Great discussion this week. You raised all the important points but let me share my thoughts.
Q1: ‘Assertions’ are important to who? You shared many good scenarios and examples. In my view, assertions are important to anyone who uses information provided by a company. Whether those relying on the information are inside or outside the company, unless assertions / controls are in place they can’t count on the information. We’ve talked mostly about financial information, but the veracity of non-financial information also requires assertions / controls.
Q2: Which dimension of Management Assertions do you believe is the most important? In my view, all the dimensions are of some value. The industry and type of business can significantly impact the varying risk associated with each dimension.
Q3: Have you ever been victim of fraud? Thanks for sharing your own personal and some cases emotional stories. I hope you agree with me that fraud is real in our world today and adequate controls are necessary to address the risks. The fraud triangle is a effective tool for analyzing risk scenarios – especially those of high risk.
Q4: Which step of the P2P is the most vulnerable? Risks exist in every step of the process. However, I believe the early and payment steps are the most vulnerable. The vulnerability exists because the early steps relate to the value of the transaction and the payment step is where the $$ changes hands. Because of the wide variety of different P2P scenarios, it’s a challenge to identify all the risks and effectively put controls in place to address.
I trust from our discussions in class and these questions, how important assertions and their related controls are. We’ll be exploring for the remainder of class risks and related controls in various processes and scenarios.