Controlling Internal Controls
Abstract
Two recent examinations of management practices in
three federal departments provide contemporary evidence
of the need to incorporate procedures like those of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the public sector. Although each
department established what appeared to be welldesigned
internal controls, all lacked suffi cient monitoring
and assessment of the effi cacy of those controls. By
requiring senior management to attest to the strength of
their control mechanisms, as required by the newly
revised OMB Circular A-123, the quality of this
monitoring should improve. Findings from a recent study
of private-sector implementation of these reforms are
described, along with suggestions for public administration
research and practice at all levels of government.