Auditing 378
Batch Controls
Introduction:
- Source documents should be grouped into separate batches (eg. of 50) where after the following
control totals must be MANUALLY computed:
o Financial totals (totals of any monetary fields)
o Hash totals (totals of any numeric fields – eg. Invoice no’s)
o Record counts (total of the amount of records in the batch)
Process:
- A batch control sheet should be prepared and attached to each batch, and should state:
o A unique batch number
o Control totals of the specific batch
o Identification of the transaction types (eg. Invoices)
o Spaces for the signatures of all the people who dealt with the batch (prepared by –
received by – reviewed by)
- A batch register should be used to record physical movement of batches (the register should be
signed by the recipient of the specific batch)
- The batch control system should function as follows:
o 1) The details of the batch are entered into the computer (eg. description, control totals,
etc) to create a batch header label
o 2) Information off each record in the batch is keyed in, in order to perform validation
tests thereof (eg. account number, limit checks, etc)
o 3) The computer then computes the control totals of all the inputted data, and then
compares these to the manually computed totals from the batch control sheet
o 4) If the totals agree, without any other errors, the batch is sent for processing (otherwise
it is rejected and sent for correction)
o 5) Once control totals have been attached to the batch, they must be checked and
reconciled at every step in the process (ie. If there are 10 clock cards in the batch, the
computer must register and display that 10 records were typed in, 10 were processed, and
10 were outputted.
- Batching assists with:
o Identifying data transcription errors (eg. incorrect values in the inputting)
o Detection of data captured in the wrong fields
o Detection of invalid (eg. duplicate) or omitted transactions or records for the batch
- Even though an on-line system has no batch system, batches can be calculated afterward to check
totals, as follows:
o 1) Set one: The computer sorts records into batches and computes control totals
o 2) Set two: A PC operator manually computes the control totals of the same data set as
the computer used, and then compares the two to identify any errors.
Batch Controls
Introduction:
- Source documents should be grouped into separate batches (eg. of 50) where after the following
control totals must be MANUALLY computed:
o Financial totals (totals of any monetary fields)
o Hash totals (totals of any numeric fields – eg. Invoice no’s)
o Record counts (total of the amount of records in the batch)
Process:
- A batch control sheet should be prepared and attached to each batch, and should state:
o A unique batch number
o Control totals of the specific batch
o Identification of the transaction types (eg. Invoices)
o Spaces for the signatures of all the people who dealt with the batch (prepared by –
received by – reviewed by)
- A batch register should be used to record physical movement of batches (the register should be
signed by the recipient of the specific batch)
- The batch control system should function as follows:
o 1) The details of the batch are entered into the computer (eg. description, control totals,
etc) to create a batch header label
o 2) Information off each record in the batch is keyed in, in order to perform validation
tests thereof (eg. account number, limit checks, etc)
o 3) The computer then computes the control totals of all the inputted data, and then
compares these to the manually computed totals from the batch control sheet
o 4) If the totals agree, without any other errors, the batch is sent for processing (otherwise
it is rejected and sent for correction)
o 5) Once control totals have been attached to the batch, they must be checked and
reconciled at every step in the process (ie. If there are 10 clock cards in the batch, the
computer must register and display that 10 records were typed in, 10 were processed, and
10 were outputted.
- Batching assists with:
o Identifying data transcription errors (eg. incorrect values in the inputting)
o Detection of data captured in the wrong fields
o Detection of invalid (eg. duplicate) or omitted transactions or records for the batch
- Even though an on-line system has no batch system, batches can be calculated afterward to check
totals, as follows:
o 1) Set one: The computer sorts records into batches and computes control totals
o 2) Set two: A PC operator manually computes the control totals of the same data set as
the computer used, and then compares the two to identify any errors.
