Question

. Explain how the role of accountants in information systems continues to evolve. (200 words)

Answer 1

Accountants work with systems programmers to develop a digital process that will organize their client's history and all their documents. When the clients' data is input into the computer program the processing cycle gives the computer instructions on how to process the clients' data

Although traditional Accounting Information Systems fulfill the need of financial reporting, collecting data from central databases and consolidating it, so that the information can be easily consumed by decision-makers, they were not created bearing in mind the idea of performing business process oriented accounting. Organizations have always worked in a business process oriented way either implicit or explicit. Business Process Management adoption as a management practice has been gaining popularity in recent years, making sense an evolution of Accounting Information Systems towards a business process oriented accounting supported on a Business Process Management Suite. The benefits of this evolution include, among others, the flexibility and agility in business process redefinition, the empowerment of knowledge workers, the implementation of control points for data collection to produce real-time reports and alerts relating the use of financial and non-financial information, so that decision-makers can act on.

Accounting Information System (AIS) is vital to all organizations and perhaps, each organization either profit or non profit-oriented need to maintain the AISs. On the other hand, an AIS is the whole of the related components that are put together to collect information, raw data or ordinary data and transform them into financial data for the purpose of reporting them to decision makers. To better understand the term ‘Accounting Information System’, the three words constitute AIS would be elaborated separately. Firstly, literature documented that accounting could be identified into three components, namely information system, “language of business” and source of financial information. Secondly, information is a valuable data processing that provides a basis for making decisions, taking action and fulfilling legal obligation. Finally, system is an integrated entity, where the framework is focused on a set of objectives . Therefore, Accountants in AIS summarize the results of a firm’s transactions and issue reports to help managers make informed decisions. The role of accountant has expanded due to the development of the accounting information of various business sectors, on the one hand, and the increase of the volume and the complexity of the information, on the other hand; the accountant shall play an active and effective role in the processes of designing the systems in order to achieve an effective internal system as well as the

needs of accounting information users. There is no doubt the success of developing the system requires the necessity of participation of accountants in establishing and developing that system. The effective method of applying the participation principle is represented by the ability of system to involve the accountants not only in one stage of the development of the system but all stages of system development , in particular that each stage has its own specificity which distinguishes it from other stages; the real participation requires that the accountant shall interact mentally and emotionally through an intellectual debate and consultation with the persons who are responsible for developing the accounting information system in a manner that encourages them to participate in bearing the responsibility and contributing to achieve the goals desired.