With the United States in the grips of an economic crisis, now is as good a time as any for Corporate America to reassess its internal controls. And segregation of duties is always crucial to reducing the occurrence of fraud or error within an organization.
“Generally, fraud tends to increase as the economic environment gets worse,” notes Lynn Lawton, president of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). Segregating duties is “a good, strong control,” because the responsibilities for particular process streams are divided among several people. If anyone wanted to commit a fraudulent act, collusion would be required, “which is always more difficult than just doing it yourself,” says Lawton.
