What’s the Key Control at a Small Business
Cut through COSO and SAS 109 and all the authoritative and nonauthoritative guidance and all your forms…the key question is “as a practical matter, what are the most important controls at a small business?”
I’ve been posing this question to a number of top auditors. The most pithy response to date.
I think the core control I want to see, particularly at small businesses, is someone who understands the entire business well enough to recognize unusual trends or transactions. This is usually at the executive level and does not require expertise in GAAP, just a desire to read the financial statements and make sure they reflect what management knows to be happening in the business.
And now the follow up. What questions do you ask to make this assessment? How can you tell if your client “gets it?”
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