In a profession as dynamic as auditing has become, it is certainly not too soon to begin speculating on the challenges EDP will present to the auditor of the 1970's. During the 1960's have witnessed rapid technological advances in EDP, and there appears to be little doubt that the pace will accelerate. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to indicate where the auditor currently stands in relation to EDP, and the extent to which this relationship is likely to change in the 1970's. Auditing around the computer remains the rule rather than the exception, and auditing through the computer is seldom a requirement that cannot be avoided. In fact, the profession has the situation so well in hand, one cannot help wondering how we achieved this surprising result in view of the expectations to the contrary. Even assuming the 1970's produce a rapid implementation of sophisticated information systems, there are internal and external factors that will help the auditor meet the challenge. Externally, other responsible groups have much the same problems as auditors have. For instance, no matter how the systems of the future as designed, management will still have to maintain adequate control over them. Designers of systems may convert the information and audit trails exclusively to electronic form, but regardless of theft form, the trails must remain for control purposes.

The purpose of this article is (1) to propose a point of view for defining and applying objectivity and (2) to demonstrate the acceptability of the view and the definition when related to the needs of the profession. If researchers really wish to obtain greater objectivity in accounting, they will not do so either by eliminating the use of judgment or by permitting each individual to exercise his judgment freely. Instead, what researchers must have are (1) standards of competence and ethics, many of which they already do have, to assure that individual practitioners are capable of exercising professional judgment in an objective manner, and (2) reference points such as generally accepted objectives and principles, most of which researchers do not have in really explicit form. Even when researchers do finally develop these standards and reference points in a more adequate manner, researchers will not be eliminating the use of judgment. Instead, researchers will be making judgment more effective, more controllable, in attaining a desirable state of objectivity. It seems clear, therefore, that their task is to enhance the prestige and effectiveness of professional judgment in order to achieve greater objectivity, rather than to eliminate judgment in the mistaken notion that it is necessarily in conflict with the goal of objectivity.

Reviews the book "Financial Information Systems," edited by James B. Bower and William R. Welke.

Reviews the book "Business Research: Text and Cases," by Erwin E. Nemmers and John H. Myers.

Reviews the book "Accounting Information Systems," by James O. Hicks and Wayne E. Leininger.