Chapter 4: Human Resources to Payroll

What’s Inside

This is one part of a series designed to help organizations identify risks and improve internal controls over financial reporting. Click here to access the rest of the series, including a set of five downloadable tools organizations can use to help assess their own controls.

Chapter 4, Human Resources to Payroll, describes the processes, risks and recommended controls associated with hiring, managing and compensating staff.

Key Points

Human Resources to Payroll processes attract, develop and retain skilled employees, ensure they are paid on time, and provide the benefits they have earned. Key processes include:

• Human resources administration
• Benefits administration
• Payroll

Chapter 4 includes an overview of these three functions, descriptions of processes and subprocesses, descriptions of internal controls that organizations can leverage to manage risks, and a table describing key risks and controls for each process and subprocess.

In addition, this chapter includes a downloadable, customizable risk–control matrix with a detailed list of risk considerations by process, with suggested controls to address each one.

Why It Matters

Whatever the size or complexity of your organization, implementing the right controls over sales to collection processes lays the foundation for a well-controlled financial reporting environment. This guide gives you tools to begin assessing and improving your own organization’s controls.