Deck 17: Acquiring and Implementing Accounting Information Systems

Question 1

The internal auditor may review acquisition projects to ensure that systems are acquired efficiently and effectively, that the systems purchased have adequate internal controls, and will be auditable.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The cost/benefit study attempts to answer the question, "which alternative accomplishes the user's goals for the least cost (or greatest benefit)?"

Answer 2

False

Question 3

A indirect cost is one that can be traced to the system or the system change in an economically feasible way.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The external auditor may perform an independent review of the systems that produce financial statements and their internal controls.

Question 5

The purpose of AIS implementation is to successfully switch from the old to the new AIS.

Question 6

A rapidly developing segment of the outsourcing market is the application service provider which are similar to service bureaus and provide services via Web browsers over public networks.

Question 7

The organization's management or IT steering committee approves the project for further systems development.

Question 8

The analysis team conducts a cost/effectiveness study which provides quantitative and certain qualitative information concerning each of the system alternatives.

Question 9

Specific reports and other documentation, called process documents, must be produced periodically during systems development to make development personnel accountable for faithful execution of systems development tasks

Question 10

The logical specification, physical requirements, and budget and schedule are all part of the systems analysis deliverable called an approved systems analysis document.

Question 11

As an analyst, the accountant could be involved in change management issues and/or technical aspects of converting data, software, and hardware from the old to the new AIS.

Question 12

Some of the tasks of AIS operation are to conduct post implementation review and to perform systems maintenance.

Question 13

Users, managers, and auditors are required to participate in the systems development project.These people generally provide approvals, often called signoffs, at preestablished management control points.

Question 14

The cost/effectiveness study attempts to answer the question, "which alternative best accomplishes the user's goals for the system being developed?"

Question 15

A problem has an economically feasible solution if it can be solved with existing software and hardware technology.

Question 16

The purpose of AIS selection is to develop specifications for a new AIS.

Question 17

A tangible cost is one that can be reasonably quantified, such as software purchase and insurance.

Question 18

Structured systems analysis is a set of procedures conducted to generate the specifications for a new (or modified) information system or subsystem.

Question 19

Within the characteristics of systems development methodology, deliverables signify approval of the development process and the system being developed.

Question 20

The accountant as an implementer can become involved with systems survey and needs analysis tasks.

Question 21

Structured systems design is a set of procedures performed to convert the logical specifications into a design that can be implemented on the organization's computer system.

Question 22

Outsourcing is a term that describes an organization's assigning any of its internal functions (e.g., accounting, legal, data processing) to an outside vendor.

Question 23

Within the approved systems design document, a user manual is included that describes the training program required for system users and personnel who will operate the system.

Question 24

The logical specifications are a DFD and narrative outlining the major features, objectives, benefits, and design constraints of the new system.

Question 25

A benchmark is a representative workload, processed on each vendor's proposed system configuration, to obtain comparative throughput measures.

Question 26

Intangible benefits are those that cannot be reasonably quantified, such as those that result from having improved information.

Question 27

Tangible benefits are those that can be reasonably quantified, such as reduced equipment costs and increased revenues.

Question 28

The design of interfaces involves how to reformat data from the old system to the new system.

Question 29

The design of conversions involves how the new or revised information system will talk with the existing system

Question 30

As depicted in the text, the approved configuration plan is the final output of the software and hardware study.

Question 31

Indirect benefits are not directly attributable to the system or the system change.

Question 32

Within the approved systems design document, a training manual is included that provides instructions on how to use the new system.

Question 33

The approved systems design document documents the system design and summarizes the implementation training and test plans.

Question 34

A service bureau is a firm that owns and manages computer equipment located on its property and uses that equipment to provide data processing services to client organizations for a fee.

Question 35

A direct cost is one that is directly attributable to the system or the system change, such as reduced overhead costs.

Question 36

The logical specifications and physical requirements become the criteria by which the user will accept the new or modified system.

Question 37

An intangible cost is one that cannot be reasonably quantified, such as productivity losses caused by low employee morale.

Question 38

To validate vendor proposals for supplying computer resources, an organization will assess both a system's functional characteristics and its performance.

Question 39

Systems design is a set of procedures performed to choose the software specifications and hardware resources for an information system.

Question 40

An RFP is a document used to solicit from prospective vendors their plans for providing hardware, software, and services.

Question 41

The project completion report usually includes a summary of requirements satisfied by the new system as well as system and program documentation.

Question 42

The user-directed test runs a subset of the system in the actual production environment.

Question 43

The modular approach is also referred to as the phased approach.

Question 44

Of the three approaches to systems implementation presented in the text, the parallel approach is the riskiest.

Question 45

In the parallel approach to systems implementation, both the new and old systems operate together for a period of time.

Question 46

The direct approach is also known as the big bang or cold turkey approach.

Question 47

The development team must layout the database which depicts a physical view of each database record, and indicates the field (attribute) names and lengths.

Question 48

The system test verifies the new system against the original specifications.

Question 49

Systems operation includes the post implementation review.

Question 50

As an internal auditor the accountant could be called in to complete the design, help prepare the contracts, or help plan, conduct, and evaluate the system tests.

Question 51

Making program changes, correcting errors in the programs, and adding enhancements to the programs is called systems development.

Question 52

An operations test of the complete system in a test environment is called an acceptance test.

Question 53

As an analyst, the accountant could be the development team member who completes the systems design.

Question 54

Systems maintenance is a set of procedures performed to complete the design contained in the approved systems design document and to test, install, and begin to use the new/revised information system.

Question 55

Enterprise systems are often implemented using the direct approach.

Question 56

As a user, the accountant could become deeply involved in systems implementation helping to design system inputs and outputs, or specify testing criteria.

Question 57

The modular approach forces the users to learn the new system without the old system to fall back on.

Question 58

With the modular approach to systems implementation, the new system either is implemented one subsystem at a time or is introduced into one organizational unit at a time.

Question 59

The user, the programmer, and another member of the programming team do a walkthrough of the module specifications and the test plan to determine that the test plan is adequate; then the programmer codes the program.

Question 60

The removal of program errors is called debugging.

Question 61

Which of the following is a deliverable from the analysis phase of systems development?

A)selected hardware and software
B)logical specification
C)approved configuration
D)project completion plan

Question 62

In which role might the accountant be the person who initiates the AIS acquisition cycle, and is in a prime position to recognize deficiencies and incompatibilities related to the existing AIS?

A)user
B)analyst
C)purchaser
D)implementer

Question 63

In which role might the accountant types help meet the organization's AIS needs by selecting the final system for purchase?

A)consultant
B)internal auditor
C)external auditor
D)none of the above

Question 64

Which of the following is the assignment of selected business functions to a vendor?

A)outsourcing
B)application service provider
C)insourcing
D)benchmarking

Question 65

Which of the following has the task of evaluating alternative AIS solutions?

A)AIS analysis
B)AIS selection
C)AIS implementation
D)AIS operations

Question 66

Which of the following involves the successful switch from the old to the new AIS?

A)analysis
B)design
C)implementation
D)operation

Question 67

Which role in the AIS Development/Acquisition process requires the accountant to be equally adept at dealing with people, accounting, and technology?

A)user
B)analyst
C)purchaser
D)implementer

Question 68

Which development phase has the task of post implementation review?

A)analysis
B)design
C)implementation
D)operation

Question 69

Which of the following functions can not be outsourced?

A)accounting
B)legal
C)data processing
D)all of these functions can be outsourced

Question 70

Outputs of the systems analysis phase of development typically would include all of the following except:

A)requests for proposal (RFPs) for software/hardware acquisition
B)the logical specifications for the selected system design alternative
C)the physical requirements for the selected system design alternative
D)a budget for the systems design and systems implementation phases of development

Question 71

The system development phase that precedes the system design phase is:

A)systems analysis
B)systems implementation and operations
C)systems survey
D)systems selection

Question 72

Corrective maintenance is conducted to improve the performance of an application.

Question 73

Which development phase has the purpose of developing specifications for the new or revised system?

A)analysis
B)design
C)implementation
D)operation

Question 74

The post implementation review is an examination of a working system, conducted soon after the system's implementation.

Question 75

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act prohibits CPA firms from serving as system consultants to companies they do not audit.

Question 76

Systems maintenance is the modification of existing applications.

Question 77

Adaptive maintenance adjusts applications to reflect changing business needs and environmental challenges.

Question 78

Which of the following provides services through an easy to use Web browser over public networks rather than private lines?

A)outsourcing
B)application service provider
C)insourcing
D)benchmarking

Question 79

Perfective maintenance is performed to fix errors.

Question 80

Which of the accountant roles involves contributing to systems survey and needs analysis?

A)programmer
B)analyst
C)purchaser
D)implementer