Short answer
Accounting controls keep records accurate, authorized, and traceable through defined checks and retained evidence. Use this competency for executing or designing financial controls, while keeping record preparation and business analysis as separate capabilities.
About Accounting controls
Designs and follows controls that keep financial records accurate, authorized, and traceable. Controls define what is checked, who performs and reviews it, what evidence is retained, and how exceptions are resolved.
Use this competency for
- Roles that perform, review, improve, or oversee controls over financial records and transactions.
- Work where authorization, reconciliation, segregation, or retained evidence is required.
Do not use this competency for
- Roles that analyze financial outcomes without responsibility for record integrity or control execution.
Important distinctions
Financial analysis
Accounting controls establish reliable and authorized records, while financial analysis interprets those records for a question or decision.
Tax compliance
Accounting controls protect financial record processes broadly, while tax compliance addresses specific filing, payment, and documentation obligations.
Expectations by level
IC1
Control execution
Performs assigned controls with guidance, follows the documented sequence, retains required evidence, and routes exceptions to the named reviewer.
Observable behaviors
- Completes control steps by the scheduled date.
- Attaches source records and marks the items reviewed.
- Records exceptions without clearing them outside the defined process.
Examples
- Reconciles a defined account, attaches support for differences, and assigns unresolved items for review.
- Checks an approval sample and records one transaction that lacks the required authorization.
IC2
Control ownership
Independently owns controls for a material process, investigates exceptions, evaluates whether the control operated as intended, and updates documentation when the process changes.
Observable behaviors
- Defines evidence requirements and reviewer handoffs for an owned control.
- Investigates recurring exceptions to identify the process point that failed.
- Tests an updated control before relying on it in the regular close.
Examples
- Finds that repeated reconciliation differences come from an unmapped transaction type and updates the control procedure.
- Redesigns an approval check after a system workflow changes and documents the test result.
IC3
Control system design
Designs a connected control approach across multiple financial processes, prioritizes gaps by exposure and detectability, and establishes ownership and remediation review.
Observable behaviors
- Maps material process risks to preventive or detective controls.
- Removes duplicate checks while preserving clear coverage and evidence.
- Tracks remediation decisions, owners, due dates, and retest results.
Examples
- Reviews order-to-cash controls, identifies an uncovered manual adjustment, and adds an independent review with retained evidence.
- Consolidates overlapping close checks and documents which control now covers each identified risk.