I have worked in this field many years but struggling to understand your question or what you are seeking.  Financial controls take many, many forms such as inbuilt controls within computer systems (such as payroll, general ledger, accounts payable), segregation of inappropriate duties, reconciliations, internal audit, audit committee oversight and so forth.  If I can offer a few thoughts to help clarify your question:

which financial controls are you referring to?

what is it you wish to measure?  The existence of particular financial controls?  The effectiveness of those controls?

Dear Chris Kelly, first of all thank you very much for your swift reply and valuable experts opinion. actually, I want to measure the effectiveness of the financial controls. Further, by financial controls means three basic financial controls i.e. balance sheet, cash flow statement and income statement.

     Added to this, how effective financial controls impact and improve firm financial performance and growth.

I think that these papers may be useful:

Guidry, R. P., & Patten, D. M. (2012, June). Voluntary disclosure theory and financial control variables: An assessment of recent environmental disclosure research. In Accounting Forum (Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 81-90). Elsevier.

Hoskisson, R. E., & Hitt, M. A. (1988). Strategic control systems and relative R&D investment in large multiproduct firms. Strategic management journal, 9(6), 605-621.

Hill, C.W.L. and Jones, G.R. (2004), Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. New York: Houghton, Mifflin Company, pp. 413–415

Hitt, M. A., Hoskisson, R. E., Johnson, R. A., & Moesel, D. D. (1996). The market for corporate control and firm innovation. Academy of management journal, 39(5), 1084-1119.

Li, Y., Liu, Y., & Zhao, Y. (2006). The role of market and entrepreneurship orientation and internal control in the new product development activities of Chinese firms. Industrial Marketing Management, 35(3), 336-347.

Best wishes

Anna

Hello Toqeer, Reflecting on your reply above, i would suggest the "balance sheet, cash flow statement and income statement" would not be regarded as financial controls but as financial reports.  These three statements are prepared to inform stakeholders under International Financial Reporting Standards (or the equivalent national standards such as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).  

Considering the second part of your question: "how effective financial controls impact and improve firm financial performance and growth" ... it sounds like you wish to analyse the financial reports (not controls) to gain knowledge about firm performance?

If I have understood that correctly then some of what I wrote in my doctoral thesis may help.  It is attached below.  Take a look at chapter 5 as it may help in showing how financial reports can be analysed to understand firm performance.  

This answer is only relevant to your research if I have understood you are wishing to analyse financial reports rather than financial controls.  

Thesis An analytical tool to aid the reflective selection of equity...

Dear Charles kelly,

Dear Charles kelly,

     First of all accept my apologies for taking longer than usual to reply. I am too much confused between financial controls and financial reports (Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow statement).  Kindly educate me what is the difference between these two? what are the financial controls"

    As for as my information is concerned, the three financial statements are the core financial controls of the firm (file attached) 

   My another question is that can we use the financial ratio analysis as  financial controls?

    regards 

If it is accounting and or management  accounting I am not expert in these areas. however if you mean financial control - financial reforms or capital controls I refer you to Work done by Abaid et al 2008 0r 2011 with  IMF.  it can help you.

thanks 

I totally agree with Chris Kelly. Definitely, financial control and financial statements are not the same thing. Financial control is a mechanism or process used by a company to ensure that the financial transactions are recorded accurately at all level. It is part of internal control. To measure the effectiveness of either financial control or internal control, you can follow the COSO guidelines. The deviations of existing system indicate a lower quality of internal control. The objective of financial control system is to prevent  fraud and error.  

Dear Md. Shamimul Hasan,

Thank you very much for your guidance. my I have an opportunity to more clear my concepts. I got the point from Mr. Kelly and your guidance that the "Income Statment, cash flow statement, Balance Sheet and financial ratio analysis" are or part of the financial management. am i right?

    Further, External audit, internal audit, reconciliations, segregation of A/R,A/P etc are the financial controls checks.

regards