Auditors need to recognize the applicability of audit software to the Year 2000 problem. Audit software allows the user to interact with the data, identify data integrity problems, and perform parallel simulation. Tests can be run initially to identify data integrity problems that should be addressed during the conversion process. Then the same test can be run again to determine if the conversion process was the cause of new data integrity problems. Auditors can build ACL batch jobs and re-use them to test other files or to use on the data after conversion to test data integrity of the converted data.
Auditors can also use audit software to test the modified code.
Audit software can be used to perform parallel simulation. The converted data can be used as input to the audit software and the results compared with the modified application's results. Finally, audit software can be used to review source code for the existence of 4-digit date fields. The source code can be analyzed using this criteria and the lines with possible Year 2000 problems highlighted for manual review. The Year 2000 is not only a challenge for auditors and managers throughout the company, but a chance for them to work together to ensure the survival of the business into the next century.