Overview – Trust Services Criteria
COSO’s CC5.2 for the component Control Activities requires the following “Principle 11: The entity also selects and develops general control activities over technology to support the achievement of objectives.”
Points of Focus
Below are the points of focus and any related mappings to other frameworks and standards.
| Description | Mapping to other frameworks and standards |
| Determines Dependency Between the Use of Technology in Business Processes and Technology General Controls — Management understands and determines the dependency and linkage between business processes, automated control activities, and technology general controls. | |
| Establishes Relevant Technology Infrastructure Control Activities — Management selects and develops control activities over the technology infrastructure, which are designed and implemented to help ensure the completeness, accuracy, and availability of technology processing. | |
| Establishes Relevant Security Management Process Controls Activities — Management selects and develops control activities that are designed and implemented to restrict technology access rights to authorized users commensurate with their job responsibilities and to protect the entity’s assets from external threats. | |
| Establishes Relevant Technology Acquisition, Development, and Maintenance Process Control Activities — Management selects and develops control activities over the acquisition, development, and maintenance of technology and its infrastructure to achieve management’s objectives. |
What is the COSO Framework?
COSO means the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. It is a joint initiative of five private sector organizations and provides thought leadership through the development of frameworks and guidance on enterprise risk management, internal control, and fraud deterrence.
Source: https://us.aicpa.org/interestareas/businessindustryandgovernment/resources/riskmanagmentandinternalcontrol/coso-integrated-framework-project
The COSO Internal Control Framework was developed to help “organizations design and implement internal control in light of the many changes in business and operating environments.” The Treadway Commission designed the framework with SOX in mind, but the framework goes beyond financial reporting controls since it applies to operations, compliance, and reporting (both internal and external). For most public companies, the process of using the COSO Internal Control Framework is an exercise in mapping their SOX controls to the COSO Internal Control Framework and then evaluating the control environment in total against the framework.
The COSO Internal Control Framework is a comprehensive model comprising of the following five (5) integrated Components supported by seventeen (17) Principles. Below are the five (5) Components:
- Control Environment
- Risk Assessment
- Control Activities
- Information and Communication
- Monitoring
Source: https://www.auditboard.com/blog/difference-between-coso-and-sox/
Internal Control Categories
The COSO framework divides internal control objectives into three (3) categories: Operations, Reporting and Compliance.
- Operations objectives, such as performance goals and securing the organization’s assets against fraud, focus on the effectiveness and efficiency of your business operations.
- Reporting objectives, including both internal and external financial reporting as well as non-financial reporting, relate to transparency, timeliness and reliability of the organization’s reporting habits.
- Compliance objectives are internal control goals based around adhering to laws and regulations that the organization must comply with.
Source: https://www.i-sight.com/resources/coso-framework-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it/