Learn in the textbookInternal Control and IT Governance
DefinitionInternal control (内部統制) is the set of mechanisms an organization builds and runs day to day on its own, so that work proceeds properly and efficiently and fraud and errors are prevented.
ExplanationJapan's Financial Services Agency standard (the version before its 2023 revision) sets 4 objectives to aim for and 6 basic components (基本的要素) that put them into practice. Responsibility lies with management, while staff in each department also take part in day-to-day operation through their own work. A typical tool is segregation of duties (職務分掌), which splits roles and authority so that people check one another.
AnalogyIt is like a household where one person does the shopping and another keeps the budget book and checks the balance. Because no one handles everything alone, misuse or miscounting is easier to spot.
Memory hookControl traces back to the medieval counter-roll, a second copy of the accounts kept by another person for checking: the same idea as splitting duties.