The Importance of Internal Controls Commensurate to Firm Size

This study examines the COSO Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) to determine the importance of these controls commensurate to firm size. For this study, a questionnaire was designed based on a Likert scale that includes 77 questions relating to five internal control components, i.e., the control environment, risk identification and assessment, control activities, information and communication, and monitoring activities, and seventeen related principles. The questionnaires were distributed based on the random sampling method among 431 experts on internal control between March and December 2020. The answers were analyzed based on the structural equation method, doing the confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis.  

The statistical analysis results showed that all controls at the level of their components and seventeen principles affect the quality of financial reporting. Also, the importance of these controls in large companies has been significantly higher than in small companies. There has been a significant difference between large companies and small companies as to the importance of control. However, the importance of internal control in large companies compared to medium-sized companies and in medium-sized companies compared to small companies was not significantly different. Further analysis of these findings indicated that some of the COSO ​​​Internal Control—Integrated F​r​​amework (2013) requirements are not relevant to small firms.

The research results present a new perspective on the design and implementation of internal controls in small companies; the study identifies some COSO Internal Controls (2013) in companies, especially in small ones, as of no or little importance.