Meaning & use
internal control
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountablebusinessfinance
The rules, checks and procedures a company uses to protect its money and make sure its records are correct.
Grammar: Often used in the plural: 'The company has strong internal controls.' It can also be uncountable: 'Internal control is important.'
Patterns
- internal control over something
- strong/weak internal controls
- a system of internal control
The auditors found weaknesses in the bank's internal controls.
Good internal control prevents employees from stealing money.
The report says the company needs better internal control over its cash.
Word forms
| plural | internal controls |
|---|
Common combinations
- internal control system
- The firm installed a new internal control system last year.
- weak internal controls
- Weak internal controls allowed the fraud to continue for months.
- internal control over financial reporting
- The law requires internal control over financial reporting.
- assess internal controls
- Auditors assess internal controls before signing off on the accounts.
Synonyms and how they differ
- checks and balances
- This is a more general phrase for systems that stop any one person having too much power; it is not only about money and records.
- safeguards
- This focuses on protection rather than on the whole system of rules and records.
Word family
Commonly confused: internal control or internal auditing?
internal control vs internal auditing
Internal auditing is the job of checking the controls; internal control is the system itself.
Practice
The auditors said the company needed stronger ______ over its cash handling.
Choose one answer.
'Internal control' fits because it is the uncountable name of the system. 'Internal controls' is plural and would need a different sentence structure; 'internally control' is not a noun phrase; 'internal controlling' is not a standard business term.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “internal control”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.