CIBC's Amicus unit, administering 3061 customers of President's Choice Financial, sent incorrect tax information to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), while sending different (correct) information to the customers. The incorrect information sent to CRA stated that the customers had cashed in some of their 2003 RRSPs, resulting in tax reassessments.
How is it possible that computer systems could send different information to two different parties? The Toronto Star reported that the cause was the switch from a manual to a computer-based system. This would mean that there was either a large-scale programming error or a data entry error. In November 2007, Air Canada's reservation systems encountered communications problems with airports so that tickets and tags could not be printed, stranding travellers for over five hours, again affecting "thousands" of customers. The problem was identified as a computer error of some kind, with no further information provided.
REQUIRED
a. If a client has problems in delivering services, what is the likelihood that there are also information systems processing errors in the accounting systems?
b. What kinds of checks and balances should be in place when an organization implements program changes?
c. How does the quality of information systems affect your understanding of internal control?