Internal controls for editors: what COSO can teach us about running a resilient business
Don’t forget the structures that keep your business steady
Running a solo editorial business can feel like juggling with one hand. It’s easy to get caught up in the daily to-do list and forget about the structures that quietly keep your business steady.
That’s where internal controls come in. In this blog, I’ll explain what they are, why COSO is famous in the corporate world, and how its principles can help editorial business owners too.
When you hear ‘internal controls’, you might picture a big corporation with endless policies, procedures, and an internal audit team. And yes – that’s where the COSO framework was born and where it’s most widely used.
The principles behind COSO are surprisingly useful for us as solo editorial business owners too. They’re not bureaucracy. They provide clarity and structure. They give you confidence that your business will work seamlessly.
What are internal controls?
An internal control is something you put in place to make sure your business achieves its goals, avoids unnecessary risks, and runs smoothly.
Here’s a simple way to think about it for editors and authors:
• Risk: Your book is published with errors.
• Control: Hire an editor.
A control is a step that reduces the risk.
In the publishing world, editing itself is one of the most powerful controls an author can invest in – it reduces the chance of bad reviews, poor sales, and reputational damage.
In the publishing world, editing itself is one of the most powerful controls an author can invest in – it reduces the chance of bad reviews, poor sales, and reputational damage.
What is the COSO framework?
COSO (the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission) created one of the most widely used frameworks for internal controls. It’s built around five key components.
- Control environment – the tone you set for your business: integrity, values, professionalism.
- Risk assessment – identifying what could go wrong.
- Control activities – the actions you take to reduce risks.
- Information and communication – making sure the right people know what they need to know at the right time.
- Monitoring activities – checking that your controls are actually working.
In a large company, these are rolled out with policies, committees, and entire departments. In a solo business, you scale them down.
What the COSO framework looks like for editorial business owners
Control environment: You decide your standards. For instance, always using contracts, keeping client information confidential, sticking to deadlines.
Risk assessment: You spot the risks – losing files, clients paying late, scope creep, tech failures.
Control activities: You set up processes – cloud backups, clear terms and conditions, project management tools, invoicing software.
Information and communication: You make sure your clients know what to expect and you keep them updated if anything changes.
Monitoring activities: You check in with yourself – are your systems working? Do you need to tweak your processes?
It's about creating a safety net, so that when things wobble, you're not left scrambling.
Why this matters
Big companies use COSO to reassure shareholders and regulators. You can use its principles to reassure yourself and your clients. It’s about creating a safety net, so that when things wobble, you’re not left scrambling.
And the beauty of being a solo business owner? You can employ the principles and phrase them in a way that suits you.
For me, this is where my operations manual comes in. It gives me great comfort when I need to check how to do something I only do every now and then. And it repays the time I’ve invested in it.
It gives me peace of mind.
Final thoughts
Internal controls sound heavy, but at heart they’re about protecting what matters most: your reputation, your relationships with clients, and your peace of mind.
Editing is a control. Contracts are a control. Backups are a control.
When you put them together, you are acting as the first line of defence against risks to your business, and you’re making sure your business is resilient.
Building a strong, sustainable editorial business
This post is part of my series on building strong, sustainable editorial businesses. If you’d like to explore these ideas further, keep an eye out for my mentoring programme,
Frame Yourself!, designed especially for career changers and new editors.
And if you’re an author looking for editorial support, do get in touch at
lisa@ldceditorial.co.uk
