Chapter 1Accounting Information Systems and the Accountant

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1-1. The answer to this question will vary with each university’s location. However, it is likely most students will reveal that their parents are employed in non-manufacturing jobs. Instructors may wish to emphasize that the large numbers of service sector employees and knowledge workers reflect a trend.

1-2. When organizations first began using computers, they often placed the centralized computer-based data processing function within the accounting department. The reason was that almost all data produced by the computer was accounting data. As computer systems evolved, the data produced impacted all functional areas of the organization and entities set up separate information systems departments. In some ways, this was harmful as it isolated accountants and information systems personnel from each other.

Peter Drucker suggests that these individuals have much in common or rather should have. One way to merge IS and accounting functions today is through cross-training. Most personnel in the information systems department have little knowledge of accounting—a problem because much of the information processed by IS departments is accounting, or accounting oriented. Similarly, many accountants have little understanding of information systems, a deficiency that keeps them from taking advantage of technology and may prevent them from understanding the sources of the information they produce and use. Job rotations where personnel exchange accounting and information systems jobs would be useful. Information systems personnel have a difficult time understanding the needs of users if they have not ever been information users. Accountants cannot understand the limitations of computer-based processing or the special control issues of such processing if they have not spent some time working in this function.

1-3. This question is designed to encourage students to think about some of the information reporting limitations imposed by the traditional accounting general ledger architecture. Other activities that do not require journal entries include (1) obtaining a line of credit, (2) issuing purchase requisitions or purchase orders, (3) signing contracts, (4) hiring a new executive, and (5) sending financial information to investors or bank loan personnel. But instructors may wish to point out that important information about a company’s business transactions may be included in an annual report outside the financial statements. The management letters and footnotes in annual reports may reveal more about a company’s future prospects than the financial statements themselves.

Managers have access to much more information than what is published in financial reports. Whether or not they would like to have access to more non-financial information, or if they would prefer that the accounting information system capture data about business events rather than accounting transactions, is debatable. It may also be a function of the accounting system in a particular company. Investors may wish to have more information available to them but the downside is that too much information can be just as problematic as too little information.

1-4. The financial accounting systems we have known for more than 500 years are changing dramatically as a result of advances in computer technology and financial accounting software. For example, databases allow accountants to collect and store all the data about a transaction or other file entity in one system, allowing those needing such information to retrieve it quickly, efficiently, and specifically in any format they wish. Financial data can be more easily linked to nonfinancial data as a result of database technology as well. Thus, it is likely that financial reporting will undergo tremendous change in the next few years as we learn to use technology more effectively in the design of financial AISs.

ERP systems are another example of the information age's impact on financial accounting. Now, organizations capture more data and produce more information than ever before. This allows companies to integrate more of their financial and non-financial system, better forecast everything from raw materials requirements to finished product production, and to perform more sophisticated analyses of important business functions. For instance, sales can be examined at many different levels and organized according to criteria such as geography, customer, product, or salesperson at the touch of the keyboard.

1-5. The example given in the question demonstrates one way in which computerization has refined cost estimation and thus impacts managerial accounting. The emergence of such concepts as just-in-time systems, computer integrated manufacturing systems, manufacturing resource planning systems, target costing, and activity based costing all illustrate these changes. Forecasting and budgeting are other areas of managerial accounting affected by advances in technology, as are the many applications of spreadsheet software, decision support systems, and expert systems.

1-6. The AICPA web site lists hundreds of potential assurance services for CPAs to offer. These include productivity improvement, cost analysis, benchmarking, internal auditing quality assurance, CPA WebTrust for electronic commerce, and SysTrust. Several of the proposed assurance services are in the information technology management/security category. These include information systems security reviews, reviews of computer disks for unauthorized software, and audits of computerized controls. Classroom discussion might address the particular skills that CPAs would need for each of the proposed assurance service areas. Skepticism and integrity, for example, are two characteristics typically associated with public accountants.

1-7. It is interesting to learn which of the existing or proposed assurance services recommended by the AICPA will actually be offered by a given public accounting organization. Many of the larger firms already offer at least some of these services, and the Big Five accounting firms today derive a large portion of their revenues from professional services other than auditing and tax consulting. But the industry shake-up in 2002 may also prompt some accounting firms to scale back services and focus on only their auditing business.

The AICPA offers one-day training classes for those interested in certifying web sites. Many auditors have taken advantage of this training but it is unclear at this point what the market for web site verification services will be. So far, there have not been many adopters of WebTrust.

1-8. Accounting is a service function in an organization whose purpose is to communicate relevant decision-making information to internal and external parties. To achieve this purpose, the accounting subsystem of a company often includes two major components: financial accounting and managerial accounting. The former principally provides information to a company’s external parties while the latter principally provides information to a company’s internal parties.

Prior to the use of computers in business data processing, many of the accountants working in business and government agencies were little more than bookkeepers. However, now that computers perform so much of the day-to-day bookkeeping functions (for example, posting journal entries, preparing trial balances, etc.), the functions that accountants now perform are typically much more dynamic, creative, people-oriented, and challenging than those stereotypical bookkeeping-type functions.

Most accounting positions are no longer “back-office jobs,” and potential accounting majors may be surprised at the number of ways that accountants today help managers make important decisions. For example, accountants: (1) help create and operate cost accounting systems and budgeting systems, (2) often participate in a company’s systems study work, leading to major modifications in a company’s financial systems, (3) communicate information to other people (both internal and external parties) to aid these people in their decision-making responsibilities, and (4) must understand human behavior and motivation so that they will communicate to those decision makers in the most efficient and effective manner.

1-9. Almost every accounting job today requires at least some information systems skills. In addition, however there are many job opportunities that combine skills in accounting and information systems and/or computer science. Consulting is one key area. Consultants with these skill sets can work at helping companies choose and install accounting software. They can also help companies with analyses of their business processes. Evaluating information systems security is another area of consulting where accounting and information systems skills are valuable. Tax planning, preparation, and consulting are yet other areas.

Prior research suggests that it is easier to train an accountant in information systems than to teach an AIS person about accounting. Whether this is true or not, it is certainly clear that accounting students with information systems skills are valuable employees. Individuals who are technically skilled at computers but lack knowledge of accounting are handicapped when trying to help a company to develop and enhance its information systems. Their lack of accounting skills may lead their employer to install information systems that fail to meet their needs.

1-10. Employers of both accounting and IS personnel often rank “analytical reasoning” and “writing” skills on the same priority as technical skills, and some rank them even higher. Said one recruiter at the author’s school “I can train new employees to use our computer systems and perform the majority of the technical tasks we will require of them. What I cannot train them to do is to think analytically or logically. And what I refuse to do is to teach them to speak and write clearly and effectively—skills they should have learned in high school.” Another recruiter said it slightly differently: “Give me a technically-competent accounting or IS student who can perform accounting or IS tasks well, and I will pay them “X” dollars. Give me a student who can explain to my

clients how our services can solve their business problems and I will pay them “2X” dollars.”

Finally, there are several other attributes beyond “analytical thinking” and “writing” skills that many employers also value highly. One of them is “teamwork”—i.e., the ability and willingness of an employee to work with others. Another is “dedication”—i.e., the willingness and desire to get a given job done in the allotted time frame, even if this means working more than 40 hours a week. Finally, there is “selflessness”—the willingness to sacrifice personal goals, ego, and time in order to finish important organizational and professional projects.