The purpose of this course is to help prepare you for a successful career in public practice, industry, or government by understanding how to audit, use and...  More >>

The purpose of this course is to help prepare you for a successful career in public practice, industry, or government by understanding how to audit, use and participate in the design of accounting information systems. The course will also help students learn how to assess and consider the impact of IT governance, risk and compliance on accounting functions, focusing on how IT affects business process and controls and the impact on financial reporting. The course will enable students to understand issues and developments in IT Auditing so that as practitioners, they can properly determine how to assess accounting system controls to effectively address the adequacy of controls in audited systems or for those systems that they have management responsibility. Recent regulatory and financial reporting developments will also be
discussed. An increasingly competitive global marketplace has organizations clamoring for better information assurance or additional business insight. While IT professionals have the technical expertise necessary to ensure that IT hardware is secure or technology solutions are properly deployed, they lack the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or financial manager's perspective and ability to understand the complicated business implications and risks associated with technology.

Information technologies impact every aspect of accounting, including financial reporting, managerial accounting, auditing and tax. The nature of the work done by CPAs and financial managers continues to evolve as these technologies advance. In a number of organizations, technology function now reports to the Chief Financial Officer or their designee. The storage of business assets and financial information has led to recent professional pronouncements requiring that accounting professionals understand the technology controls used to process and record this information. As information increasingly becomes digitalized, significant opportunities exist for accounting professionals and their firms to leverage technology tools to become more efficient in performing traditional services and open opportunities for new client services.

Responding to the above opportunities, the AICPA has recently introduced a variety of new assurance services enabling professionals to provide assurance in technology-related environments including Trust Services, Privacy Framework and Risk Advisory. The AICPA has also introduced a specialty credential: Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) and an Information Technology section.

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