Components of internal controls

In 1992, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) developed a model for evaluating internal controls. This model has been adopted as the generally accepted framework for internal control and is widely recognized as the definitive standard against which organizations measure the effectiveness of their systems of internal control. Internal control consists of five interrelated components as follows:

• Control (or Operating) environment
• Risk assessment
• Control activities
• Information and communication
• Monitoring Activities

Please refer to the individual tabs for more information on each of the five components.