An Evaluation of effectiveness of internal controls in religious organizations · Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author

Nhamo, Ruvarashe

Title

An Evaluation of effectiveness of internal controls in religious organizations

Abstract

Religious institutions have been charged with immense financial assets and play a significant role in providing social assistance to the community. When it comes to handling finances, a lot of them work under the tenet that are shared trust, believing that all stewards are trustworthy. However, in the wake of the multiple scandals and legal actions involving these organizations and their executives, many doubts have been expressed about the financial accountability of these groups. The research purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of internal controls in religious organizations. The aim of the research was to determine how risk assessment, accounting information control environments, continuous monitoring, and control activities affected religious activity performance. Selected religious organizations from the author's community made up the research's population of interest. Standardized questionnaires, which were meticulously prepared and validated using a small sample of the population for potential enhancements, were utilized to gather data. time frame from. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) analysis tool was used to enter the acquired data, perform descriptive statistics, and generate means and standard deviations. Tables and charts were utilized to display the information. The study found that the majority of religious organizations had implemented internal controls. Still, there were many who chose not to implement. The vast majority of churches have their accounts audited, although not very often, according to the report. It was also noted that the vast majority of churches received funding from contributions made by their members. Finally, the report advises religious institutions to find alternative means of raising money rather than relying on contributions, offerings, and donations. To guarantee effective controls, companies should either avoid recruiting inexperienced staff or provide training to those that are hired, and they should also ensure that everyone knows of the internal controls.

Date

June 2024

Publisher

BUSE

Keywords

Internal controls

Religious organizations

Supervisor

N/A