What is a security policy? What do we mean when we say organizations should have an integrated security plan?
> Using your favorite search engine, search for “Gartner Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms.” Pick one of the vendors from the “Visionaries” quadrant. Research their data analytics/data visualization product offering. What do
> Deceptive Apartments has a policy that requires new tenants to “like” it on Facebook. Some renters don’t mind, but others object because it was not a requirement when they moved it. Further, some argue, the policy is unreasonable because it creates a fal
> List five examples of personal productivity software. For each example you name, also provide an example of how that particular application can help an accountant perform his or her job better, more easily, or more accurately.
> Assume that you are shopping for a new desktop computer. Log onto the Dell Corporation’s website at www.dell.com and develop your own computer system. Include in your system a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and printer, plus whatever additional hardware and s
> It was Friday afternoon, and Dr. Tammy Pucini had seen her last patient for the day. As she sat in her office, staring at the gloomy afternoon sky, she realized that she was both tired and happy. She thought, for example, about how much she had worried th
> Select a type of computer hardware that interests you and write a one-page report on three possible choices of it. Examples include monitors, USB drives, external hard drives, or computer tablets. Your report should include a table similar to the one sho
> Your state has recently decided to install an RFID system for its toll roads. The current plan is to sell nonrefundable transponders for $20 and allow users to deposit up to $1,000 in their accounts. To assist the IT personnel, the system’s planners want
> Brian Fry Products manufactures a variety of machine tools and parts used primarily in industrial tasks. To control production, the company requires the information listed as follows. Design an efficient record format for Brian Fry Products. a. Order numb
> All of the following are acronyms discussed in this chapter. What words were used to form each one and what does each term mean? a. POS b. CPU c. OCR d. MICR e. ATM f. RAM g. ALU h. MIPS i. OS j. MHz k. Pixel l. RGB m. CD-ROM n. Worm o. Modem p. LAN q. S
> Are the following input equipment, output equipment, CPU components, secondary storage devices, or data communications related? a. CRT screen b. ALU c. CD-ROM d. Keyboard e. Modem f. Dot-matrix printer g. Audio speaker h. POS device i. MICR reader j. La
> In Discussion Question 2-1, you discussed intranets and extranets, and identified the importance of each to accountants. Now, assume that you are a partner in a medium sized, local CPA firm. Your firm has 4 partners,10 staff accountants, 1 research assistan
> Visit the home page of a DTSS. How much does your service charge? Do you think these fees are reasonable? Why or why not?
> A number of accounting journals now post back issues or even publish their entire journals online. Access the Journal of Accountancy website at www.aicpa.org (or another website selected by your instructor). Select an article that pertains to a topic in
> The messages below were encrypted using the technique illustrated in Figure 2-11 (using displacement keys other than 5). Using trial and error, decode them. Hint: This task becomes easy if you use an Excel spreadsheet and V Look Up formulas that referenc
> The Internet uses many acronyms. Within the context of the present chapter, what words were used to form each of the following? a. B2B b. B2C c. C2C d. DNS e. EC f. EDI g. Email h. HTTP i. ICANN j. IDEA k. IDS l. IETF m. IoT n. IP address o. ISP p. SaaS
> Springsteen, Inc. is a large furniture manufacturer located in Asbury Park, New Jersey. It sells to furniture wholesalers across the United States and internationally. Revenues last year exceeded $500 million. Currently, the company has over 100 legacy i
> The business models of the breakthrough Internet companies in Figure 2-6 have often been controversial. For example, homeowners often violate local rules governing the rental of their private dwellings, Tesla’s plans to sell cars throug
> Select three Internet websites whose owners sell goods or services and create a table similar to Figure 2-6. Classify each of your websites as B2B, B2C, or C2C. If you are not sure, feel free to use more than one classification. How does t
> Write a one-page paper on each of the following topics as they relate to XBRL: a. What is the history of XBRL? What professional accounting organization helped in the early stages of this concept? b. What is an XBRL specification, and what is the latest v
> Visit the XBRL home page at www.XBRL.org, and read the section entitled “What is XBRL.” Then, do each of the following: a. Select an article from the “What” list of on the home page and write a one-page summary of your findings. b. Search the Internet for
> At the time this book was written, the US Securities and Exchange Commission still supported Edgar—a depository of corporate accounting filings. Log onto Edgar at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, click on “Search for Company Filings.” Finally, find and select two
> Create an HTML document of your own, using the example in Figure 2-1 to guide you. Put the name of this assignment in the tag for the heading. Put your name in bold. Include at least one hyperlink to a favorite Web page using the anchor tag. Finally, in
> 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
> 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
> How are the integrated accounting systems for small businesses like those for larger businesses? How are they different?
> 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.
