Economics-and-finance

The 1999 Guide to Electronic commerce Assurance Services , by Karl D. Nagel and Glen L. Gray is "must" reading for anyone considering or currently performing assurance services for computer networks or related Internet Web sites. The savings of time from reading and use of forms and processes in the book will exceed the cost of the book by multiples over 10 fold. If I had the content of the book before I ventured into promoting and providing WebTrust and related Internet services over a year ago, I could have saved my firm thousands of dollars. Currently, the book is the "Bible" for providing WebTrust services. The content includes material that should have been provided by the AICPA prior to the introduction of WebTrust services in the fall of 1997. This book is the best, most comprehensive and complete source for WebTrust providers. If a CPA wants to take advantage of the extraordinary rapid Internet use growth, the book should be read.

Forward thinkers in the CPA community believe that the traditional financial statement audit services performed by CPAs will die out in the future. As the speed of information increases the audited financial statement, prepared months after a company's year end, becomes less meaningful. As banks, regulators, and customers begin to gain access to real-time financial information, the integrity of systems that produce that information becomes the important issue. Accordingly, CPAs must prepare for the new demands that will be made upon them.

Also, as indicated above, ECAS is potentially a substantial source of fees, capitalizing on the trust the public has in CPAs, and upon the CPA's skill set.

This book is an essential tool for the CPA that wants to build an ECAS practice.

A Valuable Tool for Web Site Operators

A large part of this book is devoted to the analysis of electronic transaction systems. IS managers responsible for building and maintaining e-commerce systems, and e-commerce systems software, can use this book as a guide to building controls necessary for a secure system. Certainly, any Web site that wants to be awarded a CPA WebTrust seal will want to use part five of the book to determine if the Web site will pass an examination. The book can guide a company on the system controls necessary to earn a CPA WebTrust seal.

Conclusions

Overall, a good book, and one that belongs in the library of every CPA that performs auditing services and wants to be on the cutting edge of services to the rapidly increasing e-commerce industry. This is also a valuable book for Web site operators that want to insure their systems are safe and secure.