What is the purpose of segregation of duties in SOP compliance?

• A. Increases workload with no benefits.
• B. Reduces risk of fraud and error by distributing responsibilities among individuals.
• C. Keeps information siloed to avoid collaboration.
• D. Ensures only one person handles all steps.

Answer: (B)

Separating duties across people creates checks and balances within a process. In SOP compliance, this means different individuals handle authorization, execution, record-keeping, and custody so no single person controls all steps. This reduces the risk of fraud and errors because a review or cross-check is built into the workflow, making it harder to manipulate records or misappropriate assets. For instance, one person approves a transaction, another records it, and a different person handles payment or asset custody, so problems are more likely to be detected early. The other options describe inefficiencies or weak controls, which would undermine reliability and compliance.