Computer Assisted Audit Techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Computer Assisted Audit Techniques - Essay Example Auditing is the process by which something is examined with a view to form an opinion. This allows users of that opinion to gain assurance that the opinion, process or the information can be trusted. The purpose of assurance services is to increase the confidence and reduce the risk of the user of those services. The main purpose of auditing is to ensure that financial statements are free from material misstatement or error. An auditor carries out two types of assurance engagement with one being the reasonable assurance engagement and the other being the limited assurance engagement. When giving out a reasonable assurance engagement, the auditor gathers sufficient appropriate evidence to support his conclusion and to make a stronger conclusion. On the contrary, a limited assurance engagement gives out a negative assurance report and the evidence gathered in such assurance engagement is only related to the specific subject matter that is being audited rather than the entire financial statement. Such assurances help the users of the financial statements to decide upon their investment in any particular company or venture. The use of computers in business information systems has fundamental effects on the nature of business transacted, procedures followed, risks occurring and measures to reduce the impact of risks. Manual processing and computer based processing of transactions are well differentiated from each other and they have their own benefits.