外文翻譯---小企業(yè)運用內(nèi)部控制減少雇員盜竊問題

1、<p><b>　　中文3160字</b></p><p>　　本科畢業(yè)論文（設(shè)計）</p><p>　　外 文 翻 譯</p><p>　　外文作者 Snyder Neil H , Broome O. Whitfield &l

2、t;/p><p><b>　　原文：</b></p><p>　　Using internal controls to reduce employee theft in small business</p><p>　　Employee theft is one of the most serious problems faced by small

3、 businesses in the United States today. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, $40 billion is stolen annually from U.S. businesses, ten times the cost of the nation's street crime. In addition, estimates suggest

4、that almost $200 billion worth of employee time is stolen annually and that losses due to employee theft are increasing at a rate of 15 percent per year. </p><p>　　The effects of employee theft on smaller fi

5、rms can be devastating. Because of the competitive nature of the markets they serve and the financial constraints they face, small businesses can ill afford to ignore this problem. According to one estimate, for example,

6、 almost one-third of all business failures in the United States are due to internal theft. Interestingly, most small business owners are not sensitive enough to the threat posed by this form of theft, and tend to regard

7、it as a cost of d</p><p>　　The Importance of Internal Controls</p><p>　　The implementation of appropriate internal control procedures is a fundamental and important step in reducing employee the

8、ft. To be effective, the controls used and the way they are implemented must reflect an understanding of who is likely to steal from the company and how he or she might do it. Additionally, internal control procedures mu

9、st be used in a consistent manner, and they should not differentiate among owners, managers, partners, officers, relatives, or friends.</p><p>　　This article focuses on the use of internal controls in small

10、firms to reduce employee theft. It takes into account that, in dealing with the theft problem, smaller firms must come to grips with severe constraints that larger firms do not encounter. Additionally, the underlying org

11、anizational issues that influence employee attitudes toward theft are discussed.</p><p>　　Organizational Climate and Control of Theft</p><p>　　Effective internal control begins with the creation

12、 of a climate within the organization that supports and reinforces such values as honesty and integrity. Small business owners should begin by communicating clearly with their employees so that everyone understands what

13、constitutes theft and the consequences for those committing the offense. Additionally, it is essential for all members of the management team to adhere closely to these values. If managers deviate from the values even sl

14、ightly, t</p><p>　　Using Internal Controls</p><p>　　Once these basic questions and issues have been addressed, it is important to focus attention on the specific controls needed to minimize the

15、incidence of employee theft. Careless or inadequate internal controls provide an attractive inducement to would-be thieves, and they suggest that management is not serious about the problem. Good internal controls, on th

16、e other hand, can help to increase productivity by minimizing waste, unintentional errors, and fraud. In addition, internal controls make </p><p>　　Although controls are useful, if owners and managers become

17、 too control conscious, they can do harm to their businesses. According to Richard Greene, a tightly controlled environment can have the adverse effect of reducing both productivity and creativity. Finding the appropria

18、te level of internal control, therefore, is a critical management responsibility requiring the use of good judgment. In small businesses, the job can be especially difficult for two reasons: not enough staff and too litt

19、l</p><p>　　Identifying the controls that are essential to reduce theft in smaller businesses is critically important. This is true because the firm's survival may depend on it, and also because the needs

20、 of small firms in this regard are different from those of larger ones. With these considerations in mind, the following discussion gives attention to the identification of specific internal control procedures that shoul

21、d be in place in any small business.</p><p>　　Methodology used to Identify Controls</p><p>　　Differentiating Between Small, Medium, and Large Businesses</p><p>　　Focusing on the par

22、ticular needs of small businesses was crucial to the success of this research. To assist them in this regard, the authors relied on the work of Donald Thain, who developed criteria for differentiating between small, medi

23、um, and large businesses. For example, smaller firms, according to Thain, face different kinds of problems than the others. They tend to have different objectives and strategies for achieving them, tend to organize diffe

24、rently, and tend to use different decisio</p><p>　　Developing a Comprehensive List of Internal Controls </p><p>　　Identifying the internal controls that might be used by small businesses to redu

25、ce employee theft necessitated gathering information from various sources. Using the information from these sources, a comprehensive control checklist was prepared. This list of controls is believed to be the most compre

26、hensive currently available.</p><p>　　Identifying Controls That All Small Businesses Should Use </p><p>　　The authors asked eight certified public accountants to assist them by serving as expert

27、 evaluators in identifying controls that should be used by all small businesses. Four of the CPAs were partners in Big Eight accounting firms, and the others were partners in local or regional firms.</p><p>

28、　　CPAs were thought to be an ideal choice for this job, because they are viewed widely by people in the business community as knowledgeable, thorough, morally upright, ethical, honest, and objective. Also, no other group

29、 in our society is likely to know more about the appropriate use of internal controls than CPAs. The fact that only eight CPAs were asked to assist in this research represents a constraint on the ability to generalize fr

30、om the findings. However, the CPAs who worked on the project c</p><p>　　Each of the expert evaluators was instructed to use the criteria in Thain's matrix to develop an understanding of the particular co

31、ntrol needs of small businesses and then to identify the specific controls that should be used by small businesses to reduce employee theft.</p><p>　　In explaining the purpose of their research to the CPAs,

32、the authors discussed the possibility that small business owners might be relatively uninformed about the importance of internal controls in reducing employee theft. Consequently, they might overlook controls as a viable

33、 option for dealing with the theft problem. Without exception, the CPAs shared this opinion, and most of them provided anecdotal information that supported it. Additionally, most of the CPAs believed that smaller busines

34、ses</p><p>　　Results of the Study</p><p>　　It is very unusual for eight professional people to agree on any issue, including the importance of various internal controls. Therefore, the authors h

35、ave defined as essential for small businesses only those controls that were identified by six or more (75 percent or more) of the expert evaluators as being important.</p><p>　　As mentioned previously, imple

36、menting controls costs money, and controls that provide little or no benefit should be avoided. However, it was thought desirable to exercise caution in recommending that a control not be used, because of the possibility

37、 that it might have value in some particular types of small businesses. Therefore, the only controls classified as unnecessary for small businesses were those controls that were unanimously identified by the expert evalu

38、ators as being unimportant.</p><p>　　The findings of this research are presented in exhibit 1. Individual controls are classified as being related to cash, payroll, investments, inventories, general business

39、, accounts and notes receivable, accounts payable, sales, or property, plant, and equipment, in that order. Only the controls that were identified by six or more of the expert evaluators as important, or by all of them a

40、s unimportant, are included in the results, for the reasons previously stated.</p><p>　　Analysis of Results</p><p>　　The opinions of the expert evaluators led to the identification of forty-two

41、controls as essential for small businesses. As might be expected, most of these controls—twenty-one—relate to cash, the most liquid asset and the one most susceptible to theft. Of the remaining essential controls, from t

42、wo to four each relate to payroll, investments, inventories, general business, accounts and notes receivable, and accounts payable.</p><p>　　Types of Essential Controls</p><p>　　In considering t

43、he use of these controls, the small business owner or manager may find it useful to group them into a few categories that describe their general nature or purpose. In this study, four categories have been used that class

44、ify the essential controls by common techniques of safeguarding assets or assuring accuracy. These are: Keeping Records (KR), Duties of Employees (DE), Securing Assets (SA), and Responsibility of Employees (RE). It is po

45、ssible that a control may be related to more</p><p>　　Keeping Records (KR)-- Some controls are directed toward establishing records that provide a check on employees' handling of assets and transactions.

46、 If possible, therefore, record keeping should be performed by individuals who do not have custody of the asset in question or responsibility for the transaction being controlled. However, this separation may be difficul

47、t to achieve in small businesses. In exhibit 1, the controls that involve record keeping are designated by the letters KR (for Keep</p><p>　　Duties of Employees (DE)— Another type of control involves the del

48、egation of tasks to employees so that the duties of one serve as a check on the activities of another. Controls that require approval by an owner or manager to complete a transaction also fit into this category, as do co

49、ntrols that involve checks by people outside the business. Involving customers in assuring that salespeople correctly record the amount of a sale via a cash register or a receipt is one example of the latter contro</p

50、><p>　　Securing Assets (SA)-- Securing assets under lock and key or securing them off-premises represents another type of control. Using checks rather than cash to pay bills is a way of controlling cash by plac

51、ing it in the custody of a bank off-premises. Assets can also be secured other than physically, such as by prenumbering checks, registering securities, and using restrictive endorsements. The letters SA (for Securing Ass

52、ets) are used in exhibit 1 to identify these controls. </p><p>　　Responsibility of Employees (RE)-- Finally, controls may be classified as those that clearly place responsibility for an asset with a single e

53、mployee. In exhibit 1, this type of control is identified by the letters RE (for Responsibility of Employees).</p><p>　　Unnecessary Controls</p><p>　　The CPAs who served as expert evaluators in

54、this study did not explain why they considered some of the internal controls in the checklist to be unimportant for small businesses. However, they did unanimously agree that thirty-two of the controls were unimportant.

55、An analysis of these controls leads to inferences about the types of controls that small businesses may not find practical or cost effective. Two categories have been used in this connection: Involvement of Owner or Mana

56、ger (IO in exhib</p><p>　　Involvement of Owner or Manager ( IO)—In smaller businesses, owners or managers are typically closely involved on a daily basis. Furthermore, the scope of operation of most small bu

57、sinesses permits the owner or manager to be involved in many or most aspects of the business. Thus, he or she can provide the control, rather than establishing a costly procedure or structure to do it.</p><p&g

58、t;　　Size Insufficient (SI)-- Small businesses often have too few employees to make certain controls possible, practical, or cost effective. Therefore, the owner or manager must be aware of the absence of these controls a

59、nd substitute personal involvement for them.</p><p>　　Source：Snyder Neil H，Broome O. Whitfield，Zimmerman Karen. Using Internal Control To Reduce Employee Theft In Small Business [J]. Journal of Small Busines

60、s Management，1989，（3）：48-55.</p><p><b>　　譯文：</b></p><p>　　小企業(yè)運用內(nèi)部控制減少雇員盜竊問題</p><p>　　目前，美國小企業(yè)面臨的最嚴重問題之一是員工盜竊問題。據(jù)美國商會表示，美國企業(yè)每年員工盜竊總額高達400億美元左右，是國家街頭犯罪額的十倍。此外，估計表明每年大約2000

61、億員工的時間價值也因此而被盜取，每年由于員工盜竊引起的損失也正以百分之十五的速度增長。</p><p>　　對小企業(yè)而言，雇員盜竊的影響將是毀滅性的。由于它們所服務(wù)市場激烈的競爭和所面臨的財政困難，因而小型企業(yè)不能夠忽視這個問題。據(jù)估計，美國所有倒閉的企業(yè)中三分之一是由內(nèi)部盜竊而導(dǎo)致的。有趣的是，大多數(shù)小企業(yè)主不能充分意識到內(nèi)部盜竊所引起的威脅，而且把它當做是企業(yè)經(jīng)營必須的花費。一般地，除非出現(xiàn)嚴重問題，內(nèi)部控制

62、問題特別是內(nèi)部盜竊問題往往都被企業(yè)所忽略。</p><p><b>　　內(nèi)部控制的重要性</b></p><p>　　執(zhí)行適當?shù)膬?nèi)部控制程序是減少員工偷竊基本和重要的一步。內(nèi)部控制的使用和執(zhí)行必須反映誰有可能存在盜取意識以及他們將會如何去做。而且，內(nèi)部控制程序必須采取一致的方式，不應(yīng)該區(qū)分所有者，管理者，合作伙伴，管理人員，親屬或朋友。</p><

63、p>　　本文關(guān)注于小企業(yè)運用內(nèi)部控制以減少雇員盜竊問題。但需要考慮到的是，在處理員工盜竊問題時，小企業(yè)必須認識到它將受到的嚴重制約，這往往是大企業(yè)不會遇到的。此外，對于影響員工對盜竊的態(tài)度的基層組織問題也進行了討論。</p><p><b>　　組織氣氛和盜竊控制</b></p><p>　　有效的內(nèi)部控制開始于支持和加強誠信和道德價值觀的組織氣氛的建立。小企業(yè)

64、業(yè)主首先應(yīng)該與員工溝通清楚，讓大家明白什么會構(gòu)成盜竊罪以及盜竊罪的后果是什么。此外，至關(guān)重要的是管理團隊的所有成員自己必須密切履行這些誠信和道德價值觀。如果管理者自身違背了誠信與道德價值觀，甚至是稍微有所偏離，這也可以使雇員覺得所謂的誠信與道德價值觀并不重要，它僅僅是為了裝飾門面罷了。因此，在公司有效的內(nèi)部控制程序執(zhí)行的必要前提是創(chuàng)造適當?shù)慕M織氣氛。</p><p><b>　　內(nèi)部控制的運用</

65、b></p><p>　　一旦這些基本問題都得到解決，重要的是把重點放在需要盡量減少員工盜竊發(fā)生率的具體控制的關(guān)注上。缺乏內(nèi)部控制給想要盜竊的人提供了一個有吸引力的誘因 ，而且他們也會認為管理層對這一問題并不重視。另一方面，良好的內(nèi)部控制，通過減少浪費、無意的錯誤，欺詐而有助于提高效益。通過提高捕獲盜竊者的機率，內(nèi)部控制能有效遏制不誠信員工的發(fā)展。</p><p>　　雖然內(nèi)部控制是

66、有益的，但如果業(yè)主和管理人員控制意識過于強烈，它也會不利于企業(yè)的發(fā)展。依據(jù)理查德﹒格林所述，一個嚴格控制的環(huán)境有減少生產(chǎn)力和創(chuàng)造力的不利影響。因此，尋找適當?shù)膬?nèi)部控制水平是一種重要的管理責任，而且也需要良好的判斷力。沒有足夠的人員和資金有限是小企業(yè)內(nèi)部控制難以實施的兩個重要于原因。</p><p>　　對小企業(yè)而言，識別減少盜竊所必需的控制是至關(guān)重要的。這是因為該企業(yè)的生存可能取決于此，而且，小企業(yè)對這方面的需求

67、是與大企業(yè)不同的?？紤]到這些因素，下面的討論把重點放在可以運用到任何小企業(yè)的具體的內(nèi)部控制程序上。</p><p><b>　　用來識別控制的方法</b></p><p>　　1、找出小型，中型，大型企業(yè)之間存在的差異</p><p>　　這次研究成功的關(guān)鍵是關(guān)注小企業(yè)的特定需求。作者在唐納德塞恩研究出的區(qū)分小型，中型和大型企業(yè)的標準的基礎(chǔ)上進

68、行這方面的研究。例如，根據(jù)塞恩的理解，小企業(yè)面臨著與其他企業(yè)不同種類的問題。小企業(yè)往往有不同的目標和策略，不同的組織和不同的決策過程。作者總結(jié)了塞恩的研究，并運用其中的信息作為指導(dǎo)，試圖客觀地描述小企業(yè)在內(nèi)部控制需要上與大中型企業(yè)的差異性和一致性。</p><p>　　2、研發(fā)全面控制列表</p><p>　　從各種來源收集信息以識別可能被用于降低小企業(yè)雇員盜竊必要的內(nèi)部控制。有了這些信息

69、，就具備了全面控制的檢查列表。這種控件列表被認為是當前可用中最全面的。</p><p>　　3、識別所有小企業(yè)應(yīng)該使用的控制</p><p>　　作者邀請了8個注冊會計師作為評估專家來幫助他們識別所有小企業(yè)應(yīng)該使用的控制。其中四個注冊會計師是八大會計師事務(wù)所合伙人，其余均為地方或地區(qū)性公司的合作伙伴。</p><p>　　注冊會計師被認為是這項工作的理想選擇，因為他

70、們在商界被廣泛的認為是有知識的，徹底的，正直的，道德的，誠實的和客觀的。而且，在我們的社會沒有其他群體可能比注冊會計師對內(nèi)部控制的適當使用了解更多。只有8個注冊會計師被邀請參加這一研究這個事實可以表明對于此項研究的成果是有一定的限制性的 。然而這些注冊會計師為了提供這個項目所需的信息都投入了高達20個小時的工作時間。事實上，實質(zhì)的時間需要才是主要的，評估者的多少并不重要。 </p><p>　　每個評估者都以塞恩

71、的矩陣標準為指導(dǎo)來研發(fā)小企業(yè)的特定需求，然后識別出應(yīng)該使用于小企業(yè)的用于減少雇員盜竊的特殊控制。</p><p>　　在解釋注冊會計師對這個研究的目的時，作者討論到小企業(yè)主可能還未意識到內(nèi)部控制對于減少雇員盜竊的重要性，因此，他們可能忽略選擇一個可行的控制來處理盜竊問題。注冊會計師無一例外的贊同這一看法，其中大部分還提供了例子。大多數(shù)注冊會計師認為小型企業(yè)的特殊性足以讓他們在內(nèi)部控制程序的制定上進行特殊的考慮。&

72、lt;/p><p><b>　　研究結(jié)果</b></p><p>　　八個專業(yè)人士就任何問題達成一致，這是非常不尋常的，包括各種內(nèi)部控制的重要性。因此，作者將那些被75%及以上的專家認為是重要的控制定義為是小企業(yè)必須的控制。</p><p>　　如前所述，實施控制需要成本，所以沒有效果的控制應(yīng)該避免。然而，在選擇一項控制不被使用時要小心謹慎，因為它

73、可能對一些特殊小企業(yè)有效果。因此，只有那些被專家一致確定為不重要的控制被歸類為小企業(yè)不必要的控制。</p><p>　　本研究的結(jié)果載于附錄1。各個控制以現(xiàn)金、工資、投資、存貨、一般業(yè)務(wù)、應(yīng)收賬款及票據(jù)、應(yīng)付帳款、銷售、財產(chǎn)、廠房和設(shè)備的順序均被列入其中。如前所述，只有那些被75%及以上的專家認為是重要的控制被列入結(jié)果中。</p><p><b>　　結(jié)果分析</b>

74、</p><p>　　評估專家列出了42個小企業(yè)必不可少的控制。正如人們所預(yù)期的，大多數(shù)控制是有關(guān)現(xiàn)金的，共有21個，因為現(xiàn)金是流動性最強的而且對于盜竊者最具誘惑力。剩余的控制是有關(guān)工資、投資、存貨 ，應(yīng)收賬款及票據(jù)、應(yīng)付帳款等。</p><p><b>　　基本的控制類型</b></p><p>　　在考慮使用這些控制時，小企業(yè)主或管理者發(fā)現(xiàn)

75、通過所描述的這些控制的特性和目的將其進行分類是非常有用的。在這項研究中，為了維護資產(chǎn)或保證其準確性，基本的控制已被劃分為四類。他們分別是保存記錄、員工職責、資產(chǎn)安全、員工責任。一項控制可能涉及一個以上的分類，但目前每一項控制只是歸于它最合乎邏輯的類別。</p><p>　　1、保存記錄---有些控制是為了保存記錄便于對員工處理資產(chǎn)和交易進行檢查?？赡艿脑挘涗洷４鎽?yīng)當由沒有保管資產(chǎn)問題和交易責任問題的人員執(zhí)行。然

76、而，在小企業(yè)這一分離似乎難以實現(xiàn)。在附件1中，有關(guān)記錄保存的控制被指定在KR欄中。</p><p>　　2、員工職責---對于他人活動所賦予的監(jiān)督責任屬于這一類。要求由業(yè)主或經(jīng)理的批準以完成交易的控制也屬于這一類。外部人員的檢查控制也屬于這一類，比如客戶通過收條確保銷售人員正確記錄銷售金額。</p><p>　　3、資產(chǎn)安全---通過鎖和鑰匙保證資產(chǎn)安全。使用支票而不是現(xiàn)金來支付帳單，把現(xiàn)

77、金放置在銀行進行保管。除了以上這些，其它途徑也可保證資產(chǎn)安全，比如核對、使用登記和限制接近等。在附件1中，在SA欄中提到了這些控制。</p><p>　　4、員工責任---最后，明確每一雇員單獨承擔一項資產(chǎn)的責任相關(guān)的控制可歸于此類。在附件1中，在RE欄提到了這些控制，</p><p><b>　　不必要的控制</b></p><p>　　作為

78、這項研究的評估專家，注冊會計師對其列出的對小企業(yè)不重要的控制并未做解釋，然而他們一致認為有32項 控制對小企業(yè)是不重要的。對于這些控制的分析及歸類對小企業(yè)是不現(xiàn)實的或不符合成本效益原則。以下兩類已被運用于這一方面：1、老板或經(jīng)理的參與，2、規(guī)模有限。然而應(yīng)該注意的是這兩類是密切相關(guān)的，大多數(shù)不必要的控制已經(jīng)包含于這兩類中。</p><p>　　老板或經(jīng)理的參與---在規(guī)模較小的企業(yè)，業(yè)主或管理人員通常在日常生活中

79、積極參與。而且大多數(shù)小企業(yè)的經(jīng)營范圍使得其所有人或經(jīng)營人可以參與大部分業(yè)務(wù)的控制。</p><p>　　規(guī)模有限---小企業(yè)往往沒有多少員工，以至于缺少確定的控制。因此，企業(yè)所有者或管理人必須意識到這些控制的缺乏并且親身參與到這一控制之中。</p><p>　　出處：Snyder Neil H，Broome O. Whitfield，Zimmerman Karen.小企業(yè)運用內(nèi)部控制減少雇