Exploring the Influence of Internal Control Strength on Audit Outcomes and Financial Reporting Reliability

Posted: Feb 02, 2023

• Reed Coleman
• Olivia Flores
• Ronan Chavez

Abstract

The relationship between internal control strength and financial reporting outcomes represents a fundamental concern in accounting and auditing research, yet traditional approaches to measuring control effectiveness have remained largely static. Conventional methodologies typically rely on binary assessments of control presence or absence, survey-based evaluations, or simplified scoring systems that fail to capture the dynamic, interconnected nature of organizational control environments. This research addresses this limitation by developing and validating a novel computational framework that quantifies internal control strength through the integration of process mining algorithms and organizational network analysis. Our approach represents a paradigm shift from static assessment to dynamic measurement, enabling researchers and practitioners to understand how controls actually function within complex organizational ecosystems.