Icas Class Notes
Section 1 2 3 4 Introduction and Assessment Outcomes and Criteria Internal Controls and Fraud Finding weaknesses and making recommendations Report Plan Deadlines Report Guide Business English Other requirements
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1 Introduction and Assessment
What is ICAS? The Internal Control and Accounting Systems (ICAS) unit requires students to write a 3500-4000 word report to show their knowledge of internal controls within a business and evaluating accounting systems. This unit is your opportunity to showcase the skills and knowledge you have acquired through your examinable units of the AAT. You will be required to identify areas of weakness that could lead to errors in the accounts, and to assess the potential for fraud to occur. You will have to describe recommendations to address these issues and detail their costs and benefits. Your report will have section and paragraph numbers that you will use to complete a mapping document, showing how your report covers the AAT requirements. You should also provide a letter (witness testimony) to confirm that your report is all your own work. If required you may also have some verbal questioning in a final interview to confirm authenticity. ICAS is a compulsory unit and key to obtaining the level 4 qualification for AAT. Your report should be written with a good standard of business English and must be word processed to show professional presentation.
Theme It is up to you to choose the theme of your report. This involves choosing the company that you will base your report on. If you are currently employed this could be the business where you work. If you are not currently employed then you can use previous employment experiences (up to a maximum of two years old). As noted above, your employer will need to write a letter to authenticate the report. Alternatively, the AAT provides a case study for those who have no relevant work experience. In this scenario your assessor will
page 3 6 9 12
5 6 7 8 9
15 21 23 33 34
1 Introduction and Assessment
What is ICAS? The Internal Control and Accounting Systems (ICAS) unit requires students to write a 3500-4000 word report to show their knowledge of internal controls within a business and evaluating accounting systems. This unit is your opportunity to showcase the skills and knowledge you have acquired through your examinable units of the AAT. You will be required to identify areas of weakness that could lead to errors in the accounts, and to assess the potential for fraud to occur. You will have to describe recommendations to address these issues and detail their costs and benefits. Your report will have section and paragraph numbers that you will use to complete a mapping document, showing how your report covers the AAT requirements. You should also provide a letter (witness testimony) to confirm that your report is all your own work. If required you may also have some verbal questioning in a final interview to confirm authenticity. ICAS is a compulsory unit and key to obtaining the level 4 qualification for AAT. Your report should be written with a good standard of business English and must be word processed to show professional presentation.
Theme It is up to you to choose the theme of your report. This involves choosing the company that you will base your report on. If you are currently employed this could be the business where you work. If you are not currently employed then you can use previous employment experiences (up to a maximum of two years old). As noted above, your employer will need to write a letter to authenticate the report. Alternatively, the AAT provides a case study for those who have no relevant work experience. In this scenario your assessor will