Effective Internal Controls for Recognizing Contracting Revenues

Business leaders of contracting companies in Qatar struggle to develop appropriate internal controls over revenue estimates to mitigate the risk of financial statement manipulation. Grounded in the internal control framework of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that business leaders responsible for financial reporting use to develop and implement effective internal controls for recognizing contracting revenues. Nine participants from 3 private contracting companies in Qatar who had implemented strategies to develop and implement effective internal controls for recognizing contracting revenues participated in face-to-face semistructured interviews. Through a process of methodological triangulation as described by Yin, observations and documentary evidence supplemented data collected through semistructured interviews. Different themes emerged through the analysis of data that involved coding narrative segments. The research findings included themes of control environment, control activities, systemized project budget, accounting standards compliance, and risk assessment and monitoring. Business leaders of contracting companies may benefit from the findings of this study by gaining awareness of the need to develop and implement effective internal controls for recognizing contracting revenues. Implications for positive social change could come from identifying internal controls that increase financial statement reliability, which could lead to increased access to capital and debt financing and improved employment opportunities in Qatar