Financial policy compliance and internal control among Adventist schools in Thailand: issues and reasons

Improving compliance with financial policies is an initiative that has received increasing scrutiny by denominational leaders recently. This descriptive qualitative study examined policy compliance deficiencies and internal control weaknesses in 4 Adventist schools in Thailand through content analysis of management letters from the General Conference Auditing Service from 2016 to 2018. Interviews with school and denominational administrators explore the reasons behind these problems. The study revealed that their main policy violations were similar to those found in other parts of the world: audit and financial statement review committee shortcomings, insufficient effort to prevent conflicts of interest, and inadequate insurance coverage. However, it was encouraging to note that persistent efforts over these 3 years by boards and school administrators led to increased compliance in most areas. However, internal control weaknesses that underlie policy infractions had deeper roots and proved more resistant to remedial action. To ensure more systematic policy compliance in the future, ways must also be found to strengthen internal control safeguards.