Chapter 1 – Accounting Information Systems and the Accountant

Raw and stored data Processes

information Accounting system and Information System

Collection of data and

Processing procedures that

Creates needed information for its users Organizes and store data

What are Accounting Information Systems?

Perform tasks in such areas Maintain general ledger information, create

spreadsheets for strategic planning, and distribute financial reports

Challenge: how best to provide information Useful to nonaccountants

Accounting

Accounting

Data - raw facts VS Information – processeed

data Raw data – starting point of an audit trail Audit trail – path that data follow as they flow

through an AIS End users need processed data for decision-making

purposes

Information

Inputs Process

es Outputs

Information

Data/Information from Internal/External Sources

Sort, Organize, Calculate

Information for Internal/External Decision Makers

Problems:

1. Information overload – causing relevant information to be lost or overlooked

2. Do not automatically catch the simple input errors that humans do

3. Make audit trails more complex

Information

What to store? How to integrate the stored data for end users?

Old Method: maintain independently the data for each of its traditional organization functions – DRAWBACK: Duplication of data-collecting and processing efforts

Organization and Storage of Data

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system

Integration of information subsystems into one application

Examples: SAP ERP

Predictive analytics Includes a variety of methodologies that managers

might use to analyze current and past data to help predict future events

“systems” ≈ “computer systems” IT is a vital part of what accountants must know to

be employable “processing procedures” “computerized

processing”

Systems

Set of components that

Collect accounting data

Store it for future uses

Process it for end users

AIS

Information Technology Knowledge workers – produce, analyze, manipulate, and

distribute information about business activities Accountants are knowledge workers E-business and E-commerce Accounting is itself an information system Concerned with nonfinancial as well as financial data and

information AIS as an enterprise-wide system: accounting as an

organization’s primary producer and distributor of many different types of information

Process focused

AIS and Their Role in Organizations

Thank You !

BALTAR, JOANNA MARIE D.BSA 3-15