Sunday, 27 March 2016

Compliance Testing & Substantive Testing-How to differentiate


Testing Concept-Knowledge of Compliance & Substantive Testing Aspects



Compliance Testing:

In compliance testing we gather evidence with the objective of testing an organization's compliance with control procedures. Compliance testing checks for the presence of controls.

Examples of compliance test include:
- To verify configuration of router for controls
- To verify change management steps to ensure controls are effective
- Review of system access rights
- Review of firewall settings
- Review compliance with password policy

Substantive Testing:

In substantive testing, we gather evidence to evaluate the integrity of data, a transaction or other information. Substantive testing checks the integrity of contents. Substantive procedures are tests designed to obtain evidence to ensure the completeness, accuracy and validity of the data.

Examples of substantive test include:
- Conduct a bank confirmation to test ending cash balances.
- Observe the period-end counting of inventory.
- Contact lenders to confirm that loan balances are correct.
- Confirm the validity of inventory valuation calculations.
- Physically match fixed assets to fixed asset records.
- Determining that all entries recorded in the cash disbursements journal are valid by examining  
   supporting documents.

-Physical inventory of the tapes at the offsite storage location and compare that inventory to the        
  organizations inventory to verify that the numbers match.
- Review of trial balance.
- Examining material journal entries and other adjustments made during the preparation of the financial     
  statements.

Points to remember for CISA exam:
(1) In any given scenario, compliance testing will be performed first. Substantive testing will be the next step.
(2)In any given scenario, compliance testing test controls, while substantive testing tests details.
(3) In any given scenario, compliance testing checks for the presence of controls whereas substantive testing checks the integrity of contents i.e. test of individual transactions.
(4)In any given scenario, outcome/result of compliance testing will form the basis for planning of substantive testing. For example, if compliance testing indicates strong internal control, substantive testing may be waived off or reduced. In case compliance testing indicates weak internal controls then substantive testing to be more rigorous.  The development of substantive tests is often dependent on the outcome of compliance tests.
(5)In any given scenario, attribute sampling method (either control is present or absent) will be useful when testing for compliance.

Question, Answer and Explanation:

These questions were collected from different resources and reflect the kind of the questions at the CISA exam. Every question has a detailed answer explanation.

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