QuestionsCategory: CA-Final EDPmeaning of scope of audit in CIS environment and its 2 points: Concentration of duties, shifting of internal control base.
Archana DudejaArchana Dudeja asked 7 years ago
3 Answers
RaviRavi Staff answered 7 years ago

Concentration of Duties
– In a manual environment the auditor needs to deploy separate individuals for carrying out the verification process. In a CIS environment, the traditional approach does not apply in many cases, as computer programs perform more than one set of activities at a time thereby concentrating the duties of several personnel involved in the work.
Example
(Eg Earlier separate individuals were sent for each salary for each location but now only person sitting on centralised system will be able to do it) 
With the help of technology multi location work can be done by few individuals sitting at HO.
 
Shifting of internal control base –
(Earlier knowledge, personal ethics and character were most important factors but now it changed to following)
(i)Application systems development control – Systems development control should be designed to provide reasonable assurance that they are developed in an authorised and efficient manner, to establish control, over: (Inventory / Employee / Production / Billing module, NPA module etc)
(a) testing, conversion, implementation, and documentation of new revised system.
(b) changes to application system.
(c) access to system documentation.
(d) acquisition of application system from third parties.
 
(ii)Systems software control – Systems software controls are designed to provide reasonable assurance that system software is acquired or developed in an authorised and efficient manner including: (DOS, Windows, Linux, OS, Android, Chrome Book etc)
(a) authorization, approval testing, implementation and documentation of new system software systems software modifications.
(b) putting restriction of access to system software and documentation to authorised personnel.
 
They simply wants to say earlier we were dependent on people, their integrity, knowledge, awareness etc and also paper based records.
but now we are dependent on operating systems, application software, their up gradation, access, network connectivity etc so that base has shifted from people and records to system and application software   

RaviRavi Staff answered 7 years ago

please ask for clarification if any concept is still not clear 🙂

Auditaudit Staff answered 7 years ago

Thank You.
Every point is cleared except the meaning of Concentration. Can any other heading be used in order to explain concentration of duties as in the heading Concentration word is not clear. Please clarify.