Internal control and its potential in identifying risks of misrepresentation of financial statements

Building an effective internal control system contributes to obtaining complete and reliable information necessary for business owners and partners to make current, strategic management decisions and ensure business continuity. In order to increase the effectiveness of internal control in the modern economic realities, it is preferable to focus on timely identification and prevention of potential risks of misrepresentation of financial statements and manipulation of their data due to fraudulent actions. The purpose of the study is to substantiate approaches to the development of an effective internal control design as a factor of increasing the level of development of its potential in identifying the risks of manipulation of financial data. In the course of the study, general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, systematization, data processing, comparison and generalization have been applied. The authors investigate the challenges and threats of misrepresentation of reporting data, signaling the loss of resources as a result of fraudulent actions. The article reveals a conceptual approach to the construction of an effective internal control design aimed at neutralizing the growing risks of fraud and manipulation of financial statements data on assets, capital and other information arising during communication. The results of the research presented in the article are of theoretical and practical significance, and can be of major use for companies when designing an internal control system, as well as in the educational process when teaching accounting and control disciplines.