Information Technology Control and Audit Accounting

Question: Describe about the Information Technology Control and Audit Accounting. Answer: Many definitions have been developed about the audit procedure. According to Mancini et al (2016) he perceives auditing is an official examination and verification of the provided accounts and records. Gallegos (2004) states that the inspection or the examination of business financial record is mostly aimed at evaluating or improving the appropriateness, efficiency and safety of a business. Hence, based on the above definition one can easily answer our question which on responsibility of management and auditors based on laws and regulations. Since, auditing involves following of laws and regulations some tend to have the direct effect on the financial statements because they determine report amounts disclosure needed in financial statements. Hence, the non compliance with laws results to fines, litigation or it could lead to consequences that have material effect on financial statements (Mancini et al, 2016). Therefore, the responsibility for compliance with laws and regulations among management and auditors include: Responsibility of management Management responsibility tends to involve the oversight of those individuals charged with governance, thus they ensure that firms operations are conducted in accordance with the laws and regulations provided (Senft Gallegos, 2009). There is also inclusion of compliance with laws and regulations which determines the amounts reported and disclosed in business financial statements. The responsibility of auditors Requirements as pertained by the SAS is designed for assisting auditors in the identification of material misstatements in financial statements, this is in due to the noncompliance with laws and regulations. Hence, auditors arent responsible in prevention of noncompliance and cant be expected to detect any form of noncompliance with laws and regulations. As an auditor one is responsible in the obtaining of a reasonable assurance which involves financial statements as whole and free from the material statements, whether brought up by fraud instances or error (Pathak, 2005). Therefore, auditors are responsible in taking account of the applicable legal and regulation framework when planning and executing some of the audit procedures. In context of laws and regulations, the existence of potential effect of inherent limitations on auditors ability aims at detecting material misstatements because of the following reasons: Many laws and regulations which typically dont affect financial statements and isnt captured by a business information system relevant to the financial reports. Noncompliance may act as designs that work on concealing it due to forgery, collusion and failure to records transactions (Mancini et al, 2016). Therefore, based on the above discussion auditors are required to remain vigilant of the possibilities that other the audit procedures are being applied for the purpose of opinion forming on the financial statements. 2. Information technology has a critical role in the control of auditing procedure because of the critical mechanisms that maintain integrity of information systems. Therefore, IT in the current world of auditing procedure works on reporting organization finances for purpose of avoidance and hopeful creation of preventive financial fiascos (Wood, 2013). Since, global economies are independent than ever in geopolitical risks affect everyone. Therefore, it has been realised by auditors that IT has impacted their capability of performance in terms of attestation function. Organizations and associations have realised the need of IT in control and maintaining of a credible audit procedure through the use of technology. IT tends to be an important part of the audit integral function because it support the judgement of auditors based on the quality of information being processed in the computer systems. IT is also an integral part of auditing procedure because it easily enhances capability, aims and quality that characterizes worldwide technical standards (Pathak, 2005). IT also tends to improve research and education which provides auditors with better understanding of theoretical and empirical knowledge because of enhancement through information technology. IT has effectively evolved auditors practice from traditional auditors setting to technological audit procedures which involves the use of technology in carrying out audit procedures. The advantage of using IT in audit procedure is it improves auditors job quality; it escalates the levels of efficiency and effectiveness of the audit process as well as improving the viability of detecting error or fraud in financial statements (Wood, 2013). The only disadvantage of using these systems is that they are prone to hacking and such an incident may lead to information loss or mislead data. Based on the above discussion, it is certain that IT has a critical role in the auditing world today. This is because many firms are keeping their records electronically. Hence, this means that for purpose of evaluation on must be able to scrutinize data via electronic systems. Thus, having this in mind as an auditor you need to understand and use technology so as to be able to detect instances of fraud or error (Hall et al, 2005). As an auditor technology also tends to improve your levels of audit quality. References Senft, S., Gallegos, F. (2009).Information technology control and audit. Boca Raton, CRC Press/Auerbach Publications. https://ftp.factor.lg.ua/books/Information_Security_Management_Handbook__Sixth_Edition__Volume_7.pdf Mancini, D., Dameri, R. P., Bonollo, E. (2016).Strengthening Information and Control Systems The Synergy Between Information Technology and Accounting Models. Pathak, J. (2005).Information technology auditing: an evolving agenda. Berlin, Springer. https://download.springer.com/static/pdf/470/bfm%253A978-3-540-27486-5%252F1.pdf?originUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Fbook%2Fbfm%3A978-3-540-27486 5%2F1token2=exp=1476160830~acl=%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2F470%2Fbfm%25253A978-3-540-27486 5%25252F1.pdf%3ForiginUrl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Fbook%252Fbfm%253A978-3-540-27486 5%252F1*~hmac=263abce58c7935918b09ac8b14be28140a9691479daef6ce6b613a8d1f168a9f Wood, J., Brown, W. C., Howe, H. (2013).Information technology auditing and application controls for small and mid-sized businesses: revenue, expenditure, inventory, payroll, and more. Gallegos, F. (2004).Information technology control and audit. Boca Raton, Fla, Auerbach Publications.https://www.usfsp.edu/gkearns/Articles_Fraud/auditing%20with%20compute rs.doc Hall, J. A., Singleton, T., Hall, J. A. (2005).Information technology auditing and assurance. Mason, Ohio, Thomson/South-Western. https://iacis.org/iis/2006/Merhout_Havelka.pdf