Integration Between Accounting and Internal Auditing to Reduce Fraud and Produce High Quality Financial Reports

Ph.D. Thesis Submitted 

To

Council of the Faculty of Administration and Economics            University of Kerbala

As part of the requirements for obtaining a philosophy degree in Accounting 

Submitted By

Azher Subhi Abdulhussein Aljeboori

Supervision By

Prof.Dr Talal Mohammed Ali Aljajawi

The research aims to clarify the importance of integration between accounting and internal auditing to reduce fraud and produce high-quality financial reports, through the use of business intelligence represented by process maps / detailed instructions to determine the procedures, processes, documents, people, powers and responsibilities that must be applied to track the economic event or financial transaction from the moment of initiation To the end, that is, it provides a path for the flow of data from the moment it is generated and processed until it is disclosed as information in financial reports, and the control keys that accompany its life cycle. Since accounting and internal auditing are among the internal control mechanisms, the first is concerned with reviewing the validity of the data flow represented by financial transactions, recording and disclosing them as financial reports, while internal auditing is concerned with giving credibility to the validity of operations and activities represented by financial and non-financial transactions and recording and disclosing them as financial reports. The researcher was able to depict and identify the proposed procedures that integrate accounting with internal auditing to reduce fraud and produce high-quality financial reports. The researcher concludes that the application of the proposed process maps, including the procedures and objectives they contain, that clarify the integration of accounting with internal auditing, will greatly reduce fraud, but it does not lead to zero fraud. Also, limiting fraud requires an understanding of the basic business operations of a company and the documents that document these operations, including the procedures it contains, as well as an understanding of accounting as an information system, including the principles, standards, policies, and methods of measuring measurement and accounting disclosure for the production of financial reports through the accounting cycle, and finally understanding the keys to internal control that It aims to ensure the protection of the company’s assets. The researcher recommended the necessity of defining the main operations of the company from its beginning to its end, and that the company’s board of directors adopt the policies, methods and procedures that are adopted and implemented by the administration and not change them except with the approval of the board of directors. Legislation must be issued that requires management to attach the annual internal auditor’s report to the company’s annual financial reports