School of Accountancy

The online version of this course is the result of a grant from the Gordon H. Cowperthwaite Foundation

This course benefits from the support provided by the
University of Waterloo Centre for Information System Assurance.

Accounting 502/651
Information System Control and Audit

MIDTERM

Online Resources

Computer Control and Audit Guide online Cases to accompany the Computer Control and Audit Guide For solutions contact Professor J.E. Boritz
Sample Exam
Review Quiz (demo only)
651 online discussion transcript
List of Cases Available

Assignment 1 WIDGET WHOLESALERS LIMITED Preparing a Summary System Flow Chart
Assignment 2 LITERATURE APPRECIATION
Assignment 3 Autoticket Case
Assignment 4 WIDGET WHOLESALERS LIMITED Review of Processing Integrity Controls
Assignment 5 WIDGET WHOLESALERS LIMITED Review of General Controls
Assignment 6 Payroll Case: Test Data
Optional Assignment Payroll Case: IDEA

Course Description

This course consists of five major parts:

PART I : risks and related control issues in organizations with Information Technology (IT)-based systems as well as societal risks arising from poor controls over IT.

PART II : management and control of IT-based systems.

PART III : the study and evaluation of internal control in IT-based systems.

PART IV : assurance services related to IT-based systems.

PART V: computer-assisted audit techniques.

1. To help you develop a broad understanding of risks introduced by information technology (IT) and general controls and application controls used to reduce such risks to a tolerable level.

2. To help you build practical skills sufficient to review and evaluate controls in IT-based systems under limited supervision.

3. To help you develop insights into emerging IS assurance services such as WebTrust and SysTrust.

4. To help you develop an understanding of computer-assisted auditing techniques; and to help you build practical skills to use them under limited supervision.

Pre-requisites: Prior course covering information systems concepts, systems development life cycle, and management issues.

 Approach

On Tuesdays all the sections of the course will meet in the same location at the same time (MC 1085). The Tuesday class will consist of lectures, videos, guest speakers, software demonstrations, and so on. Some Tuesday classes will be followed by tutorial workshops designed to help you complete the assignments.

On Thursdays, the various sections of the class will meet separately to discuss assigned cases and other materials. We place great emphasis on these class discussions as a means of developing and refining your understanding of the key topics covered in this course. Consequently, an important part of your grade is allocated to class participation. Attendance will be taken.

Because we believe in "learning by doing" we have incorporated a number of assignments dealing with the most important skill areas addressed by this course. Assignments will be due on the Thursday following the workshop.

There will be a mid-term exam and a final exam. The exams will be common to all the sections. To help you prepare for these exams, a copy of a past exam is available on the course web site.

Constructive suggestions for improvement are most welcome!

Required Texts

1. Computer Control & Audit Guide, (11th ed., 2001) Boritz, J. E.; available at the bookstore in SCH.
2. Materials for class discussion and assignments will be posted on the course website.

The course website and newsgroup will be used extensively during the course as a communication medium. You are responsible for keeping informed about the contents of the website and the information posted on the newsgroup.

 Class Participation

A large part of this course will be devoted to case discussions. The Class Participation mark will be judged by the instructors based on your attendance and involvement in class discussions. The points allocated to this part of your grade will be assigned based on the following classification:

A 10 marks - Comes to most classes prepared; actively participates in discussion; indicates mastery of topics

B  7 marks - Comes to most classes prepared; actively participates in discussion; but, often indicates incomplete mastery of topics discussed

C  4 marks - Does not actively participate in class discussion; but, indicates mastery of topics when called upon by instructor

F  0 marks - Does not come to most classes prepared.

Mid Term Exam

A mid-term exam worth 15% of the overall grade will be held during one of the class periods. The exam will cover all the required readings, lectures, assignments and class discussions. The mid-term exam material will be 50% case and 50% short answer or multi-choice questions covering text and lecture content.

Final Exam

A final exam worth 45% of the overall grade will be held during the exam period. (If you choose to do the optional assignment, the final exam will be worth 35% of your overall grade.) The final exam will be 50% case, 25% assignment-based and 25% short answer or multi-choice questions, covering text and lecture content.

Assignments

Assignments will be posted on the course website.

There are six mandatory assignments, each worth 5% of the overall grade, and one optional assignment worth 10% of the overall grade. If you choose to do the optional assignment, your final exam will be worth 35% of the overall grade. If you choose not to do the optional assignment, your final exam will be worth 45%.

Except for the Literature Appreciation assignment, group work is permitted, but is not required. Maximum group size is four. Please note that the material covered in the assignments is examinable, so all group members should be involved.

Assignment schedule

Assignments will be discussed in the Tuesday lecture/tutorial preceding the assignment due date. There will be time to ask clarifying questions in the class. The goal of the workshop will be to bring you close to completing the assignment, leaving only cosmetics and final touches to be done after the class. The assignment will be due on the following Thursday and will be returned and taken up about two weeks later.

Due dates will be strictly observed. Assignments must be prepared using word processors and other computer aids such as flowcharting packages, business graphics packages, spreadsheets, etc. Up to 20% of the grade assigned to hand-in work will be allotted to grammar, spelling, presentation format, writing style and creativity. The balance will be for content, correctness, completeness, logic, etc.

Accounting 651 schedules

J. Efrim Boritz's Home Page

School of Accountancy Home Page.