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It's one thing for staff in a retail store to pocket merchandise, but another thing entirely when trusted office workers rip you off. Office theft is an unfortunate reality.

Several years ago I was hired by a local non-profit organization to convert their manual paper-based accounting system to a computerized platform.  Their bookkeeping systems were antiquated and lacked internal controls which was criticized in a recent audit.  They needed to make big changes in how they managed their books.

After I met with each staff member to learn about their job functions related to record-keeping, I could see exactly where the lack of internal controls lay.

"internal controls
help prevent office theft"

Internal controls in any organization, are measures put in place to prevent problems before they occur.  In this respect, we say they are “preventative.”  For instance, numbering all sales invoices ensures that the sales are properly accounted for. 

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