Journal of Business and entrepreneurial

October - December Vol. 7 - 4 - 2023

http://journalbusinesses.com/index.php/revista

e-ISSN: 2576-0971

journalbusinessentrepreneurial@gmail.com

Receipt: 09 November 2022

Approval: 11 March 2023

Page 73-116

Internal control and accounting processes of the

salt production companies in the Salinas canton.

Control interno y procesos contables de las Empresas

Productoras de Sal del cantón Salinas

Balbuca Tomala Evelyn Gabriela

Pazmiño Enriquez Jose Ernesto Pazmiño Enríquez

ABSTRACT

Internal control is a measurement tool that allows

optimizing the use of resources and making the right

decisions based on reliable information on

accounting management, through various strategic

actions to reduce risks in the organization and

strengthen business sustainability. The purpose of

this article is to determine how internal control

affects the accounting processes of salt production

companies in the Salinas canton, through the analysis

of each of the components of internal control; in this

sense to achieve the planned objective, a qualitative

research was conducted, in which a documentary

and descriptive analysis was used, applying the

techniques of surveys to employees and senior

management team to salt production companies in

the Salinas canton, where several parameters were

determined for better analysis. The results obtained

show that in the analyzed companies there is a

deficient internal control due to the lack of

knowledge of the importance of its application, in

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Santa

Elena Peninsula State University, Master's degree in

Accounting and Auditing from Santa Elena Peninsula State

University, currently head of Human Resources at Famovisal,

Empresa Mar y Sal. ORCID 0000-0002-8758-8438

PHD in Education, Master in Business Administration,

Economist and Certified Public Accountant, specialist in the

fields of Auditing, risk analyst and internal control design;

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Teacher; Master's and

Undergraduate Thesis Tutor; Writer of scientific articles.

ORCID 0000-0002-3052-2139

e-ISSN: 2576-0971. October - December Vol. 7 - 4 - 2023 . http://journalbusinesses.com/index.php/revista

addition to the fact that being family companies,

decision making is based on experience or personal

criteria, and not on a process of analysis in relation

to the accounting information.

Keywords: internal control, business management,

accounting management, business sustainability,

decision making.

RESUMEN

El control interno es instrumento de medición que

permite optimizar el uso de recursos, y realizar la

toma de decisiones correctas, basada en información

confiable sobre la gestión contable, mediante

distintas acciones estratégicas para disminuir los

riesgos existentes en la organización y fortalecer la

perdurabilidad empresarial. La finalidad de este

artículo es determinar de qué manera incide el

control interno en los procesos contables de las

empresas productoras de sal del cantón Salinas, a

través del análisis de cada uno de los componentes

del control interno; en este sentido para alcanzar el

objetivo planeado se realizó una investigación de tipo

cualitativa, en la que se empleó un análisis

documental y descriptivo, aplicando las técnicas de

encuestas dirigidas a los colaboradores y al equipo de

la alta gerencia a la empresas de producción de sal

del cantón Salinas, en donde se determinaron varios

parámetros para un mejor análisis. Los resultados

alcanzados evidencian que en las empresas analizadas

existe un deficiente control interno por el

desconocimiento de la importancia de su aplicación,

además que al ser empresas familiares la toma de

decisiones se basa en la experiencia o criterios

personales, y no en un proceso de análisis en relación

a la información contable.

Palabras clave: control interno, gestión

empresarial, gestión contable, perdurabilidad

empresarial, toma de decisiones.

e-ISSN: 2576-0971. October - December Vol. 7 - 4 - 2023 . http://journalbusinesses.com/index.php/revista

INTRODUCTION

Modernization, globalization of the economy and competition in the organizational

environment have contributed to generate the need to design, approve and implement

various internal control procedures in order to strengthen organizational performance,

this being one of the main purposes of business management. According to Beltran &

Murcia, (2016) the only way to face the new business environment is with a vision

towards the future, where organizations demonstrate responsiveness and adaptability

to change, which is why it is essential that companies are competitive, where they

demonstrate flexibility in production and speed to market.

In modern administrative management it is necessary to properly understand the

importance of an internal control system, considered as a key factor, through the

efficient and effective use of resources, in order to reduce business risks and economic

losses due to various causes such as: deviations and waste, fraud, among others. (Calle,

Nárvaez, & Erazo, 2020).. It is considered that all companies should have an adequate

internal control, because it strengthens the administrative and accounting management.

(Calle, Nárvaez, & Erazo, 2020)..

In today's economy there is an accelerated growth, due to globalization, committing

businesses to implement technological and computer systems and procedures for the

registration and treatment of their commercial operations, demanding a greater control

in the activities executed by the companies. In the business sector, companies are

characterized by executing internal procedures aimed at satisfying the needs of their

customers and meeting market demand; however, due to the number of departments

involved, it is difficult to carry out an adequate control, causing economic losses.

Globally, internal control focuses on internal procedures that must be aligned with the

strategic planning of business management; these activities must contribute to

safeguarding assets and generating reliable information for correct decision making and,

in turn, adopting new actions for the policies determined. Therefore, it is important for

companies to have an adequate internal control system that allows them to have

reasonable financial information, organizations are usually structural, in which there are

segregations of functions in the execution of various activities in terms of accounting

record operations; therefore, to achieve the effectiveness of each one, an internal

control should be immersed.

According to López & Cañizares, (2018) in the business world there have been countless

facts of corruption that have sounded alarms about the level of scope of crimes such as

tax and financial fraud, which has made internal controls essential for organizations, thus

e-ISSN: 2576-0971. October - December Vol. 7 - 4 - 2023 . http://journalbusinesses.com/index.php/revista

regulating the presentation of financial statements with the aim of safeguarding assets,

thus minimizing the commission of fraud and generating confidence in the users of the

organization; the purpose of this study is the literature review for the understanding of

the definitions of internal controls in its application. The implementation of internal

control and financial management are related in a very direct way, because the former

contributes to the efficiency and effectiveness of operations in the financial management

system. (Calle, Nárvaez, & Erazo, 2020)..

Internal controls are processes directed to the company's business operations, with the

purpose of providing reasonable security to the organization's objectives, these

procedures allow to work efficiently and that the financial reports are made based on

the company's internal rules and policies. To understand the importance of the

application of internal controls it is necessary to understand that the objective of the

same is: to protect all the resources of the organization, to avoid possible losses, crimes

such as fraud and deviations of funds that could affect the fulfillment of the business

objectives.

According to Vega & Nives, (2016) with the absence of internal controls in the

organization there is a high probability that actions that may harm the company are

generated, and that it is not prepared to respond to them, in which crimes such as fraud

and misappropriation of assets can be evidenced; which leads to non-compliance with

legal regulations, and that liabilities are generated for the institution, thus affecting the

reputation and trust of the organization before its users. In some companies there is a

myth that internal controls should not be applied because of the size of the company,

or because they are family businesses; however, these are not factors that should be

evaluated in order to implement IC, because it strengthens decision making and resource

optimization, achieving adequate financial and administrative management that will

improve the organization's productivity levels.

According to Buyatti & Ramón, (2001) internal control is an indispensable tool in the

operational, administrative and financial activities of an organization; it allows to reduce

the risk in the activities that are executed at all levels of command carried out by the

personnel, through the correct decision making to achieve the business objectives.

Therefore, a proper implementation will strengthen the planning and execution

processes of internal procedures.

On the other hand, according to Vergara, Guamán, & Mogollón, (2021) internal control

establishes methods and procedures that allow safeguarding assets and keeping

accounting records correctly, in addition to developing activities based on the strategic