25 The future ?
The question might be posed whether future computer systems will always be auditable. If no source documents are available any more, because data is fed into the computer directly, there might be some doubt about the auditability. I think, however, that the requirements of management and those of the auditor in this respect are quite compatible. Management can only bear their responsibility if all necessary checks are built into the system, and adequate measures are taken to ensure that these checks are not inadvertently eliminated. If a system complies with these requirements, it is auditable. I see only one exception to this, but that is a theoretical one only: if a whole business was automated, so that the manager (all on his own) could operate and control the whole thing by pushing buttons, perhaps then an audit would not be feasible. By the time things like this come within feasible range, however, we shall probably invent new means to carry out an audit!