Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
OpenStax Logo
Principles of Accounting, Volume 1: Financial Accounting

Thought Provokers

Principles of Accounting, Volume 1: Financial AccountingThought Provokers

Thought Provokers

TP 1.

LO 8.2LO 8.4Visit a favorite eatery. Describe some of the internal controls that are implemented in the workplace. Discuss the good and effective internal controls and also discuss areas that need to be addressed where the eatery is vulnerable to losses.

TP 2.

LO 8.4A manufacturing plant was finding a huge increase in the scrapping of raw materials. Its internal controls were reviewed, and the plant appeared to be strong; segregation of duties was in place. As the accountant was reconciling some inventory accounts, she found more than a normal amount of scrap tickets. The tickets were for scrapping the same inventory part, signed by the same person, and the scrap was sold to only one company. The inventory item was still being ordered, and only one supplier was used to purchase the parts. After further investigation by the accountant, the company buying the inventory and the company selling the inventory to the company had different names but shared the same address. Comment on what went wrong. What happened to the internal controls the company had in place?

TP 3.

LO 8.4The vice president of finance asks the accounts payable (AP) clerk to write a check in the name of the president for $10,000. He and the president will sign the check (two signatures needed on a check of this size). He further instructs the AP clerk not to disclose this check to her immediate supervisor. What should the AP clerk do? Should she prepare the check? Should she inform her immediate supervisor? Discuss with internal controls in mind.

TP 4.

LO 8.4Even though technology has improved the internal control structure of a company, a supervisor cannot depend totally on technology. Discuss other internal controls a supervisor needs to implement to ensure a strong structure.

TP 5.

LO 8.6A bank reconciliation takes time and must balance. An employee was struggling in balancing the bank reconciliation. Her supervisor told her to “plug” (make an unsupported entry for) the difference, record to Miscellaneous Expense, and simply move on. Discuss the internal controls problem with this directive.

TP 6.

LO 8.6The bank reconciliation revealed that one deposit had cleared the bank two weeks after the date of the deposit. Should this be of concern? Why, or why not?

PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution
Reuse and redistribution of this content in digital or print format:
  • This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's prior written permission.
  • This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which means that you can reuse and modify the material only for noncommercial purposes, must attribute OpenStax, and must distribute any derivative works under the same license.
  • Any commercial printing of this textbook, including using a local or custom printer, must be approved by OpenStax, and proper citation provided.
  • OpenStax-copyrighted images, activities, assessments, and similar components of this book are subject to the same licensing – CC-BY-NC-SA. They can be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Commercial use requires permission.
  • Permission requests: Anyone who intends to incorporate this content (including text, images, and other components) into large language models, use it in AI offerings, use it commercially (including in print), and/or has questions about another use case is welcome to complete our reuse request form.
Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/principles-financial-accounting/pages/1-why-it-matters

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial digital format, then for every page that includes OpenStax content, you must license the derivative work under the same CC-BY-NC-SA license as the original, and include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/principles-financial-accounting/pages/1-why-it-matters

Citation information

The information below includes the information needed to generate citations in most major styles (APA, MLA, etc.); you must reformat and organize the information as needed to fit the requirements of the style. Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.

© Apr 23, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo, and Rice University name, and Rice University logo trademarks, or wordmarks are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.