CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................................................ 6
CHAPTER 2 – UNDERSTANDING DATA RELIABILITY........................................................................................................................ 8
CHAPTER 3 – DECIDING WHETHER A DATA RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT IS NECESSARY............................................ 9
Conditions Requiring Data Reliability............................................................................................................... 10
Conditions Not Requiring Data Reliability Assessment...................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER 4 – DETERMINING THE EXTENT OF THE ASSESSMENT.......................................................................................... 11
Expected Importance of the Data in the Final Report........................................................................................ 11
Corroborating Evidence.................................................................................................................................. 11
Risk Level in Using the Data............................................................................................................................. 11
CHAPTER 5 – PLANNING A DATA RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT.................................................................................................. 13
Timing an Assessment..................................................................................................................................... 13
Level of Detail of the Data............................................................................................................................... 13
Documenting the Assessment......................................................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER 6 – STEPS IN THE ASSESSMENT............................................................................................................................................ 14
Reviewing Existing Information....................................................................................................................... 14
Agency under Review..................................................................................................................................... 14
Other Sources................................................................................................................................................ 15
Performing Data Testing................................................................................................................................. 15
Tracing to and from Source Documents........................................................................................................... 16
Tracing to Source Documents.......................................................................................................................... 16
Tracing from Source Documents...................................................................................................................... 17
Reviewing Selected System Controls................................................................................................................ 17
Working within Short Time Periods.................................................................................................................. 17
CHAPTER 7 – MAKING THE DATA RELIABILITY DETERMINATION....................................................................................... 18
Factors to Consider in the Determination......................................................................................................... 18
Considering the Results of Your Assessment
Work............................................................................................ 18
Outcomes to Consider in the Assessment........................................................................................................ 19
Sufficiently Reliable Data................................................................................................................................ 19
Not Sufficiently Reliable.................................................................................................................................. 19
Data of Undetermined Reliability..................................................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 8 – INCLUDING APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE IN THE REPORT............................................................................... 21
Sufficiently Reliable Data................................................................................................................................ 21
Not Sufficiently Reliable Data.......................................................................................................................... 21
Data of Undetermined Reliability..................................................................................................................... 21
APPENDIX I: COLLECTING INFORMATION FOR RELIABILITY ASSESSMENTS................................................................ 22
APPENDIX II: SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ISSUES RELATED TO PROCESS AND
SYSTEMS CONTROLS............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 24
APPENDIX III: SAMPLE LANGUAGE FOR REPORTING ON DATA RELIABILITY............................................................... 27
Footnotes........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 34
REVIEW QUESTIONS......................................................................................................................................................................................... 35
Glossary.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 36
REVIEW QUESTIONS -Answers /Feedback..................................................................................................................................... 37
CPE exam............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 40
CPASelfstudy.com Course Evaluation.............................................................................................................................................. 42