ANNOUNCING A NEW INFORMATION SYSTEM
The AJAX Company is considering implementing a new accounting system, which will automate sales processing, cash receipts, accounts payable, and cash disbursement procedures. Roger Moore, AJAX’s CIO sent an announcement letter to the AJAX community. In the letter, Moore said: “I have contracted with Spartan Consulting Group to do the needs analysis, system selection, and design work. The programming and implementation will be performed in-house using existing IT department staff. The development process will be unobtrusive to user departments because Spartan knows what needs to be done. They will work independently, in the background, and will not disrupt departmental and internal audit work How with time-consuming interviews, surveys, and questionnaires. This promises to be an efficient process that will produce a system that will be appreciated by all users.”
Required
Draft a memo from George Jones, Director of Internal Audits, in response to Moore’s letter.
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Chapter 13 Solutions
Accounting Information Systems
- Better Business Company (BBC) is in the process of planning a more advanced computer-based information system. Slavish, Moore, LLP, BBCs consulting firm, has recently been provided with an overview of their proposed plan: To ensure that the system functions as needed, the BBC Information System (BBCIS) will be created with input from its employees. System construction will begin with prototyping, computer-aided software engineering technology, and Gantt charts. From this point, IT professionals and a systems administrator, who are full-time employees of BBC, will create data models of the business process, define conceptual user views, design database tables, and specify system controls. Users in each department will submit written descriptions of their information needs and business problems to the IT professionals, who will then perform feasibility studies. Each aspect of the system will be documented in accordance with best practices and standards. The systems administrator will determine access privileges and maintain access control lists and database authorization tables. The administrator will have sole access to the transaction log, which will be used to record all changes made to database tables. A role of the administrator is to detect unauthorized access, reconstruct events, and promote personal accountability. The systems administrator will also be responsible for ensuring that virus protection software is current. Another important task of the administrator is to ensure that adequate backup to databases and applications occur and that disks and tapes are stored in a secure off-site location. Each employee requiring computer access will be assigned a user ID and password that will be entered when logging onto the system. If a computer terminal is left idle for more than five minutes, the system will close out the session and the user will need to log on again. Furthermore, users will be required to change their passwords once every year. Hardware will be purchased from Bell Computer Company with the advice of in-house systems developers. With the exception of basic applications, user departments will be allowed to purchase additional software that they need, which will be added to the system. BBCIS will run on a central server in the computer center located in the companys administration building. Two security guards will be assigned to the entrance to the computer room. To access the computer center, employees will swipe their ID cards on the lock to the main entrance door. The system will record the times of each entry and departure from the center. The data center will employ an advanced air-conditioning and air filtration system to eliminate dust and pollens. There will also be a sprinkler system to minimize damages in case of a fire. Required Based on BBCs plans for the implementation of a new computer system, describe the potential risks and needed controls. Classify these according to the relevant areas of the COSO framework.arrow_forwardArkitektyukid hired a consulting firm three (3) months ago to redesign the information system used bythe architects. The architects will be able to use state-of-the-art computer-aided design (CAD) programsto help in designing the products. Further, they will be able to store these designs on a network serverwhere they and other architects may be able to call them back up for future designs with similarcomponents. The consulting firm has been instructed to develop the system without disrupting thearchitects. Top management believes that the best route is to develop the system and then to “introduce”it to the architects during a training session. Management does not want the architects to spendprecious billable hours guessing about the new system or putting work off until the new system isworking. Thus, the consultants are operating in a back room under a shroud of secrecy. Required:a. Do you think that management is taking the best course of action for the announcement of the newsystem?…arrow_forward1. Explain which of the conversion methods would be suitable for the following. Justify your choice: Upgrading the software for an Automatic Banking Machine (ABM/ATM) Adding a new inventory system along with new computerized cash registers in a supermarket Implementing a student course management system in a university 2. List four reasons why your participation as a user of an information system is critical during the systems development life cycle, linking the concepts of user involvement and change management in a software implementation project. 3. Why is it so important to understand how a business process works when trying to develop a new information system? TASK B: In the context of the impact of a change on an organization, How would you characterize the following changes? Adding electronic scoreboards to a cricket grounds. A Telco consolidating call centres in one country. A Telco installing fibre-to-the-home to replace copper wires. A Telco launching a TV service.arrow_forward
- Consider the following dialogue between a systems professional, Joe Pugh, and a manager of a department tar- geted for a new information system, Lars Meyer:Pugh: The way to go about the analysis is to first examine the old system, such as reviewing key documents and observing the workers performing their tasks. Then we can determine which aspects are working well and which should be preserved. Meyer: We have been through these types of projects before and what always ends up happening is that we do not get the new system we are promised; we get a modified version of the old system.Pugh: Well, I can assure you that will not happen this time. We just want a thorough understanding of what is working well and what is not.Meyer: I would feel much more comfortable if we first started with a list of our requirements. We should spend some time up front determining exactly what we want the system to do for my department. Then, you systems people can come in and determine what portions to…arrow_forwardBrew Bottle Company (BBC) is in the process of planning a more advanced computer-based information system. Slavish & Moore, LLP, BBC’s consulting firm, have recently been provided with an overview of their proposed plan:The Brew Bottle Company Information System (BBCIS) will be created with the help of its employees so that the system will function effectively. This helps ensure that the end product will perform the tasks that the user wants. System construction will begin with prototyping, computer-aided software engineering (CASE) technology, and Gantt charts. From here, systems professionals and a systems administrator who will work fulltime for BBC will create data models of the business process, define conceptual user views, design database tables, and specify system controls. Each user in each department will submit a written description of his or her needs and business problems to the systems professionals. Systems professionals will then perform analysis of feasibility and…arrow_forwardAvenue Eight Designs hired a consulting firm three months ago to redesign the information system used by the architects. The architects will be able to use state-of-the-art CAD programs to help designing the products. Further, they will able to store these design on a network server where they and other architects may be able to call them back up for future designs with similar components. The consulting firm has been instructed to develop the system without disrupting the architects. In fact, the top management believes that the best route is to develop the system and then to “introduce” it to the architects during training session. Management does not want the architects to spend precious billable hours guessing about the new system of putting work off until the new system is working. Thus, the consultants are operating in a back room under a shroud of secrecy. a) Do you think that management is taking the best course of action for the announcement of the new system? Why? b) Do you…arrow_forward
- Kruger Designs hired a consulting firm three months ago to redesign the information system that the architects use. The architects will be able to use state of- the-art computer-aided design (CAD) programs to help in designing the products. Further, they will be able to store these designs on a network server from which they and other architects may be able to call them back for future designs with similar components. The consulting firm has been instructed to develop the system without disrupting the architects. In fact, top management believes that the best route is to develop the system and then to introduce it to the architects during a training session. Management does not want the architects to spend precious billable hours guessing about the new system or putting work off until the new system is working. Thus, the consultants are operating in a back room under a shroud of secrecy. Required a. Do you think that management is taking the best course of action for the announcement…arrow_forwardConsider the following dialogue between a system professional, Jim Festin, and a manager of adepartment targeted for a new information system, Charles Puno:Festin: The way to go about the analysis is to first examine the old system, such as reviewing keydocuments and observing the workers perform their tasks. Then we can determine which aspects areworking well and which should be preserved.Puno: We have been through these types of projects before and what always ends up happening isthat we do not get the new system we are promised; we get a modified version of the old system.Festin: Well, I can assure you that will not happen this time. We just want a thorough understanding ofwhat is working well and what is not.Puno: I would feel much more comfortable if we first started with a list of our requirements. We shouldspend some time up-front determining exactly what we want the system to do for my department. Thenyou systems people can come in and determine what portions to salvage if you…arrow_forwardWhen a company has post-acquisition expenditures related to Property, Plant, and Equipment it must determine whether the amount should be expensed as an ordinary repair or capitalized as a major repair, addition, or betterment. This requires considering the nature of the expenditure and the use of judgment. Many companies use a threshold amount. Any expenditure below the threshold is expensed. Items over the threshold are examined and a decision is made about whether to expense or capitalize the item. This approach is justified by both materiality and considering costs and benefits. For example, a company with $94 million in net property, plant, and equipment and $250 million of operating expenses would not consider a $100 repair as material. Plus, if the company had to spend thousands of dollars examining every repair expenditure, the costs of doing the analysis could easily outweigh the benefits. SouthEast Equipment has a large number of machines and equipment that are available for…arrow_forward
- Systems Analysis Consider the following dialogue between a systems professional, Joe Pugh, and a manager of a department targeted for a new information system, Lars Meyer: Pugh: The way to go about the analysis is to first examine the old system, such as reviewing key documents and observing the workers perform their tasks. Then we can determine which aspects are working well and which should be preserved. Meyer: We have been through these types of projects before and what always ends up happening is that we do not get the new system we are promised; we get a modified version of the old system. Pugh: Well, I can assure you that will not happen this time. We just want a thorough understanding of what is working well and what is not. Meyer: I would feel much more comfortable if we first started with a list of our requirements. We should spend some time up-front determining exactly what we want the system to do for my department. Then you systems people can come in and determine what…arrow_forwardScenario: IBM is a software development company and is currently working on an online cloud based Data storage management system. The system analyst collected the following system requirements from the dient. You are supposed to identify the functional and non-functional requirements. a. The system shall be operational 10 hours a day and 5 days a week. b. If the system fails, the system will be recovered back up within 45 seconds or less. c. Admin shall be able to get information about all the registered customers. d. Admin shall be able to update any change in the database.arrow_forwardA new systems development project is being planned for Reindeer Christmas Supplies Company. The invoicing, cash receipts, and accounts payable modules are all going to be updated. The controller, Kris K. Ringle, is a little anxious about this project. The last systems development project that affected his department was not very successful, and the employees in the accounting department did not accept the new system very well at first. He feels that the systems personnel did not interact sufficiently with the users of the systems in the accounting department.Prepare a memo from Ringle to the head of the information systems department, Sandy Klaus. In this memo, provide some suggestions for including the accounting personnel in the systems development project. Give persuasive arguments as to why prototyping would be helpful to the workers in the accounting department.arrow_forward
- Accounting Information SystemsAccountingISBN:9781337619202Author:Hall, James A.Publisher:Cengage Learning,