility system, clarify work responsibilities, establish and improve an internal containment system, and separate incompatible posts. According to the requirements of internal control, the unit should follow the principle of incompatible job separation in the process of determining and improving the organizational structure. The economic activities of a unit can usually be divided into five steps, namely, authorization, issuance, approval, execution and recording. Under normal circumstances, if each of the above steps is carried out by relatively independent personnel (or departments), it can ensure the separation of incompatible duties and is conducive to the play of internal control.
Authorization examination and approval control refers to the authority control of the internal departments or personnel of the unit to handle economic business. Authorization examination and approval can be divided into general authorization and special authorization according to its form. The so-called general authorization refers to the provisions on power, conditions and responsibilities when handling daily business, and the general authorization has a long term; Special authorization is the provision of power, conditions and responsibilities when dealing with exceptional business, and its timeliness is generally short. No matter which authorization and approval method is adopted, enterprises must establish an authorization and approval system, and clarify the scope, authority, procedures and responsibilities of authorization and approval of various functional departments. Managers at all levels within the unit must exercise the corresponding functions and powers within the scope of authorization, and the handling personnel must also handle economic business within the scope of authorization to ensure clear responsibilities and scientific management of the enterprise.
(2) Standardize financial accounting and fully implement budget management.
Enterprises must, in accordance with the Accounting Law and the unified national accounting system, formulate accounting procedures suitable for their own enterprises, implement the post responsibility system for accounting personnel, and establish a strict accounting control system. On the basis of implementing the national unified first-class accounting subjects, enterprises should set up unified detailed accounts according to the needs of operation and management, and group companies need to unify the accounting detailed accounts of subordinate companies to unify their caliber and accounting. Clarify the procedures and methods of handling accounting vouchers, accounting books and financial accounting reports, and follow the accounting principles stipulated in the accounting system, so that accounting can truly achieve the purpose of providing information for national macro-control and management, internal management of enterprises, and understanding of their financial status and operating results for all parties concerned outside enterprises.
Budget is an important part of enterprise financial management. It is the overall annual revenue and expenditure plan of enterprise operation, capital and finance, including the whole process of financing, procurement, production, sales, investment and management. It is necessary to carry out comprehensive budget management focusing on operating income, cost and cash flow, scientifically analyze the budget results in time, and effectively control the differences.
(3) Improve the property preservation system and guard against market operation risks.
Strictly implement property preservation control, restrict unauthorized personnel from directly contacting property, and take measures such as regular inventory, account verification, record protection, property insurance, record monitoring, etc. to ensure the safety and integrity of all kinds of property.
Establish risk awareness, establish an effective risk management system for each risk control point, and comprehensively prevent and control financial risks and operational risks through early warning, identification, evaluation, analysis and reporting of risks. If necessary, a risk assessment department or post can be set up to be responsible for the identification, avoidance and control of related risks.
(4) Improve the employment system and strengthen information management.
The quantity and quality of human resources, the loyalty, centripetal force and creativity of human resources are the vitality and powerful driving force for the prosperity of enterprises. Therefore, how to fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of enterprise human resources and give full play to the potential of human resources has become the central task of enterprise management. Human resource control should establish strict recruitment procedures to ensure that candidates meet the recruitment requirements. It is necessary to train employees regularly to improve their professional quality in order to better complete the prescribed tasks; Strengthen the performance appraisal of employees and mobilize their enthusiasm and creativity.
The control of management information system includes two aspects. On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the control of the electronic information system itself. With the development of electronic information technology, it is more and more common for enterprises to use computers for business management. In addition to the development of computerized accounting and e-commerce, the production, management, purchase, sales, storage and transportation of enterprises are inseparable from computers. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the control of electronic information system. On the other hand, we should use electrons.
(5) Establish an internal reporting system and improve the internal audit system.
In order to meet the timeliness and pertinence of enterprise internal management, enterprises should establish an internal management reporting system, use management accounting means to truthfully reflect the operating conditions and disclose relevant important information in time.
Internal audit control is a special form of internal control. It is an independent evaluation institution for the compliance, rationality and effectiveness of internal economic activities and management systems of enterprises. In a sense, it is the re-control of other internal controls. Internal audit should be relatively independent in enterprises and other management departments, and it is best to be led by the board of directors or subordinate audit committees. The internal audit department is responsible for reviewing the implementation of various internal control systems and reporting the review results to the board of directors or the top management institution of the enterprise. The more detailed the internal audit work, the more perfect the internal control system, and the more efficient and reliable the internal control work.