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Nicholls State University

Internal Audit Department

Types of Internal Controls

Controls can be directive, preventative or detective. Directive controls are those designed to establish desired outcomes; preventative controls are designed to prevent errors, irregularities or undesirable events from occurring; and detective controls are those designed to detect and correct undesirable events which have occurred.  Below are several examples of each control.

Directive Controls

  • Policies and procedures
  • Laws and regulations
  • Training seminars
  • Job descriptions
  • Meetings

Preventative Controls

  • Segregation of duties (authorization, record-keeping & custody of the related assets should not be performed by the one same individual)
  • Physical control over assets
  • Locking office door to discourage theft
  • Using passwords to restrict computer access
  • Shredding documents with confidential information

Detective Controls

  • Exception reports which list incorrect or invalid entries or transactions
  • Reviews and comparisons
  • Reconciliations
  • Physical counts of inventories

Internal Controls

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