Effects of Technology on the Accounting Profession

Effects of Technology on the Accounting Profession

ACC

Effects of Technology on the Accounting Profession

Information systems are changing many aspects of business, especially in accounting. Accounting information systems (AIS) affect various aspects of the profession including: Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Auditing, and Taxation. New technologies have made it much easier in many cases to accomplish tasks that accountants work on every day. The new job that I work at attempts to use many forms of information systems to increase efficiency as well.

In financial accounting, the scandals over the past several years have caused many more requirements for companies to release their financial data and do so accurately. The Sarbanes-Oxley act is one of the most important acts to be enforced in recent history. It requires that Chief Executive Officer’s sign off on the accuracy of their company’s financial data. This created a situation in which information systems were nearly mandatory to accomplish these tasks. Accounting information systems provide a system that increases accuracy of financial data and ease of access to that data.

With computers able to collect data as it is input into the system, financial statements are able to practically be produced in real time. In addition companies can use interactive data that they can seamlessly transfer from one application to another (Bagranoff, Simkin, & Norman, 2008, p. 16). Total assets are an example of data that could be used in this manner because they may need to be manipulated and viewed in different ways depending on who the data is being prepared for.

Managerial accounting includes cost accounting and budgeting. The cost accounting part of managerial accounting specifically assists management in measuring and controlling the costs associated with an organization’s various acquisition, processing, distribution, and selling activities (Bagranoff, Simkin, & Norman, 2008, p. 16). Activity...