Question 100
During an outsourced-services renewal at a logistics group, the IS auditor learns that the sampling extract excludes reversed transactions that affect settlement totals. The affected operation supports freight tracking and fleet operations. Delivery commitments and partner data flow through this process. What is the MOST defensible risk conclusion from the observed condition?
Explanation
Correct Answer
Correct. Biased or incomplete samples can produce unsupported conclusions about how a control operates across the actual population. The described exception is: the sampling extract excludes reversed transactions that affect settlement totals. This risk ties the observation to the business significance of freight tracking and fleet operations, rather than treating management's claim as independent assurance.
Incorrect Answers
Audit conclusions may lack objectivity when independence is impaired by self-review, incentives or undisclosed conflicts. Recurrence here depends on evidence appropriate to the audit conclusion, not this safeguard.
Faulty extraction logic or incomplete data can hide exceptions while giving false confidence in audit analytics. That protection can exist while evidence appropriate to the audit conclusion is still missing.
Decision makers may misjudge material exposure if reporting lacks supported facts, criteria, impact, agreed actions or limitations. It does not retain the evidence appropriate to the audit conclusion control over time.