Information Technology and The Auditing Professional: The Statements of Auditing Standards No. 109

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Today’s auditors must possess additional skills in order to perform their work. As more and more businesses use information technologies (IT) and set up an information system (IS) to process all their data, auditors must get acquainted with essential aspects of their clients’ information systems and also make use of information technology in order to perform their duties. In this essay, we will attempt to answer the following two questions: 1) “What aspects of clients' accounting information systems must be understood by auditing professionals?” and 2) “How should auditing professionals use their firm's information technology in performing their work?”

As the use of information systems has extended over the past decade and continues to do so, auditors must understand that many business entities are in the process of going “paperless”, that is keeping all records in electronic form only. Hence, tasks which were previously performed manually are now completely automated.

Another aspect that the auditor is concerned with when performing an audit for an entity which uses information systems is the process by which authorization to information systems related to financial reporting is granted to certain individuals. The auditor must know who has access and what type of access is authorized, especially because this affects internal control issues.

In other words, the auditor must understand that an information system is as efficient as the people who operate it. If the personnel operating the information system is not well-informed and sufficiently trained in using the IS, mistakes are more likely to happen. Likewise, the engineers in charge of designing the information system might not have a good understanding of the company’s op...

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Works Cited

AU Section 314. Understanding the Entity and Its Environment and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement (Supersedes SAS No. 55). Source: SAS No. 109. Understanding the Entity and Its Environment, .83 page 137.

AU Section 314. Understanding the Entity and Its Environment and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement (Supersedes SAS No. 55). Source: SAS No. 109. The Standards of Field Work, .60 page 132.

AU Section 314. Understanding the Entity and Its Environment and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement (Supersedes SAS No. 55). Source: SAS No. 109. Understanding the Entity and its Environment, .74 page 135.

AU Section 314. Understanding the Entity and Its Environment and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement (Supersedes SAS No. 55). Source: SAS No. 109. Understanding the Entity and its Environment, .86 page 138.

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