Role Of Accounting Information System In SMEs And Their Alignment With Technology

INFT6500-Purpose of Accounting Information System to an SME

Purpose of Accounting Information System in Decision Making

The purpose of Accounting Information System in an SME or any other organization is to provide information that is useful in decision making. Decision making can be from shareholders, investors, creditors, government authorities and administrators. There are different sets of accounting systems of a company that serve different users. They include; financial accounting, fiscal accounting and administrative accounting.  Users of financial accounting. Financial information is useful for shareholders, creditors, analysts and financial intermediaries, the investing public, regulatory bodies and for all those external users of the accounting information of an economic organization (Appelbaum, et al, 2017)..

The technique of comparison consists of determining the similarities and differences existing in the Financial Statements and specifically the General Balance, the idea is to examine its importance in terms of absolute and relative values ??to diagnose the variations that have occurred. It can be in a year or comparing several consecutive years (Brandas, et al,2015). To compare an account, the total amount of the Asset, Liabilities or Results can be used as a reference; The total of the Equity can also be compared, the current balances with the previous ones or compare our balance sheets with those of other companies or reference standards in the sector in which they participate. Through a basic financial statement, as is the case of the state of changes in the financial situation, this technique will be presented, since it is the most used and convenient approach for companies because it is based on the analysis of variation

The approach to the change in the financial situation is to analyze the changes in all other items of the statement of financial position or balance sheet, and classify them in: operations, investments and financing. Its preparation is constituted by:

Two statements of financial position (that is, a statement of comparative financial situation) referring to the beginning and end of the period to which the statement of changes in the financial situation corresponds. 

A statement of results corresponding to the same period.

Additional information regarding the operations and events recorded in the fiscal year (notes).

Article on Alignment of between Accounting information system and SMEs

The concept of alignment or fit between information system accounting has been discussed on various platforms for long. This article seeks to identify the different types of alignment which are unresolved in the context of accounting information system in SMEs. The purpose of the study seeks to get the different alignment levels and the link between the firms performance. More than twenty characteristics were identified to compare and contrast between information system processing and accounting information requirements (Cañibano, 2018). Data from 300 Australian SMEs were collected using mailed questionnaires and alignment was measured using the matching approach. To group SMEs with similar levels of alignment, cluster analysis was used.

Technique of Comparison for Analyzing Financial Statements

There was emergence of three groups which were easily identified; moderate, aligned and not aligned. Tests confirmed that statistically, the firms that were aligned or with the highest levels of alignment had a better performance than the other two. This shows that aligning accounting information systems with information capacity of the SME does contribute to performance improvement of the SME (Cleary, 2017)..

When referring to organizations it is essential to address the aspect of the “environment” and, therefore, that of technology in its different meanings; one in particular the “information technology”. It is often stated that the company environment is changing, and consequently, the company itself. It interacts in turbulent environments, of uncertainty; which leads to a permanent search for those positions of competitiveness that are desired and necessary for the sustainable development of the organization (Collier, 2015). . Thus, the company constantly goes from chaos to order, for the sake of balance and, in this spiral cycle, the dynamics under which the scientific and technological development unfolds.

This leads to an inexorable “increase in the forms assumed by the complexity of the organizational system.” To have a more complete idea of ??the events in the organizations, the effect of the processes of globalization, in the implementation of information systems; who’s primordial feature is the demand in terms of incorporating a new paradigm of efficient work. This highlights the deficiencies in the management of small and medium-sized enterprises and, consequently, the urgent need to generate theoretical proposals, models, methods and instruments with which it is intended on the one hand, to interpret the phenomena present. Likewise, in the business context, the search for accounting information systems that allow a more efficient operation of the different organizational units is intensified. Taking these premises into consideration, the fundamental intention of the research is to propose an accounting information system for small and medium enterprises, which involves categories associated with the demands of users and the technology (Gelinas, et al,2017). 

AIS is an important part of the system of information support of the organization. The function of an automated system (AS) consists of a set of actions aimed at achieving a specific goal. The automated system consists of personnel and a complex of automation equipment for its activities and implements an information technology for performing the established functions. Depending on the type of activity, the following types of AS are distinguished: automated control systems, computer-aided design systems, automated research systems, automated accounting systems, etc (Hall, 2018)..

Proposing Accounting Information System for SMEs

The use of an automated accounting system will save the accountant’s time by automating repetitive operations, find arithmetic errors in accounting and reporting, analyze the current financial situation of the organization and evaluate its prospects. In addition, automated accounting systems can help to keep primary source and reporting documents in electronic form, as well as forms of forms with already created details.

Accounting information systems help to solve a number of tasks, in particular: acceleration of processing primary data; automation of payroll, taxes, insurance premiums, depreciation; automation of the formation of the general ledger, balance sheet and other forms of reporting, etc. Such systems allow simultaneous accounting and tax accounting, i.e. calculate the income tax base on the basis of accounting data.

• automated processing of primary documents;
• automation of the complex tasks of accounting, planning and analysis of financial and economic activities of the organization;
• generation, processing and receipt of reliable operational information;
• integration of operational, accounting and tax accounting.

The accounting information systems that are configured for system accounting using the general tax regime are based on functional components that, together, perform calculations, filling in and processing primary documents, accumulating final results and generating reporting forms.

Accounting sections within accounting information systems solve the following accounting tasks: payroll accounting; inventory; fixed assets and intangible assets; finished products; production costs; financial and settlement operations, as well as operational accounting tasks on the basis of primary documents and preparation of financial reports.

• Information representing information (messages, data) regardless of the form of their presentation;
• Information technologies as processes of methods for searching, collecting, storing, processing, providing, distributing information and methods for implementing such processes and methods;
• Information systems representing the aggregate of information contained in databases and ensuring its processing by information technologies and technical means;
• Information and telecommunications network, defined as a technological system designed to transmit information over communication lines, which is accessed using computer technology.

According to their scope, accounting information systems can be classified by industry, i.e. for use in various industries: trade, tourism, catering and restaurant and hotel business, insurance and auditing, housing and communal services, banking, medicine, education and other activities.Used classifications of accounting information, such as charts of accounts, grouping of accounts, items in balance sheets, groupings related to financial results, and others, are usually presented in the form of graphical and tabular forms and are structure-forming elements. On their basis, accounting models are built, which together with interpretation models constitute an accounting system. 

According to the processing mode, there are information systems operating in batch and interactive modes. Packet technology is used mainly in economic information systems of a centralized type, where the technological process of information processing represents the successive stages of input, control, sorting, merging, grouping, copying, archiving, processing and issuing information. The disadvantages of this technology are the inefficient use of resources and the lack of user interaction.

By the type of software used, information systems can be classified into mini-accounting, integrated accounting information systems, integrated accounting systems, tool systems, corporate systems, and functional accounting automated workstations (AWS). Mini-accounting focused mainly on small businesses and are designed for accounting with a small amount of accounting work. Information systems of the type of mini-accounting allow you to keep synthetic and simple analytical accounting, to form a single log of business operations, the General Ledger, Balance Sheet and the necessary reporting forms.

Different Types of Alignment between Information System Processing and Accounting Information Requirements

The Mini Accountancy group includes accounting and reporting programs designed for small businesses with a small number of accounts, without a pronounced specialization of employees in specific accounting areas, keeping relatively simple accounting. This includes a large number of popular programs, fairly universal and logically complete, under the general title “Posting – General Ledger – Balance”, performing mainly the functions of synthetic and analytical accounting (Libby, 2017).. Typical software products of this class that have the most popularity and distribution include the following basic package options: “1C: Accounting”, “Turbo-accountant”, “Info-accountant”, “Finance without problems”, “Integrator-Solo”, “Infin”.

The programs of mini-bookkeeping are the most in demand in the modern market of accounting programs, they satisfy the needs of most commercial firms they are relatively inexpensive and easily adaptable to the user’s conditions.

Despite the large variety of programs for small businesses, one can identify some common features. Such programs are mainly designed to maintain synthetic accounting, but they also provide for the possibility of performing simple analytical accounting with a small amount of information. The programs offer various approaches to the organization of analytical accounting. The most widespread coding of sub-accounts and accounts of analytical accounting (Paterson, & Wilson, 2018,).. Programs have a similar menu construction, operating with the same keys, having a chart of accounts, typical transactions, help in the form of prompts, a calendar, a calculator; use of standard forms of accounting documentation, the ability to work with different currencies, the formation of directories, the creation of an archival copy, the possibility of receiving payments for any period, setting up the machine for a given period, etc.

Integrated accounting systems are programs that integrate and support the maintenance of all major accounting functions and sections. They are usually implemented within the framework of a single program consisting of separate modules. Each module is designed to process individual sections of the account, where analytical accounting is conducted (Maas, et al,2016).. The basis of the package, as in the “Mini-Accounting”, is the Head Module “Wiring – General Ledger – Balance”, as well as modules for performing individual accounting sections. The composition of the modules that provide automated processing of accounting tasks is not the same in different programs. These are mainly modules that maintain analytical accounting of financial and settlement operations, accounting of materials, fixed assets and intangible assets and goods.

Local subsystems (modules) provide comprehensive analytical accounting based on the input of primary documents and the formation of transactions. They work as independent subsystems or implement some of the functions of an automated system, but at the same time, all information can be reduced and integrated into a single whole to form the necessary total indicators in the central module of the system (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2017). 

Conclusion

Accounting information systems are designed for processing primary information and solving accounting tasks for the required calculations, checking and printing of primary documents, preparing and completing the necessary accounting documents, transferring data from one form to another, accumulating totals, etc. At the same time, the whole complex of the system’s work retains a clear methodology and accounting technology (Warren et al,2015).

But at the same time, the feature of small business is its versatility. By developing and functioning in the interests of the organizers, small business also contributes to the progress of the state’s economy as a whole. The functioning of the business is equally beneficial both for the entire economy of the country, and for each individual individually, which means that she deservedly received the corresponding state recognition and support. 

References

Appelbaum, D., Kogan, A., Vasarhelyi, M., & Yan, Z. (2017). Impact of business analytics and enterprise systems on managerial accounting. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 25, 29-44.

Brandas, C., Megan, O., & Didraga, O. (2015). Global perspectives on accounting information systems: mobile and cloud approach. Procedia Economics and Finance, 20, 88-93.

Cañibano, L. (2018). Accounting and intangibles. Revista de Contabilidad-Spanish Accounting Review, 21(1), 1-6.

Cleary, P. (2017). Introduction to Accounting Information Systems. In The Routledge Companion to Accounting Information Systems (pp. 25-34). Routledge.

Collier, P. M. (2015). Accounting for managers: Interpreting accounting information for decision making. John Wiley & Sons.

Gelinas, U. J., Dull, R. B., Wheeler, P., & Hill, M. C. (2017). Accounting Information Systems. Cengage Learning.

Hall, J. A. (2018). MindTap Accounting, 1 term (6 months) Printed Access Card for Hall’s Accounting Information Systems, 10th.

Libby, R. (2017). Accounting and human information processing. In The Routledge Companion to Behavioural Accounting Research (pp. 42-54). Routledge.

Maas, K., Schaltegger, S., & Crutzen, N. (2016). Integrating corporate sustainability assessment, management accounting, control, and reporting. Journal of Cleaner Production, 136, 237-248.

Paterson, A. S., & Wilson, M. J. (2018, September). The Routledge companion to accounting information systems, edited by Martin Quinn and Erik Strauss, published in 2018 by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group: London and New York. In Accounting Forum (Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 277-280). Taylor & Francis.

Schaltegger, S., & Burritt, R. (2017). Contemporary environmental accounting: issues, concepts and practice. Routledge.

Warren Jr, J. D., Moffitt, K. C., & Byrnes, P. (2015). How Big Data will change accounting. Accounting Horizons, 29(2), 397-407