Question: 1.7-Michael Hanson
Michael Hanson is an internal auditor who has been asked to evaluate the internal controls and risks
of his company, Consolidated Enterprises Inc. He has been asked to present recommendations to
senior management with respect to Consolidated's general operations with particular attention to the
company's database procedures. With regard to database procedures, he was specifically directed to
focus attention on (1) transaction processing, (2) virus protection, (3) backup controls, and (4)
disaster recovery controls.
REQUIRED:
1. Define the objectives of
a. a compliance audit.
b. an operational audit.
2. For each of the areas shown below, identify two controls that Hanson should review and explain
why.
a.
Transaction processing.
b.
Virus protection.
c.
Backup controls.
3. Identify four components of a sound disaster recovery plan.
4. During his evaluation of general operations, Hanson found the following conditions.
a.
Daily bank deposits do not always correspond with cash receipts.
b. Physical inventory counts sometimes differ from perpetual inventory records, and there have
been alterations to physical counts and perpetual records.
c.
An unexplained and unexpected decrease in gross profit percentage has occurred.
For each of these conditions, (1) describe a possible cause of the condition and (2) recommend
actions to be taken and/or controls to be implemented that would correct the condition.
