Electronic Data Processing Systems - Business Processes Quiz

An EDP technique that collects data into groups to permit convenient and efficient processing is known as

• Document-count processing

• Multiprogramming

• Batch-processing

• Generalized-audit processing

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a batch-processed computer system?

• The collection of like transactions that are sorted and processed sequentially against a master file

• Key transcription of transactions, followed by machine processing

• The production of numerous printouts

• The posting of a transaction, as it occurs, to several files without intermediate printouts

What is the computer process called when data processing is performed concurrently with a particular activity, and the results are available soon enough to influence the particular course of action being taken or the decision being made?

• Real-time processing

• Batch-processing

• Random-access processing

• Integrated data processing

The real-time feature normally would be least useful when applied to accounting for a firm's

• Bank account balances

• Property and depreciation

• Customer accounts receivable

• Merchandise inventory

An EDP input control is designed to ensure that

• Machine processing is accurate

• Only authorized personnel have access to the computer area

• Data received for processing are properly authorized and converted to machine-readable form

• Electronic data processing has been performed as intended for the particular application

When erroneous data are detected by computer program controls, such data may may be excluded from processing and printed on an error report. This error report should be reviewed and followed up by the the

• Computer operator

• Systems analyst

• EDP control group

• Computer programmer

Which of the following would lessen internal control in an EDP system?

• The computer librarian maintains custody of computer program instructions and detailed program listings

• Computer operators have access to operator instructions and detailed program listings

• The control group maintains sole custody of all computer output

• Computer programmers write and debug programs that perform routines designed by the systems analyst

An internal administrative control sometimes used in connection with procedures to detect unauthorized or unexplained computer usage is

• Maintenance of a computer tape library

• Use of file controls

• Maintenance of a computer console log

• Control over program tapes

A procedural control used in the management of a computer center to minimize the possibility of data or program file destruction through operator error includes

• Control figures

• Crossfooting tests

• Limit checks

• External labels

If a control total were to be computed on each of the following data items, which would best be identified as a hash total for a payroll EDP application?

• Net pay

• Department numbers

• Hours worked

• Total debits and total credits

In designing a payroll system, it is known that no individual's paycheck can amount to more than $300 for a single week. As a result, the payroll program has been written to bypass writing a check and will print out an error message if any payroll calculation results in more than $300. This type of control is called

• A limit or reasonableness test

• Error review

• A data validity test

• A logic sequence test

Where disk files are used, the grandfather-father-son updating backup concepts is relatively difficult to implement because the

• Location of information points on disks is an extremely time-consuming task

• Magnetic fields and other environmental factors cause off-site storage to be impractical

• Information must be dumped in the form of hard copy if it is to be reviewed before being used in updating

• Process of updating old records is destructive

A customer inadvertently ordered part number 12368 rather than part number 12638. In processing this order, the error would be detected by the vendor with which of the following controls?

• Batch total

• Key verifying

• Self-checking digit

• An internal consistency check

In the weekly computer run to prepare payroll checks, a check was printed for an employee who had been terminated the previous week. Which of the following controls, if used properly, would have been most effective in preventing the error or ensuring its prompt detection?

• A control total for hours worked, prepared from time cards collected by the timekeeping department

• Requiring the treasurer's office to account for the numbers of prenumbered checks issued to the EDP department for the processing of the payroll

• Use of a check digit for employee numbers

• Use of a header label for the payroll input sheet

Accounting functions that are normally considered incompatible in a manual system are often combined in an EDP program or a series of programs. This necessitates an accounting control that prevents unapproved

• Access to the magnetic tape library

• Revisions to existing computer programs

• Use of computer program tapes

• Testing of modified computer programs

Totals of amounts in computer-record data fields that are not usually added for other purposes but are used only for data processing control purposes are called

• Record totals

• Has totals

• Processing data totals

• Field totals

The use of a header label in conjunction with magnetic tape is most likely to prevent errors by the

• Computer operator

• Data entry clerk

• Computer programmer

• Maintenance technician

Where computers are used, the effectiveness of internal accounting control depends in part on whether the organizational structure includes any incompatible combinations. Such a combination would exist when there is no separation of the duties between the

• Documentation librarian and the manager of programming

• Programmer and the console operator

• Systems analyst and the programmer

• Processing control clerk and the data entry supervisor

The basic form of backup used in magnetic tape operations is called

• Odd parity check

• Dual-head processing

• File-protection rings

• The con-father-grandfather concept

When an on-line, real-time (OLRT) EDP system is in use, internal control can be strengthened by

• Providing for the separation of duties between data entry and error-listing operations

• Attaching plastic file protection rings to reels of magnetic tape before new data can be entered on the file

• Preparing batch totals to provide assurance that file updates are made for the entire output

• Making a validity check of an identification number before a user can obtain access to the computer files

Which of the following most likely constitutes a weakness in the internal accounting control of an EDP system?

• The control clerk establishes control over data received by the EDP department and reconciles control totals after processing

• The application programmer identifies programs required by the systems design and flowcharts the logic of these programs

• The systems analyst reviews output and controls the distribution of output from the EDP department

• The accounts payable clerk prepares data for computer processing and enters the data into the computer

An effective control designed to provide reasonable assurance that hourly payroll information has been entered accurately into the computer system is to

• Establish the use of batch control totals for total hours to be processed

• Review the contents of the computer master file

• Limit access to the on-line terminals

• Circulate to user departments periodic reports containing the contents of the master file

Which of the following activities most likely would be performed in the EDP department?

• Initiation of changes to master records

• Conversion of information to machine-readable form

• Correction of transactional errors

• Initiation of changes to existing applications

Carmela Department Stores has a fully integrated EDP accounting system and is planning to issue credit cards to creditworthy customers. To strengthen internal control by making it difficult for one to create a valid customer account number, the company's independent auditor has suggested the inclusion of a check digit that should be placed

• At the beginning of a valid account number only

• In the middle of a valid account number only

• At the end of a valid account number only

• Consistently in any position

One of the major problems in an EDP system is that incompatible functions may be performed by the same individual. One compensating control for this is use of 

• A tape library

• A self-checking digit system

• Computer-generated hash totals

• A computer log

The primary documentation on which a company should rely for an explanation of how a particular program operates is the

• Run manual

• Periodic memory dump

• Maintenance of three generations of master files

• Echo check printout

The use of external labels in conjunction with magnetic tape storage is most likely to prevent errors that might be made by which of the following?

• A computer programmer

• A systems analyst

• A data entry clerk

• A computer operator

An on-line sales order processing system most likely would have an advantage over a batch sales order processing system by

• Detecting errors in the data entry process more easily by the use of edit programs

• Enabling shipment of customer orders to be initiated as soon as the orders are received

• Recording more secure backup copies of the database on magnetic tape files

• Maintaining more accurate records of customer accounts and finished goods inventories

Which of the following is a general control that most likely would assist an entity whose systems analyst left in the middle of a major project?

• Grandfather-father-son record retention

• Input and output validation routines

• Systems documentation

• Check-digit verification

Using Modulus 11, what is the check digit of account number 4388?

Using Modulus 11, what is the check digit of account number 5100?

Using Modulus 11, what is the check digit of account number 9106?