hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CISA Practice Question: A financial services company is developing a new…
A financial services company is developing a new customer-facing web application for account management. The project is using a waterfall methodology. The initial requirements were gathered six months ago, and the coding phase is nearly complete. The business sponsor now requests a new feature that allows customers to view transaction receipts online. The project manager is concerned that this change will delay the project by two months and exceed the budget. The sponsor insists that the feature is critical for customer satisfaction and that the project must adapt. The development team estimates it will take 200 hours to implement. The steering committee is divided. As an IS auditor, what would be the BEST recommendation to resolve this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often choose Option C (postpone) thinking it avoids delay, but the question explicitly states the sponsor insists the feature is critical, so ignoring it fails to address the business need and can lead to project failure despite staying on schedule.
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
✓
Formally submit a change request, assess the impact on cost and schedule, and obtain approval from the change control board before proceeding.
In a waterfall methodology, changes after the coding phase require a formal change control process to assess impact on cost, schedule, and scope. The correct answer is A because submitting a change request to the change control board (CCB) ensures that the 200-hour effort, two-month delay, and budget overrun are evaluated against business priorities, maintaining project governance and auditability. This aligns with ISACA’s guidance on managing scope creep in systems development.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Formally submit a change request, assess the impact on cost and schedule, and obtain approval from the change control board before proceeding.
Why this is correct
Change control manages scope creep.
- ✗
Terminate the current project and launch a new project incorporating the new feature.
Why it's wrong here
Extreme and wasteful.
- ✗
Advise the sponsor to postpone the feature until the next release and continue as planned.
Why it's wrong here
May not address the urgent business need.
- ✗
Instruct the development team to implement the feature immediately to satisfy the sponsor.
Why it's wrong here
Uncontrolled changes cause scope creep.
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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.