DA0-002 Data Acquisition and Preparation Practice Question
A financial institution is merging transaction data from two different systems. System A stores currency amounts as integers in cents, and System B stores as decimals in dollars. What is the best way to integrate the data?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume keeping both formats (Option B) is simpler or that converting to cents (Option D) is safer, but they overlook the critical requirement for a single, consistent unit to enable direct arithmetic and avoid precision loss in financial data integration.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Convert System A amounts to dollars by dividing by 100.
Converting System A's integer cents to dollars by dividing by 100 ensures both datasets share a consistent unit (dollars) and numeric data type (decimal). This direct transformation eliminates ambiguity in aggregation and reporting, as financial calculations require uniform precision and scale. Using a transformation layer or storing as strings would introduce unnecessary complexity or risk of rounding errors.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Convert System A amounts to dollars by dividing by 100.
Why this is correct
This standardizes all amounts to dollar decimal format.
- ✗
Keep both as is and use a transformation layer.
Why it's wrong here
Maintaining two formats complicates queries and analysis.
- ✗
Store all amounts as strings to preserve precision.
Why it's wrong here
Strings lose numeric functionality for calculations.
- ✗
Convert System B amounts to cents by multiplying by 100.
Why it's wrong here
This also standardizes but results in larger integer values; while acceptable, option A is more intuitive for financial analysis.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DA0-002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DA0-002 exam.