Numerous frauds in the early 2000s spurred Sarbanes-Oxley legislation (SOX). SOX changed the way businesses looked at and reported their internal control structure. Internal controls are needed both to prevent and deter fraud as well as errors. Segregation of duties is the most commonly considered internal control. Ben's Barn is a successful, locally owned, organic farmer. Ben and his wife sell produce at local farmer's markets. The farm is the primary source of income for Ben and his family. Ben has been in business for 10 years, and has developed a reputation for high quality produce. Ben's extensive greenhouses allow him to grow varieties not native to the local area, which commanded higher prices in the local markets. This summer, the weather was perfect and Ben had a bumper crop. Ben and his wife could not keep up, and made the decision to hire a part-time temporary employee for the first time. Ben took great pride in his produce, and made the decision to send the employee to the farmer's market so that he could tend to the harvest and provide the care he thought it needed. Ben and the employee would load the produce in the company's truck, and take it the farmer's market three (3) times per week. Once set up, Ben would spend some time talking with the other vendors and regular customers, and then return to the farm. The employee was responsible for cash sales to the market customers. Some inventory was sold by the item, while other inventory was sold by weight. They set up a small scale at the booth each day to weigh produce. A portable cash register was also taken to register sales and provide receipts to customers. The register kept a duplicate copy of the receipts for reconciliation. The register also featured subtotaling features which would add the sales for the day. At the end of the day, Ben would return to help load the remaining produce and close the produce stand for the day. He would change out the register tape, but like any good farmer, often left the tapes in a folder in his truck until he could remember to take them into the house/office. At the end of each week, Ben's wife made a trip to the bank to deposit cash receipts and to get the proper change/denominations to start the new week's cash box. Since her husband was so busy, she wasn't able to catch up with him to get the register receipts to match to deposits, so she just counted the cash and deposited it. For his records, Ben recorded every detail of the harvest. He wanted to know how to plan for the next season. He recorded quantities and weights of produce harvested by variety. He tracked the harvest daily, but never reconciled it to sales at the market and produce that was returned from the market. Harvest continued to be exceptionally busy. As a result, Ben could barely keep up with writing his employee a weekly payroll check. When the bank statements came at the end of the month, he was too busy for paperwork and failed to reconcile statements until the following month. After all, he and his wife had run the business for 10 years this way, he would catch up on paperwork when it slowed down. At the end of the season, Ben finally slowed down enough to catch up on paperwork. He began to review the bank statements, and noticed that deposits were less than they had been in prior years, when harvests had not been as good. Ben was certain that he had sold more inventory. In fact, he knew he had because half-way through the season he had added an additional day of sales (a 4th market) each week. Ben had helped load the truck at the end of each day, and only a small amount ever returned to the farm. What could have happened? Did the employee have something to do with this? Would Ben ever know how much he lost? For this exercise, your job is to identify controls and put controls in place to prevent the loss of a company's liquid assets: cash & inventory. Identify appropriate controls to prevent the above losses. Why do you believe those controls are needed and why would they be effective