FC0-U71 Software Development Concepts Practice Question
A company's IT department is deploying a new payroll system. Before the system goes live, a group of employees from the accounting department test the system to ensure it meets their requirements and is usable. This type of testing is known as:
⚠ Common exam trap
FC0-U71 often tests the boundary between system testing and UAT; candidates see 'testing before go-live' and pick system testing, missing the clue that business users are validating their own requirements.
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
✓
User acceptance testing
User acceptance testing (UAT) is performed by end users or business stakeholders to confirm that the system meets their real-world requirements and is usable before go-live. In this scenario, accounting employees testing the payroll system against their own needs is the textbook definition of UAT. It is the final validation step before production deployment.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
System testing
Why it's wrong here
System testing verifies the integrated system against specified requirements, typically performed by testers rather than business end users validating usability. It is tempting because it also occurs before go-live, but the accounting staff's requirements-and-usability focus indicates user acceptance testing instead.
- ✓
User acceptance testing
Why this is correct
User acceptance testing is performed by end users, here accounting staff, to confirm the payroll system meets business requirements and is usable before go-live. This matches the stem's pre-deployment validation by the intended user group.
- ✗
Unit testing
Why it's wrong here
Unit testing exercises individual components or modules in isolation, usually by developers, so it cannot assess whether accounting staff find the payroll system usable. It is tempting as a pre-release verification step, yet the scenario describes business users validating the whole system against their requirements.
- ✗
Integration testing
Why it's wrong here
Integration testing checks interactions between combined modules or interfaces, performed by technical testers rather than end users. It is tempting because the payroll system spans multiple components, but the accounting employees are validating business requirements and usability, which is acceptance testing.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on FC0-U71
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. An organization is implementing a new payroll system. Before final deployment, a group of actual payroll employees test the system to ensure it meets their business needs and processes payroll correctly. Which testing phase is this?
medium- A.Unit testing
- ✓ B.User acceptance testing
- C.System testing
- D.Integration testing
Why B: User acceptance testing (UAT) is the phase where actual end users—in this case, payroll employees—validate that the system meets real business requirements and performs its intended function (processing payroll correctly) before going live. Because the testers are the people who will actually use the system in production, their validation confirms fitness for purpose rather than just technical correctness.
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This FC0-U71 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 FC0-U71 exam.