Question

Assume that you as an accountant who are now working with a particular well-known manufacturing company that aspired to implement ERP systems organization-wide. Discuss 5 ways ,how Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems might have impacted accountants in performing their respective duties. Include in your analysis the relevant examples where necessary to support your discussion.

Answer 1

ERP system provides an unified interface that integrates all the different information systems in the different departments of an enterprise.

5 ways accountants are impacted by implementation of ERP :

1. BETTER INFORMATION SYTEM - as the departments' individual , customized information systems are made accessible via a single ERP system, information about a division is easily accessible from any division. Accountants can access information about inventory, sales , purchases from a single interface.

2.INCREASED EFFICIENCY - The time required for obtaining informations from all the divisions is totally eliminated by using an ERP. Moreover , because ERP can be cloud based - accountants can access data from anywhere .Thus enhancing efficiency of accountants.

3. REDUCED DUPLICACY - As information is entered only once and can be accessed by all , this reduces need for multiple copies/entries of the same data. This reduces cost and margin for error. This also reduces the scope for companies to be able to perform foul plays in data,

4. EASIER AUDITING - Complex auditing softwares that are based on ERP systems help in automation of the calculations required in auditing and aids in the decision making process.

5. HELPS IN APPLYING REGULATIONS - A unified interface helps in checking for and applying regulations . Specific regulatory requirements ( like the Sarbanes Oxley Act ) can be fed into the ERP that automatically detects violations for the accountant.