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