many activities and long time frames the more variables in the process the greater the likelihood for material error in the estimates history is often the best teacher for decisions of this sort therefore a review of actual performance compared to budgeted amounts provides critical input for future budgeting decisions from such information we can learn where mistakes were made and how to avoid them next time the following questions provide some insight
Were actual costs in line with budgeted costs ?
What were the areas of significant departures from budget?
Were departures from budget controllable (internal) in the short run or noncontrol-lable (for example supplier problems)?
Were estimates of the number of lines of program code accurate?
Was the degree of rework due to design and coding errors acceptable?
Are users receiving the expected benefits from the system?
Were values assigned to tangible and especially intangible benefits accurate?
System maintenance-phases VIII
Once a system is implemented it enters the final phase in its life cycle system maintenance is a formal proves by which application programs undergo changes to accommodate changes in user needs some application changes are trivial such as modifying the system to produce a new report or changing the length of a data field maintenance can also be extensive such as making major changes to an application’s logic and the user interface depending upon the organization the system maintenance period can last 5 years or longer systems in highly competitive business environments see much shorter system life spans when it is no longer feasible for the organization to continue to maintain an aging system it is scrapped and a new systems development life cycle begins.
Maintenance represents a significant resource outlay compared to initial development costs over a system’s life span as much as 80 to 90 percent of its total cost may be incurred in the maintenance phase we review the auditing implications of maintenance in the next section..
Controlling and auditing the SDLC
In this chapter we have reviewed that highly technical and complex process that constitute the SDLC before proceeding it is useful to place this material in perspective with regard to audit objectives simply stated the purpose of a financial audit is to provide an expert opinion regarding the fair presentation of the financial statements to render such an opinion the expert auditor must perform
Certain audit tests naturally the accuracy of the financial data in the client’s databases bears directly on the auditor’s opinion in a CBIS environment financial data are processed(accessed ,stored ,and updated) by computer applications the accuracy and integrity of these programs directly affects the
Accuracy of the client’s financial data A materially flawed financial application can corrupt financial data which are then incorrectly reported in the financial statements