What is the role of accountants in ensuring that there are sufficient controls to safeguard the production cycle?

Q1.Last week, we discussed inventory control within the revenue cycle. What are threats to inventory within the production cycle (both threats to physical inventory and the data related to inventory)? What specific controls does an AIS offer to help prevent or at least detect these threats?

Q2The major purpose of the systems analysis phase is to enable the study team members to familiarize themselves with a company’s current system so that they can make recommendations for improving it.

Class: What is the role of accountants in ensuring that there are sufficient controls to safeguard the production cycle?

Q3Class: Why should accountants be concerned about labor productivity? How is labor productivity related to product defect yield?

Q4What is a payroll master file? Describe the types of errors that may occur in the master file and how they get there. How would you design payroll procedures to help prevent them?

Q5Excellent points! When establishing controls within a payroll system, the implementation team should also design an effective audit trail, develop general and application controls for the computerized system, and create good documentation for the system. Because these controls will affect both the form and content of a company’s computer files, the team should create and implement these controls before converting accounting data files to alternate formats. Who should have access to payroll data?

Q6Class: What kind of threat do unauthorized changes to the payroll master file pose to payroll processing? Can you relate separation of duties to the threat?