6 questions foundFinancial decisions, statements and compliance depend on accurate, complete and consistent data; poor integrity leads to misstatements and lost trust.Duplicate invoices -> overstated expenses and wrong profitReal-world example One bad master record can ripple errors across every report.Role-based permissions restrict who can create, approve and post; no single person should control a whole transaction (e.g. create a vendor and pay it).AP clerk enters bills; a different manager approves paymentsReal-world example Segregation of duties prevents one person from committing and hiding fraud.What is an audit trail and why does it matter?
Intermediate An immutable log of who did what and when (created, edited, posted, deleted), enabling investigation and providing assurance to auditors.Log: user J.Smith edited Invoice 1001 amount at 14:32Real-world example Auditors trace a suspicious change back to the user and time.ITGCs cover access management, change management, and operations of the systems supporting financial reporting; SOX requires companies to test that these controls work.Access reviews, change approvals, backup/monitoring over the ERPReal-world example SOX audits test that only authorised users can post and that changes are approved.Mandatory fields, format and range checks, duplicate detection, valid account/tax code lists, and reconciliations of interfaced data.Reject invoice if vendor bank details changed without approvalReal-world example Validation blocks a mistyped or duplicate invoice before it posts.They protect the financial records against loss, corruption or ransomware, ensuring the business can restore its books and keep operating.Nightly backup + tested restore + offsite copyReal-world example After a ransomware attack, a tested backup lets finance recover the ledger.