Abstract
Since 1970, data processing has undergone a fantastic revolution. Technological advancements have reduced the cost of hardware, and small businesses have realized that data processing is a viable resource to maintain a profitable operation and controlled growth. Consequently, micro and minicomputers have evolved to meet changing operational patterns, and have had as their by-products, small business systems. In addition, software needs have changed to meet the unprecedented growth of data processing, and the resulting increase in the demand for software has had a negative impact on the accessibility to in-house software expertise in small businesses. With these developments, the importance of small systems EDP auditing has taken on new dimension, and the question how to control is often difficult to answer. Managers and auditors try to determine control requirements in terms of potential risk. Since software is a significant determinant of small system success or failure, the risk is high for software review based on hunches and intuition. The manager must evaluate software for a small business system. Furthermore, he has few formal procedures to utilize from which a decision can be generated based on key system characteristics. Pertinent system characteristics were examined as a means of establishing practical procedures in small system reviews. The examination included six elements. The first was a trace of auditing and the evolution of small systems. The second component documented regulatory boards' position on internal control and audit procedure in an EDP system. A third segment examined and evaluated EDP auditing tools as to their applicability in small systems. In the fourth and fifth components, a set of criteria was selected for measuring various technological phases, and a set of audit control guidelines was proposed. Finally, the last element was the development of a small system audit tool for reviewing and examining application controls and its validation through a professional review.
Butler, Charles William (1981). A comparative analysis of EDP auditing design criteria for small business systems. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -100720.