A SUMMARY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACCOUNTING--FROM PACIOLO'S MODEL THROUGH THE ADVANCES IN COMPUTER AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY--IS PRESENTED TO PROVIDE A FOUNDATION FOR THE COMPARISON OF MANUAL AND COMPUTERIZED ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS. VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES OF FRAUD ARE EXAMINED IN ORDER TO FIND SOME COMMON GROUND AND TO DERIVE A SUITABLE DEFINITION OF COMPUTER FRAUD, AND THEN THE VULNERABILITY OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS IS EXPLORED WITH RESPECT TO SPECIFIC TYPES OF THREATS AND THE METHODOLOGY OF COMPUTER FRAUD. ATTENTION IS ALSO DIRECTED TO THE FRAGMENTARY NATURE OF COMPUTER FRAUD INFORMATION AND RESEARCH SOURCES; THE STANFORD RESEARCH INSTITUTE INTERNATIONAL IS IDENTIFIED AS THE MOST COMPLETE DATA BASE ON THE TOPIC. THE CPA'S AUDITING REACTION TO THE COMPUTER IS CONSIDERED AS A PRELUDE TO DEFINING AND TABULATING THE PARAMETERS INVOLVED IN A PROPOSED MODEL TO CALCULATE AN INDEX OF A CPA'S RISK OF EXPOSURE TO COMPUTER FRAUD. THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE INTERNAL AUDITOR AND THE CPA IS VIEWED WITHIN A FRAMEWORK OF ACCEPTED RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPUTER FRAUD DETECTION. THIS IS FOLLOWED BY A BRIEF EXAMINATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND COMMONLY USED IN TRAINING THE CPA. FINALLY, THE SEARCH FOR A SHARED VIEW OF A CPA'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMPUTER FRAUD IS EXAMINED IN LIGHT OF THE ERAS OF AUDITING EVOLUTION, OF HOW SHAREHOLDERS AND OTHERS VIEW DETECTION, AND OF THE IMPACT OF CHANGES IN INTERNAL CONTROL AND AUDITING STANDARDS. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM FOR COMPUTER FRAUD CASES IS RECOMMENDED. GRAPHIC AND TABULAR DATA AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)