Objects of control

The objectives of control are: To ensure that all data are processed To preserve the integrity of maintained data To detect, correct and re-process all errors To prevent and detect fraud Types of Controls The different controls can be grouped under five headings: Manual controls Data protection controls Validation checks Batch controls Other controls Types of Error System designers must guard against the following types of error: Missing source documents Source documents on which entries …

…is valid. It can never be guaranteed to give us correct information as the following examples show: "A student's DOB is 02/01/87". The data falls within a valid range and is entered in the correct format. However, her actual DOB is 02/10/87! "The market research questionnaire data we collected shows that 95% of the population eats soup twice a day". However, this research was carried out outside a soup kitchen! Remember valid data can lead to inaccurate information.