The Causes and Consequences of Internal Control Problems in Nonprofit Organizations

2011 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 325-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Petrovits ◽  
Catherine Shakespeare ◽  
Aimee Shih
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Nonprofit Sector ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Control Problems ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Government Grants ◽  
Donor Support ◽  
Public Charities

ABSTRACT: This study examines the causes and consequences of internal control deficiencies in the nonprofit sector using a sample of 27,495 public charities from 1999 to 2007. We first document that the likelihood of reporting an internal control problem increases for nonprofit organizations that are in poor financial health, growing, more complex, and/or smaller. We then present evidence that the disclosure of weak internal controls over financial reporting is negatively associated with subsequent donor support received after controlling for the current level of donor support and other factors influencing donations. We likewise report a negative association between internal control problems and subsequent government grants. Our results suggest that donors and government agencies, important sources of capital for nonprofit organizations, react either directly or indirectly to internal control information.

scholarly journals Internal Controls and Operational Performance of Nonprofit Organizations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan R Berglund ◽  
Mikhail Sterin
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Operational Performance ◽  
Control Environment ◽  
For Profit ◽  
External Stakeholders ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Robust Evidence

This study examines the impact of auditor-reported internal control deficiencies (ICDs) on operational performance within nonprofit organizations. Contemporary studies in the for-profit environment document evidence that poor internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) cause suboptimal operational performance. While these analyses are restricted to ICFR, the nonprofit environment allows external stakeholders to observe the effectiveness of both ICFR and internal controls over compliance. We find robust evidence of negative associations between both ICD types and two key measures of nonprofit operational performance: surplus and the charitable expense ratio. Our findings are relevant to multiple nonprofit stakeholders, demonstrating that the control environment has a pervasive impact on a nonprofit's ability to effectively execute its charitable mission.

Perception of Internal Controls Helps Explain Whistleblowing

2021 ◽  
pp. 089976402110176
Author(s):  
Andrea M. Scheetz ◽  
Tonya D. W. Smalls ◽  
Joseph Wall ◽  
Aaron B. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Nonprofit Sector ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Organization Framework ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Control Implementation ◽  
Three Components ◽  
For Profit Organizations

The nonprofit sector may suffer financially from inconsistency in regulations and polices surrounding internal control implementation. To address this issue, our study explores how perceived internal control strength differs between nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Furthermore, we examine three components of the Committee of Sponsoring Organization framework to determine which components might significantly influence whistleblowing for nonprofit organizations. As expected, all three components appear to significantly influence whistleblowing for those in for-profit organizations. For those in nonprofit organizations, the perception of control activities and monitoring activities significantly mediates the relationship between organization type and whistleblowing intentions. Finally, the data indicate that the use of an anonymous website for whistleblowing at a nonprofit organization may require added attention and resources if employees at nonprofits are to use this outlet to the same extent as it is used at a for-profit organization.

Accounting Errors in Nonprofit Organizations

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Burks
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Public Charities ◽  
Accounting Errors

SYNOPSIS This study examines the accounting errors committed by public charities as revealed by searching for disclosures of their corrections in auditor reports, financial statements, and footnotes. A sample of 5,511 audited financial statements, predominantly from the years 2006 to 2010, was obtained from GuideStar, a data provider for nonprofits. Public charities report errors at a rate that is 60 percent higher than that of publicly traded corporations, and almost twice as high as that of similar-sized corporations. The errors are commonly errors of omission (i.e., failing to recognize items). The error rate has a strong positive association with internal control deficiencies and a strong negative association with Big 4 and second-tier auditors. Regressions are unable to detect a significant association between the error rate and organization size, type, or portion of the budget devoted to administrative activities. The error corrections often have low visibility in the financial reports issued by public charities; although they are reported in the footnotes of the audited financial statements, they often are not mentioned in auditor reports and in IRS Form 990s. The study improves our understanding of the accounting challenges faced by nonprofits, and may enhance nonprofit financial reporting by helping nonprofit managers and auditors understand the common circumstances and types of errors, and thus what activities to monitor more closely. The study also contributes to the academic literature by comparing the errors of nonprofits to those of corporations, by examining the outcomes of audits conducted by large as well as small auditors, and by advancing our understanding of discrepancies between audited and unaudited financial reports. Data Availability: Data are available from sources identified in the paper.

The Severity of Internal Controls over Financial Reporting Deficiencies: Differences among Types and Industries

2014 ◽  
pp. 55-77
Author(s):  
Tatiana Mazza ◽  
Stefano Azzali
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Service Companies ◽  
Finance Industry ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Fixed Assets

This study analyzes the severity of Internal Control over Financial Reporting deficiencies (Deficiencies, Significant Deficiencies and Material Weaknesses) in a sample of Italian listed companies, in the period 2007- 2012. Using proprietary data the severity of the deficiencies is tested for account-specific, entity level and information technology controls and for industries (manufacturing and services vs finance industries). The results on ICD severity is compared with one of the most frequent ICD (Acc_Period End/Accounting Policies): for account-specific, ICD in revenues, purchase, fixed assets and intangible, loans and insurance are more severe while ICD in Inventory are less severe. Differences in ICD severity have been found in the characteristic account: ICD in loan and insurance for finance industry and ICD in revenue, purchase for manufacturing and service industry are more severe. Finally, we found that ICD in entity level and information technology controls are less severe than account specific ICD in all industries. However, the results on entity level and information technology deficiencies could also mean that the importance of these types of control are under-evaluated by the manufacturing and service companies.

ARNOVA's Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Jeavons
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Nonprofit Sector ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Voluntary Organizations ◽  
Public Charities ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Local Levels

There are serious gaps in our knowledge and understanding of how public policy at the federal, state, and local levels affects the work of a wide array of nonprofit organizations. On October 4th and 5th, 2010, the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Organizations (ARNOVA), with the support and encouragement of the Bill and Melinda Gates, Kresge and C.S. Mott foundations, convened a group of thirty nonprofit scholars and leaders to explore what we know about the impact of public policy on the nonprofit sector. The conference focused on how public policy helps or harms the ability of nonprofit organizations, particularly but not exclusively public charities, to fulfill their missions.

Do Negative Corporate Social Responsibility Events Signal Financial Misreporting? — Empirical Finding from Taiwan

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (01) ◽  
pp. 2150004
Author(s):  
Ching-Lung Chen ◽  
Hann-Pyng Wang ◽  
Hung-Shu Fan ◽  
Shiu-Chieh Chiu
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Cash Flow ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Empirical Finding ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Control Rights ◽  
Cash Flow Rights ◽  
Corporate Social

This study examines whether negative corporate social responsibility events (NCSRs) signal potential firm misreporting and pending financial reporting restatements. Without formal opinions on the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting in Taiwan, we hypothesize NCSRs can represent and/or signal a firm’s internal control weakness, which may in turn result in poor financial reporting. Note that the concern with controlling owners expropriating wealth through ineffective internal controls is given important weight by investors and regulators. We further examine whether the signaling function of NCSRs is more pronounced in contexts with a serious agency problem, such as is found in the high divergence of control and cash flow rights case (denoted as high excess control rights) in Taiwan. Empirical results indicate that, as conjectured, incidence of NCSRs is positively associated with the likelihood of reporting restatements. Further evidence reveals that this result is particularly pronounced in the high divergence of control and cash-flow rights subsample test. We demonstrate several diagnostic tests and show the results are robust in various specifications.

scholarly journals Causality and multidimensionality of internal controls: Impact on organizations

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2-5) ◽  
pp. 502-515
Author(s):  
Joshua Onome Imoniana ◽  
Verônica Moreira Costa ◽  
Mariana Araujo ◽  
Luiza Helena Pereira Alberto ◽  
Patrícia P. Alves
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Chief Financial Officer ◽  
Final Response ◽  
Final Response Rate

This study analyzes the managers’ (Chief Financial Officer (CFO)) perception of impact of implementation of internal controls. It investigates the causes of adoption in the multidimensionality of internal control of the Brazilian companies traded in the New York Stock market. A survey sent to the CFOs of the 70 companies listed in the NYSE collected empirical data from these companies. The final response rate was 15.16 %. The study uses partial least squares modeling for statistical analysis to test the research question. Our empirical evidence supports the hypotheses that “the greater the level of multidimensionality of controls in an organization the lower the level of causal effects and damage to the control environment. Based on work performed, one is able to infer that overall, there is a significant relationship between causal effects on operating activities, financial reporting and compliance in relation to the multidimensionality of internal controls, thus, when there are uncommon features, depending on the level of multidimensionality special attention should be paid to the causes of adoption of controls to track risks posed to business.

scholarly journals Integration of Internal Control and Financial Statement Audits: Are Two Audits Better than One?

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Shefchik Bhaskar ◽  
Joseph H. Schroeder ◽  
Marcy L. Shepardson
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Auditor Judgment ◽  
Public Company ◽  
Better Than

ABSTRACT The quality of financial statement (FS) audits integrated with audits of internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) depends upon the quality of ICFR information used in, and its integration into, FS audits. Recent research and PCAOB inspections find auditors underreport existing ICFR weaknesses and perform insufficient testing to address identified risks, suggesting integrated audits—in which substantial ICFR testing is required—may result in lower FS audit quality than FS-only audits. We compare a 2007–2013 sample of small U.S. public company firm-years receiving integrated audits (accelerated filers) to firm-years receiving FS-only audits (non-accelerated filers) and find integrated audits are associated with higher likelihood of material misstatements and discretionary accruals, consistent with lower FS audit quality. We also find evidence of (1) auditor judgment-based integration issues, and (2) low-quality ICFR audits harming FS audit quality. Overall, results suggest an important potential consequence of integrated audits is lower FS audit quality. Data Availability: Data are publicly available from the sources identified in the text.

The Composition of Nonprofit Audit Committees

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Vermeer ◽  
K. Raghunandan ◽  
Dana A. Forgione
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Nonprofit Sector ◽  
Internal Audit ◽  
Audit Committees ◽  
Chief Financial Officers ◽  
Independent Directors ◽  
Government Grants ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Financial Expert

Audit committee composition has attracted significant attention from legislators and regulators in recent years. Although most of the focus has been on corporate audit committees, recent legislative efforts underscore the importance of governance in the nonprofit sector. Using data from a survey of 118 chief financial officers of nonprofit organizations as well as financial data from the GuideStar database, we examine the composition of nonprofit audit committees and factors associated with their composition. The data show that many nonprofits have not adopted Sarbanes-Oxley reforms, since we find that 36 percent of nonprofits have audit committees that are not completely independent. Organizations that are larger, receive government grants, and use a Big 4 auditor are more likely to have audit committees with solely independent directors. Surprisingly, universities and hospitals are less likely to have solely independent directors on the audit committee. Eighty-eight percent of nonprofits have at least one financial expert on the audit committee, and organizations that receive government grants and have an internal audit function are more likely to have a financial expert on the committee. Overall, our findings support the view that nonprofit audit committee composition varies in response to the demands related to the need for resources, the presence of other monitoring mechanisms, and the type of nonprofit.

How Effective are Organizations' Internal Controls? Insights into Specific Internal Control Elements

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. A31-A50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana R. Hermanson ◽  
Jason L. Smith ◽  
Nathaniel M. Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Internal Audit ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Component Level ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Tone At The Top ◽  
Survey Responses

SUMMARY Based on survey responses from approximately 500 Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) and other internal auditors, this article provides an insider's view of the perceived strength of organizations' internal controls (i.e., internal control over financial reporting) in the Control Environment, Risk Assessment, and Monitoring components of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations' (COSO 1992a) Internal Control—Integrated Framework. Although the respondents largely rate control strength as relatively high, we identify several areas for potential improvement of internal controls, especially related to assessing the “tone at the top,” as well as following up on deviations from policy and management override of controls. In analyzing individual control elements, we find that public companies' controls are consistently rated as more effective than those of other organizations. We also find a number of interesting differences across key industries, especially in the Monitoring component, where banks and other financial services firms appear to have more robust Monitoring controls than do healthcare and other services firms. The component-level analysis reveals that internal control component strength is positively related to the CAE reporting primarily to the audit committee, public company status, and the average tenure of the internal audit function staff, among other findings. Based on the survey findings, we describe key implications relevant to internal and external auditors, accounting researchers and educators, and management.

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