This course discusses why and how the office of the CFO should pay special attention to segregation of duties (SOD).  A fundamental element of internal control is SOD, and the underlying idea is that no employee or group of employees should be in a position to both perpetrate and conceal errors or fraud in the normal course of their duties. The principal duties typically outlined as incompatible and which should be segregated are:

  • Custody of assets
  • Authorization or approval of related transactions affecting those assets
  • Recording or reporting of related transactions

Traditional internal control relies on assigning certain responsibilities to different individuals or segregating incompatible functions. This is to prevent one person from having both access to assets and responsibility for maintaining the accountability of those assets.

It is imperative that organizations take a fresh look at their SOD assignments and measure and prioritize risk areas that are impacted. With ever changing technological advances and businesses reliance on Information technology, the inability to maintain proper and efficient SOD can hamper an organizations ability to deliver service efficiently.

Several prominent documents highlight the principles of SOD requirements including: PCAOB AS5; AICPA Auditing Standard 99; SEC Guidance on Management requirements of internal control over financial reporting and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Uniform Fraud Classification System. This has resulted in some overly complex systems of internal control that become difficult to maintain and result in reduced focus on higher risk areas.

This course will provide you with a better understanding of segregation of duties along with ideas and best practices around managing SOD at your company.

Learning Objectives
  • Recognize the criticality of segregation of duties (SOD) principles for finance, accounting and the office of the CFO when attesting to a positive control environment
  • Discover the concept of SOD and fraud considerations
  • Identify methods for maintaining proper SOD when resources are limited
  • Identify critical SOD for specific processes and IT areas
  • Recognize the SOD responsibilities that are critical in information technology
Last updated/reviewed: August 18, 2023
63 Reviews (275 ratings)

Reviews

4
Member's Profile
very good course, good presentation and pertinent information

5
Anonymous Author
This course provided an excellent overview of the segregation of duties within an organization. Robust internal controls and monitoring remain paramount to successfully identifying and mitigating potential risks - the instructor provided many real-world considerations throughout the course. A great refresher!

4
Member's Profile
This material is at a fairly high level of abstraction and it might be more helpful to those actually responsible for developing segregation of duties to have more concrete examples of lack of segregation and how that can be mitigated.

5
Member's Profile
Does a nice job of tying the need for segregation of duties back to the respective guidance, and then discussing how each of the COSO attributes is related to SOD's. Overall, much deeper than I expected.

4
Anonymous Author
Segregation of duties will help the organization track each piece of the transaction and puts controls in place so that not 100% control is retained by one person; especially if it is a financial piece.

4
Anonymous Author
A good overview. I would love to see a course like this walk through some real world examples of case studies of changing or implementing segregation of duties to go along with the high level overview.

5
Anonymous Author
This course was very informational. Segregation of duties is something that we live on a daily basis in the private sector. We are continuously educating management on the importance of controls.

4
Anonymous Author
This was a good course. As a former auditor I appreciate the reminders and importance of these topics/framework discussed within. Working in smaller organization its easy to lose sight of importance.

4
Anonymous Author
Might have needed to make this two hour classes to give more details on COSO since that is what most of the exam asked about. Good instructor with obviously great level of knowledge.

4
Anonymous Author
Great course. Would have liked to hear more examples on roles that conflict especially within each major cycle (sales and receivables, purchasing and A/P, etc).

5
Member's Profile
Excellent. There were no surprises. All managers and above should take this course to enable them to educate their subordinates on the the importance of SOD.

4
Anonymous Author
The course is helpful to keep me as a financial controller thinking about ways to keep duties separated and therefore the company's assets safer.

4
Anonymous Author
Good course on segregation of duties. Thorough explanation of each of the components and how they impact different aspects of the organization.

4
Member's Profile
Overview of COSO structure was helpful. This class would have been much more effective with more in depth real world examples or case studies.

5
Anonymous Author
Very informative and detailed discussion of internal controls/segregation of duties. PDF of slide show is a great reference as well.

5
Member's Profile
Covered all things SoD academically. Would like to see some more modern day issues with current technology for large scale companies

5
Member's Profile
I learned a lot and plan on using Lynn's course as a guide at work to ensure we are on track. Recommend this course to others.

4
Anonymous Author
Presenter was very knowledgeable and thorough. Course presentation was thorough. The wording of the questions were confusing.

5
Anonymous Author
ALL information and preocess abre spread properly step by step for beginner and actual operater. Thanksful for nice leture,.

5
Anonymous Author
An informative course on segregation of duties within the organisation and provided a good refresher on the COSO framework.

5
Member's Profile
This course was a grat refresher and provided clear and easy to understand examples to support the content being taught.

5
Member's Profile
Good presentation covering the need for proper segregation of duties and its linkage with other statutes.

5
Anonymous Author
Good refresher for COSO framework and internal controls in general. Would have liked more SOD scenarios.

5
Anonymous Author
This was a good overall presentation with a lot of good key points. I like that it included COSO.

4
Member's Profile
Excellent webinar on SOD. Presenter made sure to repeat and emphasis the most important topics.

5
Member's Profile
Lynn presents a great session. She is expert and eloquent. One of my favorite on Proformative.

4
Anonymous Author
This is more of a refresher course. Nothing surprised me. This will be beneficial to beginners.

3
Anonymous Author
The course is informative and provides a good overall review of the COSO 2013 Framework.

5
Member's Profile
Well presented. Lynn is very authoritative on this topic. Her knowledge comes through.

4
Anonymous Author
Good examples used to explain the COSO framework. Will have to look into those books!

5
Member's Profile
This course is a great refresher on the introduction segregation duties office cfo.

5
Anonymous Author
Great refresher on segregation of duties. Covered all bases - well scripted.

5
Member's Profile
Lynn's slides were well designed and effective. She knows this topic well.

4
Member's Profile
better analysis of real world cases of break downs in SOD would be useful

4
Member's Profile
Good course that shows the need and benefits for segregation of duties.

5
Member's Profile
Nice course. Content was clear and laid out well. I like this creator.

5
Anonymous Author
great class. Separation on duties is always very interesting to me.

5
Anonymous Author
Avery important topic to master and keep in mind during each audit

4
Member's Profile
This course helped me enhance my knowledge of internal control.

5
Anonymous Author
Good reminder on the importance of segregation of duties!

5
Member's Profile
Good overview of SOD and the regulations governing it.

4
Anonymous Author
Good course for an overview of segregation of duties.

5
Anonymous Author
Great explanation of what SOD really should look like

5
Anonymous Author
Great review of SOD. Enjoyed the part on legislation.

5
Member's Profile
The course is well structured and very informative.

5
Anonymous Author
A must course for aspiring internal audit staff

5
Member's Profile
Most anyone in the company would benefit

4
Anonymous Author
Good high level overview of SOD basics.

4
Anonymous Author
great overview of the issues discussed.

4
Anonymous Author
Thorough treatment of the subject.

5
Member's Profile
Great course! Very informative.

5
Anonymous Author
Good review of key concepts.

5
Member's Profile
Good overview of controls.

4
Anonymous Author
This was very informative.

4
Anonymous Author
It was a very good course

4
Anonymous Author
very clear and concise.

4
Anonymous Author
good overview of SOD

4
Anonymous Author
Nice refresher

5
Anonymous Author
Great course

5
Member's Profile
great!

5
Member's Profile
Good

4
Member's Profile
none

5
Anonymous Author
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Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Foundational

No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.

Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Internal Control
  Legislation and Internal Control Link11:52
  Responsibility for Internal Control5:09
  Setting The Stage for The Right Fit6:03
  The Control Environment and Working with Management7:24
  Managing Controls8:32
Standard Process Controls
  Standard Process Controls for Control Environment and Risk Assessment 6:24
  Standard Process Controls for Control Activities, Information and Monitoring 6:01
Evaluation
  Evaluation and Monitoring Methods8:42
  Basics of Internal Control 6:06
  Further SOD Evaluations1:29
CONCLUSION
  SOD, Fraud, and Course Summary9:54
Continuous Play
  Introduction - Segregation of Duties for the Office of the CFO1:26:34
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
  Slides: Introduction - Segregation of Duties for the Office of the CFOPDF
  Introduction - Segregation of Duties for the Office of the CFO Glossary/IndexPDF
REVIEW & TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam