easyMultiple Choice
CISA Practice Question: Implementing a new customer relationship…
A company is implementing a new customer relationship management (CRM) system. The project team is currently defining user roles and permissions. Which of the following is the PRIMARY reason to enforce segregation of duties (SoD) within the CRM?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently choose 'compliance' (Option C) because SoD is a common regulatory requirement, but the question asks for the PRIMARY reason, which is the fundamental control objective of reducing fraud and error risk, not the secondary benefit of meeting external mandates.
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
✓
To reduce the risk of fraud and errors
Segregation of duties (SoD) in a CRM system is primarily enforced to prevent a single user from having conflicting capabilities, such as creating a customer record and also approving credit limits or processing refunds. Without SoD, an employee could both initiate and approve a fraudulent transaction, directly increasing the risk of fraud and undetected errors. While SoD can indirectly support data accuracy and compliance, the primary control objective is risk reduction through separation of conflicting functions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
To reduce the risk of fraud and errors
Why this is correct
SoD splits incompatible duties, such as creating a customer record and approving the credit or payment tied to it, across different people. This prevents one user from completing a fraudulent transaction end to end, directly reducing fraud and error risk in the CRM.
- ✗
To ensure data accuracy and completeness
Why it's wrong here
SoD prevents one person from controlling a transaction end to end, which addresses fraud and error concealment, not data accuracy or completeness; validation controls and reconciliations serve that purpose. It tempts because SoD does reduce accidental errors, but its primary objective is preventing unauthorised or concealed actions through conflicting access.
- ✗
To comply with regulatory requirements
Why it's wrong here
Regulations may mandate SoD, but compliance is a consequence rather than the primary reason; the control exists to prevent a single user from performing incompatible functions such as creating and approving records. It tempts because auditors frequently cite SoD in regulatory findings, yet the underlying objective remains fraud and error prevention.
- ✗
To improve system performance and efficiency
Why it's wrong here
SoD restricts who may perform which functions, which can add approval steps and reduce throughput rather than improve performance. It tempts because access controls are often bundled with system hardening, but performance tuning and efficiency come from capacity planning and query optimisation, not from separating duties.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA 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 CISA exam.