Internal controls break down when documentation lives in disconnected systems. Manual testing creates gaps. Status updates get lost in email chains. Audit trails disappear. This template centralizes your control framework, automates data validation, and tracks testing completion in real-time so your team maintains compliance without drowning in spreadsheets and status meetings.

What is an Internal Controls Checklist?

An Internal Controls Checklist is a comprehensive framework that helps organizations design, implement, and monitor controls that safeguard assets, ensure accurate financial reporting, and promote operational efficiency. This systematic tool guides teams through evaluating control environments, assessing risks, documenting processes, and testing control effectiveness. By following this structured approach, finance teams can identify control gaps, prevent errors and fraud, and provide reasonable assurance that organizational objectives are being met.

Benefits of using this template

• Real-time data automation – Connect your financial systems directly to Google Sheets and Excel with Coefficient so your internal controls data stays current automatically, eliminating manual data entry and ensuring your team always works with accurate, up-to-date information.
• Streamlined collaboration – Share your internal controls checklist with teammates who can update progress in real-time so everyone sees the same information simultaneously, reducing status meeting time, preventing duplicate work, and ensuring accountability.
• Improved efficiency – Reduce the time spent on your internal controls process by up to 50% through automation and standardization while the checklist ensures nothing gets missed and your team focuses on exceptions, analysis, and strategic work rather than manual processes.
• Enhanced compliance and control – Maintain a complete audit trail of who completed each step and when while the structured checklist format ensures all required procedures are followed consistently, reducing compliance risks and supporting internal and external audit requirements.

Flexible and scalable – Customize the internal controls checklist template to match your organization’s specific requirements, add or remove steps, modify workflows, and adjust automation as your processes evolve without expensive software purchases or complex implementations.