Why Study Accounting Information Systems?

Businesses use accounting information systems to help facilitate the accounting process. With accounting information systems, a computer program performs accounting processes such as payroll, accounts payable/receivables, general ledger and others. In addition, such as system streamlines multiple accounting processes by assisting with compiling and recording financial information for better record keeping. Because accounting information systems are expected to continue to grow over the next 10 years, there is an increased need for people who know how to use them.

1.   Function

o    The use of information systems is crucial in recording vital financial data. Major corporations keep data such as sales, profits, expenses and many other items for financial reporting and budgeting. Additionally, these systems allow some type of transaction recording on a periodic basis. Good record keeping is important for both tax purposes and possible audits. By using computerized accounting information systems to manage accounting processes and maintain proper records, companies are able provide accurate, timely data to shareholders and/or regulatory agencies when necessary.

Benefits

o    Accounting information systems provides businesses with the ability to record all types of financial information for future use. In addition, these systems are huge time-savers and make the accounting processes and procedures easily repeatable. Because of that, these systems save companies money because the number of people needed to complete accounting processes is reduced. Also, the risk of human error is drastically reduced because the computer systems manage the accounting processes, and documents are automatically created by the systems. It is imperative that businesses keep accurate books, and accounting information systems make this requirement much easier to meet.

Careers

o    Because the accounting industry has become much more computerized, the role of accountants and auditors are changing drastically. Instead of doing many of the tedious tasks that are now handled by the computer systems, accounting professionals are seen more as system managers, information analysts and/or advisers. Accounting information systems professionals usually go into careers in accounting systems, systems design, accounting systems management, auditing, consulting and other systems-related areas of accounting. The salary for these positions ranges anywhere from $54,000 to $85,000 or more a year, depending on experience.

Curriculum

o    Generally, in addition to the standard accounting curriculum, a student studying accounting information systems will take several information systems classes. Courses such as accounting information systems, systems analysis and design, and database analysis design are commonplace in most programs. Courses such as system quality assurance and controls, and e-business-type courses are also included.

Considerations

o    The accounting information systems profession is growing rapidly with the advent of businesses computerizing their accounting processes. As a result, businesses are seeking professionals with not only an information systems background, but also people who understand accounting concepts. Although students pursuing an accounting information systems degree are faced with pretty rigorous coursework, pursuing this line of study will reap many rewards because the career outlook for this profession is excellent in terms of job growth and financial rewards.

Define value chain?

VALUE CHAIN is the sequential set of primary and support activities that an enterprise performs to turn inputs into value-added outputs for its external customers. As developed by Michael E. Porter, it is a connected series of organizations, resources, and knowledge streams involved in the creation and delivery of value to end customers. Value systems integrate supply chain activities, from determination of customer needs through product/service development, production/operations and distribution, including (as appropriate) first-, second-, and third-tier suppliers. The objective of value systems is to position organizations in the supply chain to achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction and value while effectively exploiting the competencies of all organizations in the supply chain.

Value-chain analysis looks at every step a business goes through, from raw materials to the eventual end-user. The goal is to deliver maximum value for the least possible total cost.

What is an accounting information system?

We will first define a system, define an information system and, finally define an accounting information system. It should be obvious that all information systems are systems but not all systems are information systems. A vending machine, for example, is a system that is not an information system. Similarly, all accounting information systems are information systems, but the reverse is not always the case. Human resource information systems, production scheduling systems, strategic planning systems are examples of information systems that are not accounting information systems.

Value chain

The value chain, is a concept from business management that was first described and popularized by Michael Porter in his 1985 best-seller, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance.

Contents 1 Firm Level 2 Requirements of value chain 2.1 Activities 3 Industry Level 4 Significance 5 SCOR 6 Value Reference Model 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

Firm Level

A value chain is a chain of activities for a firm operating in a specific industry. The business unit is the appropriate level for construction of a value chain, not the divisional level or corporate level. Products pass through all activities of the chain in order, and at each activity the product gains some value. The chain of activities gives the products more added value than the sum of the independent activity's value. It is important not to mix the concept of the value chain with the costs occurring throughout the activities. A diamond cutter, as a profession, can be used to illustrate the difference of cost and the value chain. The cutting activity may have a low cost, but the activity adds much of the value to the end product, since a rough diamond is significantly less valuable than a cut diamond. Typically, the described value chain and the documentation of processes, assessment and auditing of adherence to the process routines are at the core of the quality certification of the business, e.g. ISO 9001.

Requirements of value chain

Coordination and collaboration; Investment in information technology; Changes in organizational processes; Committed leadership; Flexible jobs and adaptable, capable employees; A supportive organizational culture and attitudes;

Flintstone Example: Without the dinosaur, Fred couldn't complete his daily tasks quickly. This was because the dinosaurs had more strength than poor Freddy, therefore, making the process more efficient, which added value to the final result.

Activities

The value chain categorizes the generic value-adding activities of an organization. The "primary activities" include: inbound logistics, operations (production), outbound logistics, marketing and sales (demand), and services (maintenance). The "support activities" include: administrative infrastructure management, human resource management, technology (R&D), and procurement. The costs and value drivers are identified for each value activity. también es recomendado usar las característicamente de grupo de los diferentes servicios de red de.

Industry Level

An industry value chain is a physical representation of the various processes that are involved in producing goods (and services), starting with raw materials and ending with the delivered product (also known as the supply chain). It is based on the notion of value-added at the link (read: stage of production) level. The sum total of link-level value-added yields total value. The French Physiocrat's Tableau économique is one of the earliest examples of a value chain. Wasilly Leontief's Input-Output tables, published in the 1950s, provide estimates of the relative importance of each individual link in industry-level value-chains for the U.S. economy.

Significance

The value chain framework quickly made its way to the forefront of management thought as a powerful analysis tool for strategic planning. The simpler concept of value streams, a cross-functional process which was developed over the next decade,^[2] had some success in the early 1990s.

The value-chain concept has been extended beyond individual firms. It can apply to whole supply chains and distribution networks. The delivery of a mix of products and services to the end customer will mobilize different economic factors, each managing its own value chain. The industry wide synchronized interactions of those local value chains create an extended value chain, sometimes global in extent. Porter terms this larger interconnected system of value chains the "value system." A value system includes the value chains of a firm's supplier (and their suppliers all the way back), the firm itself, the firm distribution channels, and the firm's buyers (and presumably extended to the buyers of their products, and so on).

Capturing the value generated along the chain is the new approach taken by many management strategists. For example, a manufacturer might require its parts suppliers to be located nearby its assembly plant to minimize the cost of transportation. By exploiting the upstream and downstream information flowing along the value chain, the firms may try to bypass the intermediaries creating new business models, or in other ways create improvements in its value system.

Value chain analysis has also been successfully used in large Petrochemical Plant Maintenance Organizations to show how Work Selection, Work Planning, Work Scheduling and finally Work Execution can (when considered as elements of chains) help drive Lean approaches to Maintenance. The Maintenance Value Chain approach is particularly successful when used as a tool for helping Change Management as it is seen as more user friendly than other business process tools.

Value chain analysis has also been employed in the development sector as a means of identifying poverty reduction strategies by upgrading along the value chain.^[4] Although commonly associated with export-oriented trade, development practitioners have begun to highlight the importance of developing national and intra-regional chains in addition to international ones.

SCOR

The Supply-Chain Council, a global trade consortium in operation with over 700 member companies, governmental, academic, and consulting groups participating in the last 10 years, manages the Supply-Chain Operations Reference (SCOR), the de facto universal reference model for Supply Chain including Planning, Procurement, Manufacturing, Order Management, Logistics, Returns, and Retail; Product and Service Design including Design Planning, Research, Prototyping, Integration, Launch and Revision, and Sales including CRM, Service Support, Sales, and Contract Management which are congruent to the Porter framework. The SCOR framework has been adopted by hundreds of companies as well as national entities as a standard for business excellence, and the US DOD has adopted the newly-launched Design-Chain Operations Reference (DCOR) framework for product design as a standard to use for managing their development processes. In addition to process elements, these reference frameworks also maintain a vast database of standard process metrics aligned to the Porter model, as well as a large and constantly researched database of prescriptive universal best practices for process execution.

Value Reference Model

 Value Reference Model (VRM) developed by the trade consortium Value Chain Group offers an open source semantic dictionary for value chain management encompassing one unified reference framework representing the process domains of product development, customer relations and supply networks.

The integrated process framework guides the modeling, design, and measurement of business performance by uniquely encompassing the plan, govern and execute requirements for the design, product, and customer aspects of business.

The Value Chain Group claims VRM to be next generation Business Process Management that enables value reference modeling of all business processes and provides product excellence, operations excellence, and customer excellence.

Six business functions of the Value Chain:

• Research and Development
• Design of Products, Services, or Processes
• Production
• Marketing & Sales
• Distribution
• Customer Service

This guide to the right provides the levels 1-3 basic building blocks for value chain configurations. All Level 3 processes in VRM have input/output dependencies, metrics and practices. The VRM can be extended to levels 4-6 via the Extensible Reference Model schema.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Importance of Accounting Information Systems?

An accounting information system is typically a computerized accounting program that keeps records for a company. The information is entered into the system and the system tracks and organizes the accounting information. The accounting information system is used also to provide detailed information about the company, including financial statements.

1.     Business Transactions

o    An accounting information system is designed to record all transactions of a business. An accounting clerk enters all business transactions into the program and the transactions automatically are posted to the corresponding accounts. This is important because any time information is needed, it can found on the computer and is organized.

Accounts Payable

o    An accounting information system allows for easier payments made on accounts payable. Many systems are designed to pay all bills due with a click of a button. A date is selected and checks are automatically made out for all bills due. Most systems allow a clerk to unselect certain bills if a company is not ready to pay a specific bill.

Accounts Receivable

o    This type of system also allows for easier billing. Information is recorded on the system and a clerk chooses when to print bills. This is done daily, weekly or monthly, depending on the business. The system generates all bills efficiently and easily for the clerk.

Financial Statements

o    An accounting information system generates all financial reports without the clerk calculating anything. The dates for the reports are entered into the system and the computer generates reports for that specific period. This comes in handy when a report from a different period is needed immediately. The system has the capability of producing reports for any period that the information was recorded for.

Year-End Closing

o    Year-end closing is often a tedious process for an accountant. An unadjusted trial balance is created, adjusting entries are made and recorded, an adjusted trial balance is calculated, closing entries are made, and, finally, a post-closing trial balance is generated. This process is complicated and time consuming, but with an accounting information system, the computer does most of the work on its own.