Ace the 2026 CMFO Internal Control & Auditing Challenge – Take Charge of Your CPA Future!

General controls establish the foundation that makes all other controls work. They include security management and the mechanisms that govern access to systems (both logical, like passwords and access rights, and physical, like secured data centers and hardware), plus contingency planning to protect against interruptions and ensure recovery. Together, these elements set the environment, protect assets, and keep systems available and operating reliably across the entire IT landscape. Internal audits are an independent assessment activity rather than a control built into the environment; training programs and awareness are important but focus more on people and processes rather than the overarching IT control framework; external reporting is an output, not a control function.