Every access to the general ledger accounts should be logged to insure trace-back ability to deter fraud. Overrides should not be allowed to remove or replace entries, balances, or transactions. The inclination to commit fraud is pervasive. The software problem which is the focus of this article is a tailor-made invitation to fraud in the very categories of highest incidence as reported by Calderon. Internal audit does not exist.
Fewer employees are available to facilitate separation of functions.
A higher level of trust exists because people know each other well. Ross warned of the danger that computerization posed with the loss of audit trails and management ' s total relying on software to do what management believed it to be doing. Instead of the preferred data aggregation, data replacement is allowed. A ceases to exist in the system, but normally A remains recoverable. The number B , which represents the amount by which the old A was altered to form new A , is saved in the system.