General controls and application controls

In January 2006, Jessica Leigh (finance director) and Stephanie Dodsworth (sales director) both resigned from the management board of Deeport plc, a large UK retail company, following a critical report by the company’s auditors, Barber LLP. The company’s auditors found that insufficient internal controls and a lack of systems management had resulted in the fraudulent misuse of funds and resources. For the first time in its 22-year history, the company declared a loss of £26m (for the year ending 31 March 2006).

Required

Distinguish between general controls and application controls, and identify in broad terms only, the general control procedures and security measures that could be employed by a company such a Freeport plc to protect against the activities indicated in the above situation.

Solution: