Risk Management Best Practices

By definition, internal controls are enhanced by hiring an external, third party.

In accordance with Easy Office best practices, we go beyond that to ensure strong internal controls. Internal controls are about checks-and-balances. They include:

• Reconciliations
• Segregation of duties
• Review and approval authorizations
• Safeguarding and accountability of assets
• Preventing or detecting error or fraud

For example, the person who handles the incoming money shouldn’t handle the outgoing money and shouldn’t do the bank reconciliations. A typical small non-profit, by definition, doesn’t have 3 different people who can do this.

Easy office takes a multi-pronged approach to ensure strong controls:

• Independent monthly reconciliations of key accounts (A/R, A/P, Cash.)
• Segregation of duties. Easy Office assigns 2 employees to each account. One will complete reconciliations and the other will perform the majority of the monthly work. This system will create a three-way check-and-balance process between the Client and our two designated Accounting Associates, further ensuring appropriate controls.
• Completion of approval matrix for bill payment & check signing.
• Asset tracking support and reporting for on-site audits.
• Easy Office requires backup and proof of transactions before booking transactions.
• For example, a client recently told us they deposited $8,000 in the bank and asked us to book it. The bank record showed $6,500. We require seeing both a scanned copy of the deposit slip and the individual checks that made up that deposit before it will be booked. This prevents both errors and fraud. (It turns out it was bank error.)
• Suggestion of best practices and lessons learned from other clients transferred to new and existing clients for creation / adaptation of Accounting Policies and Procedure manual.