Discussant comments on "The CPAS/CCM experiences: Perspectives for AI/ES research in accounting";

              Discussant Comments on "The CPAS/CCM Experiences: Perspectives for AI/ES Research in Auditing"
Eric L. Denna, Chief Information Officer
Times Mirror Higher Education Group
Having wandered from the halls of academe this past year, it is probably useful to make a few observations from one tainted by the "real world" so readers can appropriately calibrate my comments.
First, this past year has reaffirmed something I have been observing for several years—our financial systems architecture is in a sorry state. Its utility is being question more and more, and organization executives are more open to investing in meaningful changes to the financial system than ever before.
Second, layering an auditing decision support system (DSS) on top of the current financial system does not address the underlying architectural problems and therefore is unnecessarily costly and cumbersome.
Third, auditors are sitting on the sidelines of business and information system transformation projects which often result in business and information processes for which they are wholly unprepared to audit.
Fourth, business and information process transformation projects often result in major changes to an organization's business and information process risks and call into question the utility of traditional control philosophies and techniques.
Fifth, risks and controls are becoming more critical than ever before, and are often more manageable with a different control philosophy that embraces technology as a tool for enhancing control rather than something that only increases an organization's risks.
Sixth, auditing has a real opportunity to enhance its value by preparing to be much more involved in business and information process transformation.
As I have read the Jenkins Committee report, and early drafts of the Elliott Committee report, I believe my observations are not nearly as heretical as they might have been perceived 10 years ago. These two reports underscore the need the profession has to be involved in serious introspection in order to face to new challenges and opportunities in the market place.
With these observations in mind, I used two papers that have laid out a framework for evaluating artificial intelligence based research:
Denna, E. L., J. V. Hansen, and R. D. Meservy, "Development and Application of Expert Systems in Audit Services," IEEE, Knowledge and Data Engineering, June, 1991.
McCarthy, W. E., E.L. Denna, G. Gal, and S. R. Rockwell, "Expert Systems and Al-based Decision Support in Auditing: Progress and Perspectives," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, Jan, 1992.
The two primary contributions of these papers are as follows.
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