标题：Management and Internal Control System: An Analysis of Accounting Offices Located in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, and Its Metropolitan Area, Using the Four-Stage Model of Kaplan and Cooper
期刊名称：International Journal of Finance and Accounting
印刷版ISSN：2168-4812
电子版ISSN：2168-4820
出版年度：2014
卷号：3
期号：3
页码：162-173
DOI：10.5923/j.ijfa.20140303.03
语种：English
出版社：Scientific & Academic Publishing Co.
摘要：The objective of this study is the analysis of the level of management and internal control of accounting firms using the four-stage typology developed by Kaplan and Cooper (1998) for designing management systems. Specifically, we sought to identify the level of integration between the areas on the aspects of data quality, reporting, and strategic and operational controls. The survey was conducted in 112 accounting firms located in the city of Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, and its Metropolitan Area, all registered in CRC-MG, the Regional Accounting Body. For collecting the data, it was used a questionnaire with multiple-choice objective questions, and other questions using the Likert scale. The respondents were the accountants who worked as administrators of their offices. In the data analysis, the bivariate technique was used for the issues related to the integrated system and the internal control. The multivariate technique, using the Stepwise method, was used to rank the offices for the four levels of management. The results allowed defining the structure and the profile of the sample and, from there, characterizing the accounting offices, as well as the level of integration of their information systems and the internal control implemented between the areas surveyed. It was found that 32.84% were at Stage I characterized by containing offices that show low reliability in financial reporting and accounting; 30.55% were at Stage II, which defines the offices that provide financial and accounting reports periodically, with a certain degree of reliability; 23.35% were at Stage III, which comprises offices that use computerized systems for producing financial and accounting reports, and use these data to the operational and managerial control; and 13.34% were at Stage IV, which indicates the use of integrated information systems for the preparation of all financial and accounting reports that are that generally are used both for decision-making and meeting the demands of customers.
关键词：Internal Control; Management System; Accounting Offices; Kaplan and Cooper’s Four-Stage Model
