Vacation, Space Shuttle Launch, Internal Control

What do they have in common? Read on to find out.

I recently had the opportunity to vacation in Orlando, Florida. What a week! Great weather and great fun.

The highlight for me was getting to see a Space Shuttle launch. I love things with big motors like muscle cars, race cars, jet planes, and the space shuttle. I've always wanted to see a launch. We missed it by a day or two the last time we were in Orlando. Not this year. This year, along with what seemed to be 8,000,000 others, we made it to the launch and it was awesome! Check out the video below from my Canon Powershot S3IS. Sorry about the injustice the camera work does to this event as well as the cheesy commentary.



What does all of this have to do with Internal control you ask? Well, in addition to being a healthy thing to do, we think that taking one full week of vacation is an important internal control for our Finance Department. Even though it's sometimes difficult to leave for a full week and let that work pile up. It's also helpful to take a week away from work to diffuse any suspicion that someone is doing something fraudulent and can't leave for a week lest their scheme is discovered.

I recommend requiring all Finance Staff to take a full week of vacation each year as a healthy internal control for any organization.