The most common input controls are edit controls. Examples of edit controls include;
Type of edit control Description of control Objective
Missing field check Checks that all essential data fields are present and are of the right length Ensures accuracy of the processed data. Transactions cannot be properly processed
if necessary data is missing
Valid character check Checks that data fields appear to be of the right type e.g. all alphabetic, all
numerical or mixed. Ensures correctness of input data
Limit/reasonableness checks Checks that data falls within predetermined reasonability limits e.g. hours worked do not exceed a certain
limit, maybe 8 hours a day. Ensures accuracy and validity of input data
Master file checks Checks that all codes match those on master files e.g. employee‘s number matches an employee number on the
personnel file. Ensures that data is processed against the correct master file.
Check digit Applies an arithmetic operation to the code number and compares the result to
the check digit To ensure accuracy of data by checking keystroke errors.
Document count Agrees the number of input records in a batch with the total on the batch control
form Ensures that all documents are input
