Technology has greatly changed the way companies operate in today’s business world. Many companies have started eCommerce websites via the Internet to sell their goods and services to consumers and other businesses. Companies may only operate as eCommerce businesses, rather than the traditional brick and mortar storefronts. While eCommerce companies are a newer form of business, they are still susceptible to many of the typical internal control risks of traditional businesses. Internal controls are the safeguards companies implement to protect them from employees abusing financial and operational information. Generating a positive daily cash flow may also be difficult because of the fees involved with website protection, hosting, electronic shopping carts and credit card companies. These fees are required by vendors of eCommerce companies and cannot be avoided. To mitigate these risks, eCommerce companies must employ accountants or use a public accounting firm to ensure that no internal waste of cash is going on and all expenses are relevant to the operation of the company.
