A STUDY OF AUDITOR DATA PROCESSING KNOWLEDGE REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPUTER BASED MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Technological advances in computer systems, cost reduction of processing data, and increased vulnerability of computers mandate that internal and external auditors possess the data processing (DP) expertise necessary to audit these systems to assist business management and to protect the public interest.;Four major findings resulted from the research: (1) the systems analysis area was the most important area of DP knowledge required by internal auditors. The DP operations, DP management, audit techniques, and software areas were rated as important. Computer hardware was the least important. (2) The DP operations, DP management, software, and the systems analysis were rated as important DP knowledge required by external auditors. The computer hardware and audit techniques areas were rated as moderately important. (3) The DP knowledge requirements of internal auditors are generally higher than the knowledge requirements for external auditors. Major areas of difference were systems analysis and audit techniques. (4) The present required courses of the selected five-year accounting programs do not meet the DP knowledge requirements of auditors. Only three schools had the complete program necessary to meet the DP knowledge requirements.;The purpose of this study is to define the data processing knowledge requirements of internal and external auditors. A three-phased Delphi survey was used to establish these requirements. Expert internal and external auditors participated in the survey using an open-ended questionnaire, a current technology installation model, and an appropriate audit scope (IIA or AICPA) to make their judgements. Phase III survey results were used to construct internal, external, and composite auditor DP knowledge profiles. Seven accredited five-year accounting programs were evaluated on the basis of the composite profile.