BEC - IT Part One

Which of the following is true of batch processing? I. In batch processing, data is captured in a transaction file as transactions occur. II. Periodically (once a day, once a week, etc.), the group of transactions in the transaction file are edited, sorted, and then the transactions are used to update the master file.

2 In batch processing, transactions are first gathered together in a group and then keyed into a transaction file. Periodically, the transaction file is edited, sorted, and then the transactions are used to update the master file.

cycle times

A cycle time in manufacturing is the time required to produce an order. In computer science, it is the time between one random access memory event to the next. Neither of these definitions is relevant to the IoT.

A specialized version of a data warehouse that contains data that is pre-configured to meet the needs of specific departments is known as

A data mart is focused on a particular market or purpose and contains only information specific to that objective.

A data warehouse differs from a data mart because

A data mart supports specific needs. You Answered Correctly! A data mart is more specialized than a data warehouse. The data mart is often constructed to support specific needs of subunits of an organization.

Which of the following is true in regard to data warehouses? I. The bulk of the data found in a data warehouse comprises historical operational data. II. Pattern recognition is one of the principal functionalities offered by data mining software.

A data warehouse is a database archive of an organization's operational transactions (sales, purchases, production, payroll, etc.) over a period of years; external data that might be correlated with these transactions, such as economic indicators, stock prices, and exchange rates, are also included. Pattern recognition is a major component of data mining software: data mining is the process of performing statistical analysis and automatically searching for patterns in large volumes of data.

Which of the following structures refers to the collection of data for all vendors in a relational data base?

A file would contain the collection of data for all vendors in a relational database. This would also be called a table in a relational database. Therefore, this is the best answer.

In a computer-based system, the equivalent of a subsidiary ledger is a

A master file holds account and account balance information and is roughly equivalent to a ledger (or subsidiary ledger) in a manual system.

Which of the following terms best describes a payroll system?

A payroll system is an example of a transaction processing system.

benefit of a big data initiative?

Targeted marketing. Improved system monitoring. Better compliance

The CPU includes all of the following

ALU. RAM. Control unit

In COBIT, the process of identifying automated solutions falls within the ________ control process domain.

Acquire and implement. The process of identifying automated solutions does fall within the acquire and implement control process domain.

A client would like to implement a management information system that integrates all functional areas within an organization to allow information exchange and collaboration among all parties involved in business operations. Which of the following systems is most effective for this application?

An enterprise resource planning system. You Answered Correctly! ERPs provide transaction processing, management support, and decision-making support in a single, integrated package. By integrating all data and processes of an organization into a unified system, ERPs attempt to eliminate many of the problems faced by organizations when they attempt to consolidate information from operations in multiple departments, regions, or divisions. This is the correct answer since facilitating information exchange and collaboration is the primary purpose of the proposed system.

Which of the following is an example of a report that would be produced by a management information system (MIS) as opposed to an accounting information system (AIS)?

An exception report that lists all days when production volume was more than 10% over or under the planned level of production for the day. Production volume data and planned (budgeted) production data do not generate debits and credits and are not part of most accounting information systems (AISs). This type of information is, however, frequently used by mid-level managers to support daily operations and is included in most management information systems (MISs).

Which of the following devices "burns" data onto a surface?

An optical disc recorder uses a laser to burn data onto a disk surface.

Each of the following is an enabler of big data

Analytics. Dark data. IoT.

In business information systems, the term "stakeholder" refers to which of the following parties?

Anyone in the organization who has a role in creating or using the documents and data stored on the computers or networks. You Answered Correctly! The "stakeholders" in an IT environment include both the IT personnel responsible for developing and maintaining the system as well as the personnel from all areas of the organization, who are the end users of the systems. In extranet environments, these end users may also include customers and suppliers who access data relevant to their activities with the organization online.

Roles for accountants in big data include all of the following

Assessing the quality and integrity of big data. Integrating big data into evaluations of internal control.. Data scientists. You Answered Correctly! (Correct!) While accountants may have a role in designing big data systems, they will not hold responsibility for building them.

During the annual audit, it was learned from an interview with the controller that the accounting system was programmed to use a batch processing method and a detailed posting type. This would mean that individual transactions were

Assigned to groups before posting, and each transaction had its own line entry in the appropriate ledger.

Each of the following is an enabler of big data except:

Big data uses existing data warehouses. but data warehousing is not a direct enabler of big data.

Governance is primarily the responsibility of:

Governance is primarily the responsibility of the board of directors.

Vindaloo Corporation wants data storage for a large volume of data that is unlikely to change often. They should consider using

CD-ROM is the best choice of the available answers. It can handle a large volume of data and is suited to data that changes infrequently.

Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) provides a framework for

COBIT provides a framework for IT governance and management of enterprise IT.

Big data:

Changes an entity's risk profile. adds a new set of risks to an entity and changes some existing risks.

To maintain effective segregation of duties within the information technology function, an application programmer should have which of the following responsibilities?

Code approved changes to a payroll program.

Which of the following characteristics distinguishes computer processing from manual processing?

Computer processing virtually eliminates the occurrence of computational error normally associated with manual processing. The high degree of accuracy of computer computation virtually eliminates the occurrence of computational errors.

Rootin' Roberta of Sharpie Shooters Range Corp. is charged with replacing the computer used in the accounting system. She wants a quick boot time and fast access to storage. She doesn't need a lot of storage, but she wants maximum security in storage. She should consider purchasing:

Computers that primary rely on SSD storage. You Answered Correctly! (Correct!) Solid state drive (SSD) storage has the desired characteristics.

Today organizations are using microcomputers for data presentation because microcomputer use, compared to mainframe use, is more

Cost effective. You Answered Correctly! This answer is correct. In cooperative processing, microcomputers are more cost effective than mainframes for data entry and presentation because microcomputers are better suited to frequent screen updating and graphical user interfaces.

The following customer data is stored in the sales processing system to a regional produce distributor: CustomerNumber, CustomerName, CustomerPhone, CustomerContact, CustomerCreditLimit Which of the following is true?

CustomerNumber is an example of a field (also known as an attribute).

n example of big data?

Dark data. Multifactor identification data. video conferencing data.

Which of the following information technology (IT) departmental responsibilities should be delegated to separate individuals?

Data entry and application programming. The separation of the data entry function from the application programming function is critical to the segregation of duties within an IT department. This is because if one both enters data and changes the programs into which those data are entered, one can perpetrate consequential financial frauds. This is why data entry occurs within the operations unit of an IT department and application development occurs within the development function of an IT department. These functions must be kept separate and their duties segregated. Therefore, this is the best answer to the question.

What is the role of the systems analyst in an IT environment?

Designing systems, prepares specifications for programmers, and serves as intermediary between users and programmers.

Checkpoint auto leasing is a small company with six employees. The best action that it can take to increase its internal control effectiveness is

Engage the owner in direct participation in the activities, including financial record-keeping, of the business. You Answered Correctly! This is the best answer since engaging the owner in the activities of the business is an important compensating control in small organizations.

The Board of Directors of Martin Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc. is meeting to consider whether they should expand their manufacturing facilities to include a product line. Although the company's current financial position and sales potential for existing products are part of the information the Board must consider, of even greater importance is external information concerning economic conditions, market projects for the new product, the cost of long-term financing alternatives, and information about potential competitors. The Board of Directors' decision process would be best supported by a

Executive support systems (ESSs) are a subset of DSS that are especially designed for forecasting and making long-range, strategic decisions, and they place greater emphasis on external data. The need to consider a large proportion of external information in the decision process makes an executive support system (ESS) the best choice listed.

Which of the following cycles does have accounting information that is recorded into the general ledger reporting system?

Expenditure. Production. Revenue.

All of the following are potential applications of HMDs except

Generating system logs

One important purpose of COBIT is to

Guide managers, users, and auditors to adopt best practices related to the management of information technology.

Big data initiatives should:

Have a strong governance structure.

Management of a financial services company is considering a strategic decision concerning the expansion of its existing local area network (LAN) to enhance the firm's customer service function. Which of the following aspects of the expanded system is significant strategic issue for management?

How the expanded system can contribute to the firm's long-range business plan. How the expanded system would support daily business operations. How indicators can be developed to measure how well the expanded system achieves its business objectives.

Management of a financial services company is considering a strategic decision concerning the expansion of its existing local area network (LAN) to enhance the firm's customer service function. Which of the following aspects of the expanded system is the significant strategic issue for management?

How the expanded system can contribute to the firm's long-range business plan. How the expanded system would support daily business operations. How indicators can be developed to measure how well the expanded system achieves its business objectives.

Management of a financial services company is considering a strategic decision concerning the expansion of its existing local area network (LAN) to enhance the firm's customer service function. Which of the following aspects of the expanded system is the least significant strategic issue for management?

How the expanded system will contribute to the reduction of operating costs. You Answered Correctly! This answer is correct. Cutting costs, per se, is the least important issue. Payoff, or return on costs, is a more relevant strategic consideration.

An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system has which of the following advantages over multiple independent functional systems?

Increased responsiveness and flexibility while aiding in the decision-making process. Improving responsiveness and flexibility, and aiding the decision-making processes in an organization, are important goals of an ERP system. Hence, this is the best answer.

Automating security systems changes:

Internal controls. You Answered Correctly! Correct! Control over access to systems is a part of accounting controls.

The system that most resembles a managerial accounting, budgeting system is:

MIS take planning information (budgets, forecasts, etc.) data and compare it to actual results in periodic management reports (summary reports, variance reports, and exception reports). Hence, MIS can be considered similar to, and may incorporate, traditional budgeting systems.

secondary storage device?

Magnetic disk. . Flash drives. Optical disc.

Roberta is a programmer who writes applications for Parsnips Health Care. She also has access to the file library. This is a concern because she may:

Make changes to both the live and archive copies of programs. If she changes both live and archive copies of programs, changes that she has made may not be detected.

In a large multinational organization, which of the following job responsibilities should be assigned to the network administrator?

Managing remote access. Managing remote access is an appropriate responsibility for a network administrator.

Which of the following is true about master files?

Master files are the computerized counterpart of ledgers found in manual systems. You Answered Correctly! Master files maintain balances by accounts (financial statement accounts, customer accounts, vendor accounts, etc.), just as ledgers do in manual systems.

IT people controls are mostly

Most IT people controls are general and preventive. For example, the segregation of duties prevents employees from making unauthorized changes to program and data files.

Acme Corp. uses data on the strength of a user's touch on a keyboard to partially authenticate users. This is an example of:

Multifactor authentication. You Answered Correctly! Correct! Why? Because the system will not use only the user's touch on keyboard, it will also use other authentication metrics (notice the "partially" in the sentence above).

Simone works as an airline reservations agent. She mostly likely interacts with a:

OLRT system. You Answered Correctly! (Correct!) An online, real-time system would be appropriate for airline reservations.

Which of the following transaction processing modes provides the most accurate and complete information for decision making

Online processing provides the most up-to-date and complete information for decision making. Therefore, this is the best answer to this question.

Which of the following statements about processing methodologies is true?

Online real-time processing is especially desirable when transactions occur continuously and are interdependent. Online real-time processing is especially desirable when transactions occur continuously and are interdependent. Batch processing is especially desirable when transactions occur periodically and are independent.

this system is sometimes also called a TPS.

Operational systems are sometimes called TPS (transaction processing systems).

burns" data onto a surface?

Optical disc recorder. You Answered Correctly! An optical disc recorder uses a laser to burn data onto a disk surface.

HMDs:

Partly result from the IoT. HMDs attach sensors to glasses or helmets and are therefore a type of IoT device.

Which of the following cycles does not have accounting information that is recorded into the general ledger reporting system?

Planning. You Answered Correctly! The general ledger contains all the accounts present in the financial statements; thus, any transactions which are reported in the financial statements must be recorded in the general ledger. Transactions in the planning cycle are used to produce the various budgets used to manage the company, but do not affect any of the actual accounts found on the financial statements. Because of this, they are not recorded in the general ledger.

All of the following are potential applications of HMDs

Real-time system monitoring. . Visualizing. Video conferencing.

online/real-time transaction processing systems?

Records are usually updated as transactions occur. Random access storage devices are normally required. Errors are captured and corrected as the transaction occurs. You Answered Correctly! Online/real-time systems are updated as transactions occur and consequently require networked information systems based on random access storage devices. Because the information system is updated immediately, errors are detected as soon as the transaction occurs.

potential applications of HMDs

Reduced privacy. Data storage. Risk exposure.

Which of the following is a major motivation for the adoption of new payment systems?

Reducing abandonment rates. You Answered Correctly! Correct! This statement is true. Reducing the rates at which customers abandon purchases at checkout is a major motivation for adopting new payment systems.

What is an example of the use of the cloud to access software and programs?

Saas

Which of the following is an example of a non-financial transaction?

Sending a purchase order to a vendor to purchase items for re-sale. Sending a purchase order to a vendor to purchase items for re-sale is an example of a non-financial transaction, as it does not require a debit/credit entry in the accounting system (there is no completed transaction, just a request for a transaction).

Which of the following sets of characteristics is most closely associated with online real-time processing?

Single transaction, random processing technology, immediate update. You Answered Correctly! Online real-time processing is characterized by (1) the processing of one transaction at a time; 2) use of random processing technology, and (3) processing of transactions immediately (as they occur).

Database management software is considered:

Software. Middleware

What is the correct ascending hierarchy of data in a system?

Specifically, a character has fewer pieces of data than does a field. A field has fewer pieces of data than does a record. And a record has fewer pieces of data than does a file.

Which of the following items would be most critical to include in a systems specification document for a financial report?

Specifying the required data elements would be a critical activity in determining the attributes of a document in a financial reporting system.

The widespread adoption of the IoT will:

Speed the adoption of automated authentication. This is true because, with the widespread data provided by electronic devices, there will be less need for user authentication by password.

Which of the following statements is (are) true. I. A greater level of control is necessary in automated than manual systems. II. The uniformity of transaction processing is higher in automated than manual systems.

Statement II is correct. Automated transaction processing results in a greater uniformity of transactions.

Which of the following statements is correct? I. An important advantage of flat file systems is that they are program independent. II. Flat file systems contain little data redundancy.

Statement one is incorrect because, while flat file systems do contain program independence, this is seen as a disadvantage not an advantage. This is because the program independence of flat file systems means that multiple programs must be used to read, access and process the data. Statement II is incorrect because flat file systems contain a high degree of data redundancy.

Challenges of big data include all of the following

Storage. Quality. Integration.

Categories of computer software

System software. Programming languages. Application software.

Which of the following is a category of computer software?

System software. Programming languages. Application software.

Morgan Property Management, Inc. recently switched from a manual accounting system to a computerized accounting system. The system supports online real-time processing in a networked environment, and six employees have been granted access to various parts of the system in order to perform their jobs. Relative to the manual system, Morgan can expect to see

That functions that had previously been spread across multiple employees have been combined It is common for computerized systems to combine functions that would be considered incompatible in a manual system (for example, in computerized systems, a single employee is often responsible for creating the deposit and posting the transactions to the cash receipts journal, the accounts receivable sub ledger, and the general ledger). This can occur because the system limits the transactions that it is possible for the employee to record, creating a compensating control.

In an accounting information system, which of the following types of computer files most likely would be a master file?

The "inventory subsidiary" is an example of a "ledger." A ledger maintains the balances of some kind of account (accounts receivable subsidiary ledger maintains customer accounts, accounts payable subsidiary ledger maintains vendor accounts, inventory subsidiary ledger maintains product accounts). Ledger files are called "master files" because the individual transaction amounts found in the journals ("transaction files") are used to update the balances in the ledger files: the transaction files contain the detail; the master file contains the totals.

The part of the computer that does most of the data processing is referred to as the

The CPU, the central processing unit, does the primary processing for a computer.

The position responsible for managing the flow of documents and reports in and out of the computer operations department is the

The data control clerk controls the flow of all documents into and out of computer operations.

In a large firm, the custody of an entity's data is most appropriately maintained by which of the following personnel?

The data librarian is the person who should maintain the custody of an entity's data in a large firm.

Which of the following allows a database management system to add new records, delete old records, and update existing records?

The data manipulation language allows the user to add new records, delete old records, and update existing records.

Who is responsible for granting users access to specific data resources?

The database administrator is responsible for establishing user names and authorizing access to specific data files and fields.

Which of the following components of a database is responsible for maintaining the referential integrity of the data in the system?

The database management system (DBMS) controls the storage and retrieval of the information maintained in a database and is responsible for maintaining the referential integrity of the data.

Which of the following is true of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems? I. The online analytical processing system (OLAP) provides data warehouse capabilities for the ERP system. II. The ability of an ERP system to provide an integrated view of transactions in all parts of the system is a function of the online transaction processing (OLTP) system.

The online analytical processing system (OLAP) incorporates data warehouse and data mining capabilities within the ERP. The online transaction processing system (OLTP) records the day-to-day operational transactions and enhances the visibility of these transactions throughout the system. It is primarily the OLAP and not the OLTP, that provides an integrated view of transactions in all parts of the system. The OLTP is primary concerned with collecting data (and not analyzing it) across the organization.

Which of the following is not true of a computerized environment as compared to a manual environment?

The potential for systemic errors is substantially reduced in a computerized environment. You Answered Correctly! The potential for systemic errors is increased in a computerized environment.

In COBIT, the process of reviewing system response time logs falls within the _______ control process domain.

The process of reviewing system response logs is within the "monitor the processes" (M1) activity, which falls within the "monitor and evaluate" domain. Therefore, this is the correct answer.

in COBIT, the process of reviewing system response time logs falls within the _______ control process domain.

The process of reviewing system response logs is within the "monitor the processes" (M1) activity, which falls within the "monitor and evaluate" domain. Therefore, this is the correct answer.

In COBIT, the process of ensuring security and continuous service falls within the _______ control process domain.

The process of security and continuous service does fall within the deliver and support control process domain.

Selling a digitized product can:

Therefore, this is the correct answer since selling a digitized product can reduce costs and improve quality (e.g., some online books are cheaper, include hyperlinks to resources and key terms, and include additional content).

Peetie's Pet Care has a system that examines large data sets to determine patterns in clients' use of its facilities. This is most likely an example of:

This is a data-drive DSS that is engaging in data mining.

A company that sells hand-carved statues from rural Indonesia online is using a ___________ strategy

This is an example of a product differentiation strategy since competitors are unlikely to be able to sell this same product.

Which of the following systems assists with non-routine decisions, serves strategic levels of the organization, and helps answer questions regarding what a company's competitors are doing, as well as identifies new acquisitions that would protect the company from cyclical business swings?

This is the best answer to the question since executive support systems focus on strategic levels of the organization and non-routine questions and include external scanning capabilities.

Which of the following types of systems would you use to record the number of hours worked during the current pay period for each of your employees?

Transaction processing systems (TPSs) support the day-to-day activities of the business (purchasing of goods and services, manufacturing activities, sales to customers, cash collections, payroll, etc.).

When a client's accounts payable computer system was relocated, the administrator provided support through a dial-up connection to a server. Subsequently, the administrator left the company. No changes were made to the accounts payable system at that time. Which of the following situations represents the greatest security risk?

User accounts are not removed upon termination of employees. Failing to remove user accounts upon termination of employees is an important control risk, and it is directly relevant to the case facts.

Which of the following is an advantage of a computer-based system for transaction processing over a manual system? A computer-based system

Will be more efficient at producing financial statements. This answer is correct. Financial statements can be produced more efficiently in a computerized environment than in a manual environment because, once the data has been entered into the computerized system, the preparation of the financial statements only requires arithmetic calculations, which computers perform with great efficiency.

sales data.

You Answered Correctly! (Correct!) This is a traditional accounting data source. Therefore, while these data will find their way into a big data pool (eventually), this is the least likely to be an example of big data, from the offered alternatives.

Robert the Grievous is reading an online summary production cost report and wants to know why the cost of sprockets, used in constructing orbital sanders, is so high. Robert most likely needs to:

drill down He needs to move from summary to detailed information to determine its cause.

This system is most likely to include external data.

ess

Which of the following is least likely to be a benefit of a big data initiative?

it cost savings Big data projects are likely to be expensive. Therefore, IT cost savings from big data are unlikely.

The state of emerging online payment systems is:

lower cost to sellers

the state of emerging online payment systems is:

lower costs to sellers

What is an example of the use of the cloud to create software and programs?

paas

Which of the following is a critical success factor in data mining a large data store?

pattern recognition Data mining is the process of sorting through data maintained in a data warehouse in an effort to identify relationships between data fields or events. These relationships are often classified as sequences (one event leads to another) or associations (one event is correlated with another event). The ability to recognize these patterns is, thus, critical to successful data mining.

Alejandro uses Amazon "one-click." This is an example of:

payment processing