Category - Ashwin PETERSEN

In South Africa, small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) add significant socio-economic value to the national economy and are regarded as the driving force for economic growth. Prior research shows that these business entities’ sustainability leaves much to be desired as approximately 80% of South African SMMEs fail after being in operation for only three years; believed to be caused mostly by unmanaged economic factors. Although unmanaged economic factors may culminate in risks which adversely affect the sustainability of South African SMMEs, internal control activities can be used to mitigate the probability and potential impact of such risks. One of the most cost-effective internal control activities is that of document usage and design (e.g. source documents and internal documents). For this study, the primary objective was to determine the influence of source document usage, as an internal control measure, on the sustainability of South African small, medium and micro retail...