Discussion

The assessment is a about the needs for technological developments which are required in a workplace environment so as to improve the overall business structure as well as business process. The assessment will be considering various technological advancement which have taken place in the market and how the same have impacted the business process of companies. There are certain companies which are solely dependent on technological advancements in order to survive in the competitive market in current scenario. The assessment will be proposing the changes which can be brought about in a business which can be related to changes in administration or operations, accounting.

The main purpose of this assessment is to analyze the current developments which have taken place in the filed of accounting. The developments in accounting and incorporation of computerized software in the accounting process has made the accounting process more efficient and quick to response for any situation. The purpose of this assessment is to analyze the impacts computerized software and different accounting practices in the business’s reporting framework. Moreover, the development of technology has also made the accounting process more efficient and also made the process much easier for the accounting professionals. The report will be informing the managers of the uses of the accounting software and computerized system and the same will be help the business to improve the overall reporting framework of the business.

The report on the development of technology in accounting field and overall development of the business structure will be directed towards the managers of the business and also the top-level management of the company. The top-level management of the business are responsible for all the major decisions which are taken for the business as a whole. Therefore, the report will be suggesting the top-level management of the company whether the implementation of computerized software and accounting packages will be beneficial to the business or not (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta 2016). The top-level management also needs to decide which software will the suit the needs of the business appropriately.

The advancement in technology in the field of accounting has opened new scope for better presentation of financial information and also analysis of the same. The potential opportunities which are presented to an accounting firm are listed below:

• The new technology in accounting which are mostly used comprise of ERP systems and integrated packages or similar other custom-made software which have the capacity of increasing the efficiency of reporting process and also can save human resources as well as time of the management.
• Technical development has also provided an opportunity to increase the expertise level of the accounting professionals as they now have to operate such a system and therefore they need to acquire certain skills of an IT professional. This adds more credit to the field of accounting.
• In a business the application of an ERP system or an integrated software reduces time for entering data, processing the same and also for generating reports. The processing and analyzing of information can also be carried out through this system and the level of accuracy of such system are absolute which provides an opportunity to business to provide true and fair disclosure of financial performance of a business.

The threats which can be identified for using such developed software are listed below in details:

• Installation and training of accounting professionals in order to make them competent for the job can prove to be very costly for the business which can increase the overall costs which are associated with the business.
• The system software and the huge amount of data which is entered into the same often overloads the systems and there is always a chance of system failure which is again costly for repair and there are also the risks that important data or records of previous years might get lost if appropriate backup is not kept by the management.
• The system is not always secure and can be accessed by anyone and is susceptible to manipulations and covering up for real data. This can affect the entire reporting process and also affect the integrity of the business.

In most of the businesses, technology has not only affected the reporting structure of the business but also the entire operations and finance structure of a business. There are new systems like payroll system, digital attendance system has been incorporated in various IT based business and big companies. This are other significant developments in technology which has improved process of a business. Some systems are self-automated and are capable of running operations of the business.  Artificial Intelligence is another significant development which has wide range of uses which the management considers to bring about in a business.

Key Decisions

As per the requirements of the business, important decisions are to be taken regarding the information system and system software which is to be selected by the business which can meet the needs of the business. The role of accounting information system nowadays is of great importance in business decision making process and overall management of the business in terms of financial information. An accounting information system is included in the overall information system and the main goal of the same is to generate information which can be used in the decision-making process. Accounting information system makes the gathering, analyzing, processing of financial information much more efficient and thereby improves the overall reporting structure of the business.

Technology development in recent times has been growing rapidly and most of the development is in line with the requirements of the business and supports the overall functions of the business (Rittinghouse and Ransome 2016). In a business fast and accurate information technology is very useful in taking quick management decisions. In addition to this, information technology can be defined as the tool which can facilitate a business to handle and manage the operations in a smooth way (Mellor, Hao and Zhang 2014). The application of information system affects the operations of the business and also the reporting process of the business (Laudon and Laudon 2016). Therefore, if a business effectively implements an appropriate accounting information system, then it will be help the management to bring about transparency and accountability of the overall reporting process.

It is expected that the implementation of an accounting information system will help in generating and analyzing financial information in an accurate and fast way. The information which are generated by accounting information system are effectively and in most case is free from any kind of discrepancies and therefore are beneficial inputs which can be used by the top-level management for the decision-making process (Worrell, Di Gangi and Bush 2013). Therefore, there is an opportunity for most of the businesses to make the overall business structure of the company more favorable. The accounting information system which businesses need to implement depends on the size and nature of the business. In addition to this, accounting information system reduces the need of the business to recording financial data and also reduces the cost of the business which is related to maintenance of financial information (Laudon and Laudon 2015). There are negative impacts which are associated with the implementation of accounting information system. Some of the negative impacts which can be identified are unsuitability of accounting information system, unable of incorporating changes which takes place in the day to day management of the business.

Information needed to make Decisions

Therefore, the management needs to make important decisions regarding which information system is to be used by the management in recording and analyzing accounting information system. The decision which is to be taken by the business needs to be based on the nature and the requirements of the business. In addition to this, the management of companies also needs to take decisions whether the business is going to develop its own accounting information system or to adopt an integrated packaged software which can meet the requirements of the business (Venkatesh, Brown and Bala 2013).

The information which the management of the company needs to consider while taking the decisions about which software is to be selected will be based on the requirements of the business and nature of the business and its operation. In addition to this, the size of the business is also a factor in decision-making process (Collier 2015). The management also considers the software technology which is in use in most companies and also in its competitor’s business before selecting the accounting information system which the business should implement.

Most of the business traditionally used traditional methods for the purpose of performing recording accounting information. In earlier days, books of accounts were maintained by accountants and the same needed to be updated at constant intervals in order to keep the books of accounts of the business up to date (Dwivedi et al. 2015). The accountants had to manually enter transactions with the help of journal entries and post the same in different ledger accounts. Then after the recording process, financial reports were formulated. With the advent of information system and integration of accounting and IT resources, programs and software were created (Laurini 2014). The advent of accounting information system will enable businesses to maintain accounting records in a computerized format and the same can be updated with a click of a single button. The software program which is used in the accounting process will allow the business to accurate maintain and analyze the financial data which is provided. The popular software options which facilitate accounting process are ERP system, integrated accounting packages, other similar packages (Almajali, Masa’deh and Tarhini 2016). These software and programs are used by the management in reporting framework and thereby bring about development in the overall reporting framework of the business.

Conclusion

Thus, from the above discussion, the role and importance of technology and software in accounting process is clear. Incorporation of accounting software in business can bring about rapid changes in the reporting framework of the business and also make the accounting structure of companies more efficient. The works of accountants will be reduced and accounting software programs will facilitate business with automatic updating of financial information of ledger accounts whenever an entry is made and also help businesses to generate automatic reports.

Reference

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

Dwivedi, Y.K., Wastell, D., Laumer, S., Henriksen, H.Z., Myers, M.D., Bunker, D., Elbanna, A., Ravishankar, M.N. and Srivastava, S.C., 2015. Research on information systems failures and successes: Status update and future directions. Information Systems Frontiers, 17(1), pp.143-157.

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Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016. Management information system. Pearson Education India.

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Mellor, S., Hao, L. and Zhang, D., 2014. Additive manufacturing: A framework for implementation. International Journal of Production Economics, 149, pp.194-201.

Pearlson, K.E., Saunders, C.S. and Galletta, D.F., 2016. Managing and Using Information Systems, Binder Ready Version: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley & Sons.

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