The Effects of Technology on the Accounting Profession

The Effects of Technology on the Accounting Profession

Since the mid 1950s when Arthur Anderson & Co. “designed and installed the first business application of a computer, a payroll system at General Electric Company’s Appliance Park facility in Kentucky” (Zeff, 2003), technology has had an influential effect on the accounting profession. From the collecting, storing, processing, and outputting of data into varying forms of information to the widespread access and improved communications to internal users such as management and external users such as stakeholders and government agencies, technology has impacted the accounting profession in a major way.

In the past couple of decades or so, accounting software such as QuickBooks, Quicken, and Peachtree have opened the door for small business owners, such as me, with little to no accounting experience to perform their own bookkeeping because of their user-friendly capabilities. Through utilizing QuickBooks for my company, Synergy Development & Construction, LLC, I am able to produce estimates, budgets, accounts receivable, accounts payable and create bank reconciliations all with the click of a button and having limited accounting experience. The “help” button and error pop-up messages, in addition to the set-up tour, make it easy for novices to get the accounting service they need until they can afford to pay an accountant to do the work for them.

I had the privilege of meeting a small electrical supplier a few years ago who was still utilizing a general ledger. Needless to say, this process was not efficient or effective. There were several duplicate payments and several late payments as a result of the bookkeeper’s delayed invoicing and inadequate storing of paper invoices. QuickBooks has allowed us to avoid inefficiencies because it takes less time to compile and distribute data. This accounting software also allows for a lower degree of error and it takes less time to find and correct an error. For...