We conducted an experiment in which audit seniors read a case and then evaluated two internal control deviations. Materials consisted of background information about a manufacturing company, summary financial statements, a narrative description of the revenue transaction processing cycle, information concerning auditor-identified control deviations, and a conversational vignette between an auditor and a client manager. Auditors assessed the severity of deficiency for potential significant deficiencies arising from control deviations. All deviations were designed such that they could have potentially contributed to a more than inconsequential misstatement of the financial statements and the root cause was employee failure to follow procedures.