（2004）Discussion of IT assurance competencies.pdfVIP

International Journal of Accounting Information Systems 5 (2004) 267– 273 Discussion Discussion of IT assurance competencies Carla Carnaghan * University of Waterloo, School of Accountancy, Waterloo, ON, Canada ON2L 3G1 Received 1 January 2004; accepted 1 January 2004 1. Introduction Greenstein and McKee (2004; hereafter GM) have chosen to address a very interesting and worthwhile issue: What do assurance practitioners and academics actually know about information technology (IT)? In light of ongoing assertions that competence in IT is fundamental to the profession from such sources as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), and accounting leaders, such as Robert Elliott, it seems worthwhile to examine IT knowledge in the assurance profession. Knowledge is one component of competence; if the professional bodies and accounting leaders are correct in their assertions, findings suggesting a lack of IT knowledge in academics or practitioners should raise concerns about professional competency. Findings suggesting adequate knowledge may provide some comfort that the assurance profession’s efforts to ensure continuing relevance to clients’ needs are meeting with at least some success. The purpose of these comments are to situate GM’s focus on knowledge in the larger theoretical context of IT competence, and to then outline the challenges of determining the knowledge components of IT competence for assurance practitioners and academics both in general and as it applies to GM. Some concluding remarks are then made. 2. Knowledge in the con