How are the integrated accounting systems for small businesses like those for larger businesses? How are they different?
> In this chapter’s “AIS at Work” feature, we discuss the events and SAR surrounding the case of Bernard Madoff. A financial analyst by the name of Harry Markopolos believed it was legally and mathematically impossible for Madoff to be posting such outrageo
> The website of FinCen—the Financial Center Crimes Enforcement Center Network (a department of the US Treasury)—maintains a website at www.fincen.gov. Under “RESOURCES”, you will find links to information for various types of financial institutions including
> Many companies now provide a wealth of information about themselves on their websites. But how much of this information is useful for investment purposes? To help you answer this question, imagine that you have $10,000, which you must invest in the commo
> The participants of such recreational activities as hang gliding, soaring, hiking, rock collecting, or skydiving often create local “birdsof-a-feather” (affinity) organizations. Two examples are the Chicago sky divers (www. chicagoskydivers.com) or the so
> Linda Stanley is the Vice President for Computing and Information Services at State University (SU), a medium-sized, urban university that has experienced a 3% growth in enrollments every year for more than a decade. The university now has almost 22,000
> Select one new trend in the field of accounting information systems today that is not mentioned in the chapter, but that you feel is important. Write a short report describing your findings. Be sure to provide reasons why you feel that your choice of topic
> Shervonne Thomas is the controller at a large manufacturing company located in Chesterfield, Virginia. The company has several divisions that evaluate their performance using a return on assets (ROA) formula (calculated by dividing net profit by the book v
> Look again at the list of assurance services shown in Figure 1-5. What other assurance services can CPAs offer which would take advantage of their AIS expertise? Figure 1-5: Risk Assessment Provide assurance that an organization's set of business r
> Managerial accounting is impacted by IT in many ways, including enhancing corporate performance measurement. How might a university use a scorecard or dashboard approach to operate more effectively?
> Discuss suspicious activity reporting. For example, should such reporting be a legal requirement, or should it be just an ethical matter? Is the majority of SAR activity illegal, or are these just mostly false alarms?
> XBRL is becoming established as the language to create interactive data that financial managers can use in communication. How do you think the use of interactive data might enhance the value of a company’s financial statements?
> Advances in IT are likely to have a continuing impact on financial accounting. What are some changes that are occurring in the way financial information is gathered, processed, and communicated as a result of increasingly sophisticated information technolo
> Hiring an employee and taking a sales order are important business activities, but are not accounting transactions requiring journal entries. Make a list of some other business activities that would not be captured as journal entries in traditional AISs.
> What are intranets? What are extranets? Why are intranets and extranets important to accountants?
> What are some of the unique challenges that mobile devices pose to an organization? What do you see are the trade-offs associated with mobile devices? What are the pros and cons of BYOD?
> Over the past decade, The Retail Cooperative (TRC) successfully acquired a number of smaller retailers, enabling it to grow significantly. As a result, TRC is now one of the largest retailers in Europe, employing over 230,000 people in 25 countries. The c
> Discuss the different backup site options available to organizations. How does the nature of the business influence which site option is chosen?
> What is backup, and why is it important when operating an accounting system?
> What is backup, and why is it important when operating an accounting system?
> Why are business continuity planning and disaster recovery planning so important? How do they complement each other? Identify several reasons why testing these plans is a good idea.
> What controls must be used to protect data that is transmitted across wireless networks?
> What guidance or framework would you use to establish IT governance if you were a senior executive in a firm? If you were a mid-level IT manager who was designing IT general controls? A manager who was responsible for identifying the appropriate applicati
> What do we mean when we talk about multifactor authentication? What are the examples of multifactor authentication in your personal life?
> Discuss the following statement: “The separation of duties control is very difficult in computerized accounting information systems because computers often integrate functions when performing data processing tasks. Therefore, such a control is not advisab
> What is the difference between logical access to the computer and physical access to the computer? Why is the security of both important?
> Explain how each of the following can be used to control the input, processing, or output of accounting data: (a) edit tests, (b) check digits, (c) passwords, (d) activity listings, and (e) control totals.
> Access the full case story of Mar-Bal Company (the AIS-at-Work for this chapter) at www.iqms.com. Then, respond to each of the following requirements: Requirements: 1. Review the items in Figure 5-10, which lists indicators that a company may need a new
> What is a security policy? What do we mean when we say organizations should have an integrated security plan?
> Discuss some of the advantages to an organization from using a voucher system and pre numbered checks for its cash disbursement transactions.
> How can separation of duties reduce the risk of undetected errors and irregularities?
> Why are competent employees important to an organization’s internal control system?
> Discuss what you consider to be the major differences between preventive, detective, and corrective control procedures. Give two examples of each type of control.
> Why are accountants so concerned about their organization having an efficient and effective internal control system?
> Briefly discuss the interrelated components that should exist within an internal control system. In your opinion, which component is the most important and why?
> Why are the COSO and COBIT frameworks so important?
> What were the primary drivers for the redesign of COSO’s ERM Framework? Briefly discuss the five components of effective ERM.
> Why did COSO think it was so important to issue the 2009 Report on monitoring?
> Neil Rogers is the controller for North Gate Manufacturing (NGM), a company with headquarters in College Station, Texas. NGM has seven concrete product plants located throughout the Southwest region of the United States. The company recently switched to
> Why is it important for managers to evaluate internal controls?
> What role does cost–benefit analysis play in an organization’s internal control system?
> What are the primary provisions of the 2013 COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework?
> What are some of the benefits of a centralized database? What are some of the difficulties in moving from multiple databases or files to a centralized database structure?
> What are the four basic components of an ERP’s architecture? How do these components differ from a set of independent accounting systems—for example, separate systems for accounts payable, accounts receivable, inventory control, and payroll?
> Discuss some of the basic features of an ERP. How do these features distinguish an ERP from an integrated accounting software program?
> Discuss the differences between traditional ERP and extended enterprise systems.
> The difference in price for middle-market accounting software versus for an ERP system can be millions of dollars. What can these high end systems do that the less-expensive enterprise accounting packages cannot?
> What are some of the advantages of the cloud computing feature of integrated accounting software? What are some of the disadvantages of a hosted solution?
> What features should a small organization look for when thinking about acquiring a new integrated accounting package? Would it make any difference if the organization were a not-for profit concern?
> The annual report is considered by some to be the single most important printed document that companies produce. In recent years, annual reports have become large documents. They now include sections such as letters to the stockholders, descriptions of t
> What is a dashboard? What is a mashup? Discuss how these items relate to ERPs and how they might help a business manager in his or her job.
> Why do businesses typically need to engage in business process reengineering when they adopt an ERP? Identify at least four key aspects of a successful BPR project.
> What are some of the consequences to a company that makes a poor decision in selecting a new AIS?
> While you are likely to purchase a middle end accounting software package from a value added reseller (VAR), why should you be cautious about hiring one to recommend a software package for your business?
> Find an article about a company that has adopted a business application suite. Identify the company and its basic characteristics (such as location, products, number of employees). What are some cost savings realized by the company? Were there specific ef
> A new company will have no business processes in place. How would the owner go about selecting an appropriate AIS for the new company? Should the owner consider acquiring an ERP package immediately?
> What are some important features of integrated accounting software for small businesses? Why are they important?
> What is image processing? How is image processing used in AISs?
> What is the function of secondary storage? Describe three types of secondary storage media, and describe the advantages and disadvantages of each type.
> Robert Berry is the managing partner for Berry & Associates (B&A), LLP. He was recently reviewing the firm’s income statement for the previous quarter, which showed that auditing revenues were about 5% below last year’s totals while tax revenues were abou
> How does information technology auditing differ from financial auditing? Make a list of the skills you think are important for financial auditors and for IT auditors. Do you think all auditors should have all the skills on both lists? Why or why not?
> Identify several types of printers. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each type?
> Identify the three sections of a CPU, and describe the functions of each component. How are microprocessor speeds measured? Why are such speeds rarely important to AISs?
> How do you feel about red-light cameras? Should cities be allowed to use them? Why or why not?
> Name several types of computer input devices, and explain in general terms how each one functions.
> Why do most AISs try to avoid data transcription?
> Why is information technology important to accountants?
> The Business Software Alliance (www.BSA.org) is a non profit organization dedicated to fighting illegal software copying (software piracy). The organization estimates that one in five software programs is unlicensed and therefore illegal. Is copying a sprea
> What are computer programming languages? Name some specific languages, and describe briefly an advantage of each.
> Name some general classes of application software. What tasks do each of your software classes perform?
> What are windowing operating systems, multitasking operating systems, and graphical user interfaces? Why are they useful to AISs?
> Blazer Interactive is a software company that focuses on first-person player video games. In 2013, Blazer’s CEO, Alexander James, introduced a revolutionary new gaming console to his company’s product line. The z/Station’s primary draw was a virtual reali
> What are the names of some current cloud computing vendors other than those discussed in the text? Should all firms use cloud vendors, or are there some reasons why they should be avoided?
> What is client/server computing? How does it differ from host/mainframe computing? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of client/server systems?
> What are local area networks? What advantages do LANs offer accounting applications?
> What are data communication protocols? Why are they important?
> Why is it important to view an AIS as a combination of hardware, software, people, data, and procedures?
> What is EDI? Why do companies use EDI?
> Describe some important uses of electronic commerce and explain why electronic commerce is important to accountants.
> How does XBRL compare to the IDEA database?
> What is HTML? How does it differ from XML and XBRL? (Note: For a more comprehensive description of the differences, you may want to search the Internet.)
> How are the comments on social media sites useful to businesses? How are these sites useful to accountants?
> Mattie and Jaime have been friends since grammar school, but they now both attend State University. As agreed, they met under the big tree—a common meeting place for students. “How did your interview go at Forest Meadows?” asked Mattie as they both sat d
> Is bitcoin still a viable currency? Use an Internet search engine to find out. If so, what is the exchange rate for one bitcoin in the currency of your country? Would you buy a bitcoin? If so, why? If not, why not?
> What are blogs? How are they used? Who is using them?
> What is click fraud? Who benefits and who loses when click fraud occurs?
> Most retail sales websites require customers to use their credit cards to make purchases online. How comfortable are you in providing your credit card number in such applications? Why do you feel this way?
> Analysts claim that businesses can increase sales on the Internet, but not profits. What evidence does this chapter provide to support or refute this claim? Discuss.
> What are digital signatures? Why do businesses use them? How can businesses use a digital certificate for Internet security?
> Describe and contrast the three types of authentication. Can you think of a business situation where someone would need to use a combination of all three levels to gain access to information?
> What is data encryption? What techniques are used for data encryption?
> What are Internet firewalls and proxy servers? How are they created? How do businesses use them for Internet security?
> What is spamming? How is spam related to accounting information systems? Should all spamming be illegal? Why or why not?
> Implementation of a new AIS went smoothly, for the most part. It is 15 years later, and now HMC is interested in mapping a variety of their business processes to determine whether improvements can be made and whether business process reengineering should
> In this chapter we talked about predictive analytics and big data. Using the Internet and your research skills, identify the skills and abilities accounting majors might need (i.e., what type of courses should you take while at your university) to levera
> This chapter stressed the importance of IT for understanding how AISs operate. But is this the only skill valued by employers? How important do you think “analytical thinking skills” or writing skills” are? Discuss.
> This chapter described several career opportunities available to students who combine a study of accounting with course work in information systems, and/or computer science. Can you think of other jobs where these skill sets would be desirable?
> What are electronic payments? How are they different from credit card payments?
> Would you rather use the Report Wizard to create the format of a report or design one yourself from scratch? Why?
> Do you think that we will still use hard-copy reports in the future, or will they be replaced with soft-copy ones? Defend your answer.
> The chapter suggested that it is important to design the format of a report before creating the report itself. Do you agree or disagree?
