Financial Accountability and Internal Controls in Religious Organizations, A Case Study of Holy Spirit Catholic Parish

This paper studied the financial accountability and internal control practices at Holy Spirit Catholic Parish in Lusaka, Zambia. The concept of financial accountability and internal control is just as relevant to churches as it is to profit seeking organizations. The embezzlement and mismanagement of funds from religious organisations particularly in churches is becoming common. Such disgraceful acts have raised a lot of concerns about the effectiveness of internal control systems in churches. Financial accountability is being responsibility for the way finances are used and managed. Internal controls are the mechanisms, rules and procedures implemented in an organization to ensure the integrity of financial and accounting information, promote accountability and prevent fraud. Financial Accountability and internal controls are some of the themes that dominate discussions in the media around the world. These are used to measure credibility in our time. This research is a cross-sectional case study which took a Pragmatic approach and mixed method research methodology was used. Purposive (expert) sampling was used and data was gathered from respondents using questionnaires and interviews. Quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. From the results of the study, the findings suggest that, the internal control systems did not operate effectively and efficiently to ensure that there is good financial accountability. There was laxity in the internal controls in finance management, these internal controls practiced by the respondent parish can be improved. A financial accountability and internal control measure model which the researcher has recommended for implemented has been designed. It has four dimensions of internal controls (preventive controls, detective controls, authorization controls and corrective controls) with financial accountability as the expected outcome