Question Tag: Computerized Systems

A new hotel opened for operations on February 1, 2016, in Abuja. The directors at their board meeting in September 2016 selected December as the hotel’s year-end. Also, from the conception of the hotel, it was decided to fully computerize the hotel and its operations. This will make the hotel stand out and attract clientele in the federal capital territory where there are many other hotels with strong competition.

The room doors are electronically operated and use electronic cards for opening. If a customer does not specify his/her duration and has the lock properly programmed, the door will lock at 12 noon, requiring the customer to go back to the reception for access. Furthermore, all accounting and other processes are computerized.

The IT company that handled the computerization agreed to leave a member of staff who will train the hotel’s staff for three months and ensure that the system operates efficiently. Management believes that the staff will familiarize themselves with the system within that period. The server handles all doors, accounting processes including billing, and the determination of room occupancy rate on a daily basis. Various units of the hotel have desktop units which key employees use in both ordering and communication between themselves. The server is located next to the operations manager’s office, who is responsible for overseeing it in addition to other duties.

The last quarterly report on the hotel activities was not consistent with expectations, and the occupancy rate did not match turnover. The management of the hotel approached your firm of chartered accountants to be engaged as auditors to the hotel. Your review and interactions as the leader of the audit team revealed the information disclosed above.

Required:

Evaluate and apply the relevant general and application controls necessary to be installed in the hotel’s information environment.
(Total 20 Marks)