ACC539 - Internal Controls and Systems Documentation: Platinum Group

This report provides an in-depth analysis of internal controls and systems documentation within Platinum Manufacturing Group, focusing on their inventory management system. It examines the purchasing, storage, and issuance of raw materials, identifying weaknesses in the system and their potential impacts. The report highlights issues such as inadequate record-keeping, lack of proper authorization, ineffective information systems, and security vulnerabilities. Recommendations are provided to mitigate these risks through IT developments, automation, and improved security measures. The study concludes that implementing these improvements can enhance efficiency, profitability, and customer relationships within the organization. Desklib offers this document along with a wide array of study resources including past papers and solved assignments.

Running head: INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
Internal Controls and Systems Documentation
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

1INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
Executive Summary
This report focuses on the documentation of the controls based on the internal systems and
different steps involved within an inventory management system. The report focuses on the in-
depth analysis of the purchasing, storage and issuance of the raw materials by the organizations.
The report also helps in identifying the various kinds of internal weaknesses within the systems
and the kind of impact within the systems. This has led to the identification of the ways in which
the impacts could be mitigated with the help of the developments in IT and other electronic
forms.

2INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
2. Documentation of the Raw Materials and Purchasing Process...................................................3
3. Identification of Concerning Factors...........................................................................................4
4. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................8
5. Recommendations........................................................................................................................8
6. References..................................................................................................................................10

3INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
1. Introduction
This report puts a deep focus on the various kinds of internal processes and systems
within a manufacturing unit named as Platinum Manufacturing Group. The report is based on the
review of the various kinds of internal process and controls of the system procedures within the
manufacturing organization. The inventory management system within the Platinum Group is
being widely reviewed. The main function of the inventory management is to provide
supervision over the vast flow of goods within the manufacturing unit (Wild, 2017). These goods
would flow into several distributed warehouses. These forms of inventory management are also
widely used for maintaining a detailed record of each of the products that would leave or enter
within the warehouses and thus monitors the products based on the perspective of point of sale.
This report also focuses on the various forms of internal controls and weaknesses within the
systems, the impact of the weaknesses and the various kinds of controls that should be taken in
order to mitigate the raised issues within the organization (Dekker et al., 2013).
2. Documentation of the Raw Materials and Purchasing Process
(Fig 1: Level 0 Data Flow Diagram of the Purchasing of Raw Materials)
Gaining
Knowledge of
the Stock of
Products
Listing of the
Products that
would be
needed to be
bought
Collection of
Money and
Documentation
of the Items
Purchasing of
the Products
from the Local
Market

4INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
3. Identification of Concerning Factors
Although the Platinum inventory management system is dedicated towards providing the
best form of experiences for their various stock of goods, yet the system get susceptible to
certain form of weaknesses in relation with the internal processes and inventory management.
Some of the basic form of deficiencies within the system are:
Internal Control
Weakness
Impact of the
weakness
Control to mitigate
the weakness
Latest IT
developments
Inadequate amount
of Records or
Documentation -
The use of
documentation within
each of the processes
within Platinum
Group is one of the
major prospects of
the organization. This
is regarded as the best
form of inputs for the
purpose of
establishing proper
kinds of financial
based records. The
Platinum
Management Group
however has a certain
lack in this area as
the proper form of
The major impacts of
not keeping a record
of the transactions is
that the same kind of
transactions would be
recorded twice,
which would be
leading towards
future form of
complications.
Redundant data
would prove to be a
major form of
problem as tracing of
the documents would
pose to be a major
form of problem.
This problem within
the internal
documentation of the
system could be
sorted with the help
of proper form of
documenting of the
internal processes. A
proper form of
documentation would
be able to provide
satisfactory answers
to their problems.
The adequate form of
documentation would
be helpful in easing
the compilation of the
financial records and
thus be able to
complete and process
the number of tax
returns (Penn &
Pennix, 2017).

5INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
maintaining of the
documents is not
performed properly
(Smallwood, 2013).
Lack of Proper
Control over
Authorization of
Transactions –
There is a lack over
the control of the
several forms of
transactions that are
performed within the
organization.
The authorization
based on the several
forms of purchases
should be performed
prior to the
commitment to the
several resources
(Christopher, 2016).
A proper form of
authorization should
be made before the
placement of orders.
This would be helpful
for the managers
within Platinum
Group for gaining the
various kinds of
opportunities for the
purpose of evaluation
of several kinds of
purchases.
The systems should
be properly
monitored using the
latest forms of
computer systems.
Ineffective and
Outdated
Information
Systems
The Platinum
Management group
are not updated to the
latest form of
efficient information
systems. Hence the
storing of important
data of the
organization is posed
by serious forms of
problems.
The inventory
management systems
are responsible for
holding the various
kinds of information
and records based on
their transactions
(Love et al., 2014).
Hence, the Platinum
Management Group
should be able to
implement the best
form of information
systems within their
management systems.
This would help them
to perform their
operations in an
efficient manner and
thus would be able to
deliver better
outcomes.

6INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
Lack of Proper
Logical and Physical
Security
The Platinum
Management lacks a
proper form of
security within their
business operations.
Security is a much
needed concept,
which should be
primarily undertaken
by different groups in
order to secure the
various kinds of
database systems and
business assets
(Brender & Markov,
2013).
The computer
systems within the
organization should
be properly secured
with high form of
passwords. The
passwords present
within the systems
should be changed on
a regular basis. One
of the most vital form
of component is the
facility of having
firewall systems. This
would help the
systems to remain
secured from the
various kinds of
breaches within the
security of the data of
the organization
(Hsiao, Kerr &
Madnick, 2014).
The Platinum Group
makes use of the
information systems
in order to store the
various vital
information of their
customers within the
database systems.
Hence, this form of
information should be
highly secured. The
banking details of the
customers and the
various employees
within the group
should be able to get
secured with the
highest level of
security in order to
avoid the higher
chances of data
breaches. The
employee data as
well as the customer
data should be stored
in a secured format
and must be kept in
secure folders based
within the cloud
computing

7INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
environment (Bichou,
2015).
Improper Definition
of Job Roles and
Responsibilities
The different kinds of
roles and
responsibilities that
are designated to
each of the persons
should be properly
defined as per the
qualifications of the
student. It has been a
major factor that
some of the
employees would
have to perform the
roles that are
primarily designated
for another person
(Rahim, 2017).
The responsibilities
of the assigned job
details to different
persons would lead to
an efficient form of
business process and
thus would lead to
better form of
productivity of the
organization.
In order to avoid the
future form of
implications within
this sector, it would
be highly necessary
that the Platinum
Inventory
Management Group
should be able to
provide a better chart
for the benefits of the
people. The proper
form of description of
the roles of the job
and the assigned
responsibilities
should be properly
set by the
organization (Scase
& Goffee, 2017).
Inadequate
Recovery Plans and
Active Backup
Strategies
The Platinum Group
should be able to
consider the various
form of complexities
when they would
consider the plans of
recovery and business
The lack of a proper
method of backup
would lead to higher
form of
disadvantages as the
organizations would
lose the hold of the
The process of
backup within
Information Systems
is a much important
concept for the
development and
faster growth of the

8INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
continuity. various kinds of
challenges that would
be faced with the
listing of products
and thus maintain a
stock of the items.
inventory
management sector. .
This would help in
the protection of loss
of data in the cases of
disasters (Mohamed,
2014).
4. Conclusion
Based on the consideration of the above facts, it would be concluded that the use of high
level of inventory management systems would be extremely vital for the development of the
Platinum Inventory Management and Expenditure Process. This report focuses on the various
impacts that are faced by the organization based on the several kinds of issues faced by the
systems. Based on those kinds of issues, several recommendations are provided for the
implementation and for the better delivery of outcomes within the system processes. The
traditional based approaches should be properly revised and the newer kinds of approaches
should be implemented in order to gain the best form of results for the organizations. The
organization should make use of the various kinds of improvements in order to gain much more
benefits and profits for the organization. This would also be very much helpful for improving the
relationship with the customers and maintain a healthy relationship.
5. Recommendations
Based on the discussion from the above report, it would be recommended that the
inventory management systems of Platinum Group could implement several form of
improvements within the sector in order to gain the best form of outputs for the organization.
Based on the discussion from the report, it was seen that the systems were lacking within the

9INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
development of high form of IT based systems (Piramuthu & Zhou, 2013). IT systems are an
important form of advancement in the recent age of technologies as they help in the better form
of recording and collection of data. These systems also analyze the data and thus are able to
provide better form of insights within the use of these systems. The process of automation is also
another important aspect that needs to be considered by the Platinum Group. The use of
automation within this sector would also be helpful for gaining better form of outcomes based on
which the betterment and higher profitability of the system process would increase
(Muthulingam et al., 2013). Based on the gained insights from the above discussion, the
inventory management system would be able to provide much better form of gains within their
business process and thus would be able to progress in the future.

10INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
6. References
Bichou, K. (2015). The ISPS code and the cost of port compliance: an initial logistics and supply
chain framework for port security assessment and management. In Port Management (pp.
109-137). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Brender, N., & Markov, I. (2013). Risk perception and risk management in cloud computing:
Results from a case study of Swiss companies. International journal of information
management, 33(5), 726-733.
Christopher, M. (2016). Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
Dekker, R., Fleischmann, M., Inderfurth, K., & van Wassenhove, L. N. (Eds.). (2013). Reverse
logistics: quantitative models for closed-loop supply chains. Springer Science & Business
Media.
Hsiao, D. K., Kerr, D. S., & Madnick, S. E. (2014). Computer security. Academic Press.
Love, P. E., Matthews, J., Simpson, I., Hill, A., & Olatunji, O. A. (2014). A benefits realization
management building information modeling framework for asset owners. Automation in
construction, 37, 1-10.
Mohamed, H. A. R. (2014). A proposed model for IT disaster recovery plan. International
Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science, 6(4), 57.
Muthulingam, S., Corbett, C. J., Benartzi, S., & Oppenheim, B. (2013). Energy efficiency in
small and medium-sized manufacturing firms: order effects and the adoption of process
improvement recommendations. Manufacturing & Service Operations
Management, 15(4), 596-615.

11INTERNAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMS DOCUMENTATION
Penn, I. A., & Pennix, G. B. (2017). Records management handbook. Routledge.
Piramuthu, S., & Zhou, W. (2013). RFID and perishable inventory management with shelf-space
and freshness dependent demand. International Journal of Production
Economics, 144(2), 635-640.
Rahim, M. A. (2017). Managing conflict in organizations. Routledge.
Scase, R., & Goffee, R. (2017). Reluctant Managers (Routledge Revivals): Their Work and
Lifestyles. Routledge.
Smallwood, R. F. (2013). Managing electronic records: Methods, best practices, and
technologies (Vol. 592). John Wiley & Sons.
Wild, T. (2017). Best practice in inventory management. Routledge.