Distinguish general controls from application controls and give two examples of each.

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Part 1

Distinguish general controls from application controls.

General

Application

General

controls relate to all aspects of the IT function. They have a global impact on all software applications.

Application

General

controls apply to the processing of individual transactions.

Part 2

Give two examples of general controls. (Select the two choices that apply.)

The sales department does postprocessing review of sales transactions.

Chief information officer or IT manager reports to senior management and board.

Reasonableness tests review unit-selling prices used to process a sale.

Preformatted screens prompt data input personnel for information to be entered.

Written backup plans are prepared and tested regularly throughout the year.

Part 3

Give two examples of application controls. (Select the two choices that apply.)

Memory failure or hard drive failure causes error messages on the monitor.

Responsibilities for programming, operations, and data control are separated.

The sales department does postprocessing review of sales transactions.

Programmed control that verifies that all time cards submitted are for valid employee ID numbers included in the electronically accessible employee master file.

Access to hardware is restricted, passwords and user IDs limit access to software and data files, and encryption and firewalls protect data and programs from external parties.