Unit 1: Information Systems and Data Management

• Topic 01

  IT Governance and Strategy

  15 questions
• Topic 02

  Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems

  15 questions
• Topic 03

  Database Management

  15 questions
• Topic 04

  Data Analytics and Business Intelligence

  15 questions
• Topic 05

  Emerging Technologies

  15 questions
• Topic 06

  Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

  15 questions
• Topic 07

  Change Management Controls

  15 questions
• Topic 08

  IT Operations

  15 questions

A few questions from this unit, with the answer and a full explanation. The complete bank is available when you start practising.

1. Which ERP module records all financial transactions and maintains the chart of accounts?

   • A
     The Financial Reporting module
   • B
     The Treasury module
   • C
     The General Ledger (GL) module
     Correct answer
   • D
     The Accounts Payable (AP) module
   Explanation

   The General Ledger module is the central financial record-keeping component of an ERP system. It records all financial transactions and maintains the chart of accounts, which is the framework for classifying all financial activity. Other modules (AP, AR, procurement, payroll, etc.) post transactions to the general ledger, which serves as the ultimate source for financial statement preparation. Understanding which module sources which financial data is important for identifying where control risks arise.

2. In an ERP environment, what does 'role-based access control' mean, and why is it important for segregation of duties?

   • A
     Access is granted temporarily for the duration of each transaction and revoked automatically when the transaction is complete
   • B
     All users receive the same role but different access levels based on their job grade, ensuring consistent controls across the organisation
   • C
     Users are assigned roles that bundle specific transaction types and data; role design determines whether incompatible functions are combined, so properly engineered roles enforce SoD automatically
     Correct answer
   • D
     The ERP system monitors user behaviour and dynamically adjusts roles based on risk scores assigned to each user
   Explanation

   In an ERP system, access is managed through roles: a role is a bundle of transaction types (in SAP, these are transaction codes) that a user can execute. SoD in an ERP depends entirely on role design — if incompatible functions (e.g., create vendor + approve payment) are bundled in the same role or assigned to the same user through multiple roles, the system will allow the conflicting activities without objection. The ERP enforces whatever access has been configured; it does not detect SoD conflicts unless specialised GRC tools are used.

3. The ETL process has three stages. In which stage do data quality activities such as cleansing, standardisation, and deduplication occur?

   • A
     The Transform stage
     Correct answer
   • B
     The Staging stage, when data is temporarily held before processing
   • C
     The Validate stage, which occurs after loading to verify data quality
   • D
     The Reconcile stage, which compares source and target record counts
   Explanation

   The Transform stage is where data quality activities occur. Raw data extracted from source systems is cleaned, standardised, deduplicated, enriched, and validated during transformation. The Extract stage simply retrieves raw data from source systems in their native format. The Load stage moves transformed data into the warehouse. Data quality work cannot be deferred to the Load stage because poor-quality data loaded into the warehouse corrupts the analytical environment.