AI INTRODUCTION
Changing Technology and Modern Accounting: A Transformation with Far-Reaching Implications
The landscape of accounting has undeniably been reshaped by the relentless march of technology. Let’s delve into the key effects this shift has wrought, and explore the exciting possibilities it holds for the future of both the accounting practice and the role of the accountant themselves.
Effects of Changing Technology:
- Automation Revolution: Routine tasks like data entry, bookkeeping, and reconciliations are increasingly handled by AI-powered automation tools, freeing up accountants’ time for higher-level analysis and strategic thinking.
- Real-time Insights: Cloud-based accounting software and data analytics tools provide instant access to financial data, enabling real-time monitoring and insights into business performance.
- Enhanced Accuracy and Compliance: Automation minimizes human error in data handling, while AI-powered compliance tools help navigate complex regulations, resulting in greater accuracy and confidence in financial reporting.
- Improved Collaboration and Visibility: Cloud-based systems and integrated platforms facilitate seamless collaboration between internal and external stakeholders, enhancing transparency and communication.
Implications for the Future:
- Evolving Skillset: Accountants will need to adapt their skillset, focusing on data analysis, interpretation, problem-solving, and strategic advisory capabilities. Soft skills like communication and collaboration will also gain further importance.
- Rise of the “Data-Driven Accountant”: Accounting graduates will need to be proficient in data analytics and visualization tools to extract meaningful insights from the wealth of financial data available.
- Consultative Approach: Accountants will transition from mere record-keepers to trusted advisors, providing strategic guidance and recommendations based on their financial expertise and data-driven insights.
- Emergence of Niche Expertise: Specializations in areas like data forensics, blockchain accounting, and sustainability reporting will become increasingly in demand.
Challenges and Opportunities:
- Job displacement: While automation eliminates some repetitive tasks, it also creates new opportunities. Accountants will need to be adaptable and upskill to stay relevant in the changing landscape.
- Cybersecurity: Increased reliance on technology necessitates robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive financial data.
- Democratization of Accounting: Accessible technology and tools may empower individuals to manage their finances better, potentially impacting the demand for traditional accounting services.
Overall, the changing technological landscape presents both challenges and unprecedented opportunities for the accounting profession. By embracing continuous learning, developing data-driven skills, and focusing on strategic advisory services, accountants can thrive in this dynamic environment and ensure their continued relevance in the future of finance.
Remember, the future of accounting is not one of replacement, but of transformation. It’s an exciting time to be an accountant, where creativity, data-savvy, and a strategic mindset will unlock a world of possibilities.
The Effect of Changing Technology on Modern Accounting, and the
Implications for the Future of Accounting & the Accountant
A Paper By Abiodun John Balogun Part Qualified Chartered Accountant ACCA UK
Chief Analyst Dotifi Digital
Originally Written june 2012
Introduction
This paper presents a need to report on the effect of improving technology on today’s Accounting profession and the impacts such technologies have had for the Modern and future Accountant.
Summary concepts are presented under the headings below and definitions provided thereafter.
See glossary and references for more complex definitions .A questionnaire addressed to Accountants with respect to Technology is attached in the Appendix.
Define Accounting
.Define Technology
Define Early Accounting Technologies
Define Modern Accounting
Define the Modern Accounting Technologies
Typical Accounting packages, Technologies ,Structure and offerings.
The effect of changing technology on Modern Accounting
Implications for the Future of Accounting
Implications for the Future Accountant
Conclusion
Summarized Definitions
What is Accounting?
Accounting is the process of recording, analyzing, summarizing the transactions of a result oriented business (Profit & Non Profit) entity to provide day to day information for business management and other interested parties.
What is Technology?
The practical application of science to commerce or industry or the discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems. Word Web Dictionary database .Available from: https://wordweb.info/ [Accessed 10th March 2005].
What is Modern Accounting?
Modern Accounting deals with original definitions of Accounting as an ancient science but extends the usage from the United States from the 1960’s the FASB (the Federal Accounting Standards Board and the ASB (Accounting Standards Board) its Uk counterpart in its FRS 18 Accounting Policies (Financial Reporting Standards documents) Modern Accounting as Accounting evolution based on the following concepts:
Relevance
Reliability
Comparability
Understandability
What is Accounting Technology?
Accounting Technology is the use of technology usually Computers, printers, scanners ,storage Devices & networks etc . Within an accounting firm or department, It can also be seen as Information Technology products and services that are sold to clients of Accounting Firms or purchased separately by corporate bodies for their internal use..
The Effect of Changing Technology on Modern Accounting
Having defined the basic terms and concepts for this paper let us gently build up a case of how Changing Technology has affected Modern Accounting.
Within the fundamental definitions of Modern Accounting and the burgeoning Technological changes we shall extrapolate early emergence so that the more modern cases can be adequately represented.
We shall take a brief look at Accounting Technology in its early stages
Accounting and Early Technology.
The usage of Accounting during the birthing of 20th Century Technological advances have impacted the Business and Commercial world from its inception .As Technology in itself is a tool for carrying basic day to day tasks within World Economies , It has also impacted major Accounting concepts and ideas from this early stage.
Simplistically, the abacus can be referred as the first real technological innovation in Early Accounting practices. Other variations on the same theme that incorporated the early principles of Accounting like Collecting, Recording ,Analysis and summarization of data were introduced by the Italian Luca Pacioli in the 14th century .
So tools like the double entry system and ledger bookkeeping were accredited to this Accounting Icon. Not to banish the fact that Accounting had existed since the dawn of civilization as in Mesopotamia ,the Chaldeans and the Sumerians who had gotten a grasp of writing and inculcated it within early Commercial transactions as far back as 3500BC.
This Technological Advancement was a giant leap ahead as Recordings could be made on papyrus of Business transactions between Ancient Civilized cultures.
This new trends enabled collection and recording of transactions but calculating Engines like the Abacus introduced mechanical methods of Analysis and Summary.
The Electronic Calculator and Babbages’s Analytical Engine extended the usage of Technological devices seen in those days as fancy tools into a working practical means of doing calculations regarding Accounting Transactions.
By and by Modern Calculators and Early Mini Computers and Mainframe Systems contributed to Accounting methods as “clumsy” programs were written in various languages like COBOL (common business oriented languages) that improved the interaction between Accounting and the advent of Technology.
Modern Accounting and Technology (Overview)
Modern Accounting concerns itself to Standards and innovations within the Technology Industry and has greatly induced the way in which Accountants operate today.
We shall look at trends between the late 1980’s till date and see how changing Technology has greatly affected Accounting as we know it today.
As Accounting evolved into what we know it as today , It became clearer for a need for Standards ,these Standards were introduced by varying geographical bodies and they offered the International Accountant a fundamental guideline in the methods in which they would practice Accounting.
As individual States and Countries had their own Accounting laws like Taxation and Trading issues with respect to Regulatory bodies within each Region. Compliance across borders will affect tools that effect these rules so Technology must be able to meet the ever increasing demand of International bodies that govern such rules of engagement .e.g. the Sarbanes Oxley Act (see glossary) and a plethora of organizations and bodies concerned in harmonizing financial practices across international Commerce of the entire planet.
It became pertinent that Technological advancement would or might have to toe the line in offering Systems that could meet this amalgamation of diverse bookkeeping practices and cultures .
Language has long been an issue within Commerce and likewise Technology must also have the ability to cut across the variants that exist when differing platforms of Computing Systems require seamless integration .A need for adaptable Technology in the case of Operating Systems and Programming constructs in terms of Hardware and Software can not be overemphasized.
Emerging Technologies for example Sun’s Java programming language, XML ,UML (Universal modeling language) and BPMN (Business process modeling notation) which are becoming fast technological innovations within the business and Financial world.
Be it as it may it is a certainty that these technologies are themselves influenced by Accountants as being primary users, their expertise would be of immense importance to reasonable and marketable Software Applications from Prototype to finished products .
Within the early stages of Software Engineering in those days, suitable allowance was not usually given to the end user of such products and development distinctions within the Software life cycle like System analysis, design and coding were usually done by the Software programmer who cared little for the Average accountants desire to account for everything the way Osama Bin laden cares for George W. Bush.
So clear lapses in development, implementation and deployment have existed along the way with Firms like Microsoft’s Excel Spreadsheet and Borland’s paradox churning out early Accounting packages that can be now best compared to the early Mainframes of Ancient Computing as true museum pieces.
The emergence of Storage repositories and Database banks and their methods and interactions within the Modern Accounting framework as aided the different players in the market and lessened development constraints in the Fast changing world of Information Technology .
Major manual Accounting processes have been affected by a lot of these Technological improvements, enhanced in the sense that the present day Accountant calls “The Paper less office” an Utopia of Business paradise achievable by new emergent Technologies in the wake of the search for the Holy Grail of the perfect Accounting computing tools.
Not to leave out the effects of the Information Superhighway the Internet and its inherent advantages and disadvantages as it affects the Accounting world today from its transition as a mere University Science project in the mid and late 80s to the behemoth it is now.
From the inception of the terms Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Management Information Systems (MIS) the desire to satisfy the needs of Business and Accounting Software that have invaded the Software Market for Accounting packages has been enhanced by the competition for the acceptance of the practicing Accounting Firms and their Clients to Corporations requiring customizable products that can be tailored to their in house accounting needs.
This market, long recognized as very buoyant and profitable has made its goal to present the Accounting profession with Technology that will change the way they do business with each other. As Information technology as a tool has become a key determinant within every facet of endeavor these days , it became increasingly difficult for Accountants and other business professionals long regarded as pariahs of the Computing world to recognize the importance ,benefits both direct and indirect impacts of Technology as a serious tool to enhance Accounting performance and objectives.
These direct influences of Technology became rampant as Technological advancement went into overdrive from the early 90s .
Before then, Technology within Accounting systems was based on the collection and recording of data .The analyzing and Summarizing aspects of Accounting were implemented in rudimentary computer logic .The theories had existed for ages but the Tools needed in terms of Computing power and flexibility were actually non existent.
Technology as we know it was at its “infancy”. Complete crossover adaptations were usually long term projects engaged in by Governments and large Corporates or Multinationals who could afford the wherewithal of developing such Accounting packages.
This was the age of the early spreadsheet programs like Dbase, paradox Microsoft excel and the emergence of Database driven Applications like Oracle, Sybase ,Informix etc.
If we see the emergence of technology within modern day Accounting from the late 80s till date we can analyze the trends that have affected Accounting in the window of time when Technology was seen as an expensive business tool to possess until now when such technologies have not only shrunk in size and cost but their performance has increased in manifold ways.
What we can ask ourselves are relevant questions like
What affected what? Did Technology bring about today’s Modern day accounting methods or vice versa?
Did Modern Accounting contribute to the need for fast hardware and High Tech programming languages & operating Systems used to design Accounting Software that we have today?
Is their evolution into the careening complex systems of this present age a function of independent growth and development?
The marriage of Accounting and technology has been more profound within the following concepts.
Accounting processes are the necessary end products so Technology as a tool is required to satisfy the needs and desires of this end product.
The General Accounting package Structure
Accounting Packages generally exist in modules and a broad structure is given below.
General Ledger Entries:
X Character Account codes (Standardized Identification codes for Accounting Transactions)
Multiple Budgeting
Recurring Entries
Spreadsheet & General Data import from disparate systems
Accounts Receivable:
Invoicing
Open Items/Balance brought forwards
Aging & Depreciation
Automatic Invoicing &Receipts
Reconciliation
Accounts payable:
Vendor Tracking
Vendor Sales analysis
Vendor Receivables
Aging &Depreciation
Automatic Payments
Online Banking (Direct Debit/Credit)
Reconciliation
MIS (Management Information system):
Manual & Customized Reporting (P &L,balance sheets)
Batching
Data import
International Trade
Client tracking/Charting (CRM)
Reconciliation
Revenue/Profit tracking
Training
Platform Design:
Operating/system
Programming Query Languages/Database
Hardware/Redundancy Contingency
Disaster Recovery Site & Enterprise Specific
Telecommunications Collaboration &Messaging (Enterprise systems)
External System integration (Paperless document management)
Security (User level ,Functional Level,/Data Access levels, Authentication & Encryption)
Technical Support (CRM integration)
Storage &Networking
These are inexhaustible as Technology changes continue.
Today’s Accounting Package Leaders
Navision, Sage, Quickbooks, SAP Business One ,Oracle, Microsoft Small Business Accounting ,Accpac Advantage 5.3 etc are amongstthehundreds of Accounting packages out there today.
Moving on , from our definition of the various Accounting processes
Collecting of Data
Recording of Data
Analysis of Data
Summarizing of Data
Technology represents an ideal tool to carry out these procedures within the information Technology concepts from right when the First desires of Technical minds to manipulate data within the confines of each process of the Accounting definition.
For each Accounting process we can come up with a relevant & corresponding Technological tool that has faced the test of time to be what it is today.
Collecting of Data:
Computers collect data very well but from inception they have not done that very nicely .In short collecting data for the early computers was an uphill task that required extremely cumbersome processes As only recently has accounting moved away from the age old Bookkeeping practices of Manual Ledgers, Invoices, Cash books ,Trial balances, Tax preparation forms etc become prone to such factors as integrity, Consistency & Relevance .
Recording of such Data was also a gargantuan operation as the era of human Data entry operators posed a threat to the fluidity of systems processing. This was based on factors such as Human Efficiency and man’s ability to be prone to errors.
Today these are issues of the past.
Effective Data Collection has been proved to not only be achievable but can be done in an assembly line mode where entries like Tax forms and pay slips , etc can be generated electronically from the internet and via email etc. Electronic Ordering and invoicing is the norm with the overwhelming usage of Credit/debit Cards and other forms of Electronic payments thereby reducing the clutter and cost of paper commercial transactions.
This transition although capital intensive, allows for correct Accounting procedures like Auditing via electronic trails made possible because of the Electronic nature of such transactions. Data Access although largely a chief issue with respect to security and integrity of today’s Networked world has created mitigants and also improved and designated Accountants into specialists within such fields that act as kind of Electronic financial police within the Accounting industry.
Even documents long seen as impossible to do away with can now be fed into Optical Character recognition devices like Scanners which carry out he Job of preserving and verifying originals of Document long seen as essentially physical .
This documents were prone to wear and tear due to the modes in which they were stored.
Data retrieval was largely an Herculean task and involved clerks, filing assistants and large Rooms to store such Documents and files etc.
Today’s hi tech. Accounting offices look less like mini library shelves as they sport gleaming table boxes with Star Trek veneers and are labeled such names as Desktops PCs ,Laptops, LCD monitors ,Space age printers with Photocopiers and Scanners all in one plus fax machine .
Pocket Desktop Assistants (PDAs) now considered the primary tool of most mobile Accountants even putting laptops into a secondary sidekick role as these tiny contraptions can efficiently compete as mobile offices with their traditional counterparts. They combine mobile phones, answering services with Office Applications like spreadsheets ,databases, Email, Internet browsers etc all within the palm of your hand.
The Treo 600 and the Hp Ipaq Pocket PC5500 which are product leaders are amongst the numerous brands available in the market today.
All this within an Accountants office !
The ubiquitous Computer server room with a vast array of Servers either locally resident or centralized depending on the firms Enterprise status contain Databases that store Data and are powered by Hardware wizardry that increases yearly at a breakneck speed.
These Servers are faster, smaller, cheaper and run such technological marvels as Object Oriented Database e.g. Oracle 10G the latest in Grid Technology plus Enterprise Ebusiness suites featuring the latest in CRM’s (Customer Relationship Management techniques).
All these run on Operating systems like Unix, Windows, and Linux a recent innovation in Operating System Technology largely regarded as the Open Source community’s reply to dominating costs within Operating Sytems Application development and have largely reduced the prices of applications available on the market today. These systems are guaranteed of never going down and maintain the always on Demand computing parlance of “What you want is what you get . “
These days adverts like this below are rampant within most Accounting Technology publications for Faster innovations within the Paperless office .
“Get paperwork out of the way fast .
Free up your space and time with the new Scan Snap paper manager .It is fast it is simple and automatic .In seconds it turns a double sided document into an easy to manage pdf (Adobe’s portable document format ).It will reads business cards into your contact manager , It will scan documents into your email for faster delivery than faxing etc .etc It might even get you some coffee if you configure it right ! “
The Scan Snap Paper manager is a system developed by Fujitsu and available at a fraction of the cost they should be mostly because of the heavy competition.
In essence Collecting and recording Data has never been better for the accountant as the transition from raw data to Stored and recorded data takes minimum effort with virtually no Human intervention.
Analysis & summarizing
Within this Accounting process earlier defined, we are looking at the collation and rearrangement of data in preparation for Summary and Presentation to end users. Balance Sheets and Profit & Loss Account Statements are the key result areas here. These provide not only Business stakeholders with indicators towards Company’s profitability and performance but also other interested groups that require and request such information.
The relevance of Computer Science logic towards creating Accounting Software and thereby reducing myriads of mundane bookkeeping processes is vastly possible because Accounting in itself is basically a Science .Therefore logical applications can be drawn from its procedures that can be represented analogically within Flowcharts, pseudocode and Modern day business Modeling Languages like UML,XML,BPMN .
Due to the Standardization of Computing languages via Object oriented programming and Software Engineering ,vestibules of these models can be easily transmuted into Computer Applications that “all bugs equal” can be generated these days on the fly by ad hoc Applications in a matter of minutes as compared to before .
This speed is characterized by the emergence of Technology that thinks for itself with access to vast amounts of Data Storage running on Supercomputers with processor Speeds doing millions of calculations per nanosecond virtually unimaginable a few years ago.
The effects on Accounting on a larger scale presents the Accountant with an array of methods to assess Data. On the fly, On the go (mobile Computing) and with the certainty of Secure seamless transacting from Data Collection to Summary and Presentation.
Professional Impacts Today.
According to Worldcom CEO Bernie Ebbers testifying at his trial for fraud that he had no knowledge of illegal accounting practices at the company
“I know what I don’t know. To this day, I don’t know technology, and I don’t know finance or accounting.” 2005 , Time Magazine,14 March p.15.
Well, he has not been found guilty yet, but within the Business world the ignorance of these professions especially accounting can go a long way within your organization’s ability to forage way ahead of the competition. CEOs without Accounting Technology knowledge will definitely not reap the rewards they provide immediately and on the long run.
A structured framework has to be developed to address the educational needs of today’s practicing accountant
A broad understanding of Information Technology
Seeing Technology as a control mechanism within Business
Understanding the need for competence within these controls
Knowing the Accountant is a user of Technology
Using Accounting as an analyst tool for Accounting and other professional Systems
Accounting as a manager and designer of these systems
Under these guidelines the awareness of Accountants would be increased to the Impacts of Technology within business.
As Technology has graduated from child’s play to the juggernaut of today, niches have been created within financial Professions like Banking, Accounting, Trade and the Stock market. These evolving Job descriptions have created a new kind of financial profession.
In the Accounting world we know them as the Analysts.
They come in different forms as Credit, Risk, and Audit analysts Accountants that have specialized within their Fields .Today these analysts are gaining ground within the IT Financial Services industry as Certified Information Systems Auditors (CISA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) These are scions of the Information Systems Audit & Control Association (ISACA) Certifications.
These days we are finding Accountants drifting in large droves towards such certifications, who better to obtain such certifications but the accountant. Even though these certifications contain Information Technology topics the demand for qualified Accountants to obtain these qualifications is in high demand.
On the other end of the stick it has been observed that professionals with Computing background are also drifting towards not only such certifications but they are also realizing the need to not just be the Utility workforce but are seeing the importance of being known as Business Savvy Technologists hence the job Descriptions of System Analyst and Technical Architects .
All in all, we are certain of this dynamic shift in roles and attitudes towards the changing face of Technology .They are nonetheless unavoidable in the evolutionary process.
Next, we shall look at the future of the Accounting Profession/Professional and what sort of “Homo Sapiens” the effect of time and Technology will result in their operation and conduct.
Implications for the Future of Accounting
The Accountant of the future will be clearly distinct from those of the past and even the present. Therefore, the curriculum offered in our Schools of Technology and Accounting must clearly belie this apparent fact .Electronic Commerce is no longer some fuzzy logic theory postulated by grizzled professors in University Faculties and Laboratories.
It is now a Multi Billion dollar industry where Millions and Millions of transactions take place daily on a global scale within the Trade & commerce Industry of Nations. Online Banking is fast becoming the norm and this will drastically reduce the ratio of Physical Accounting firms to the online Accountant.
In the future virtually all aspects of accounting will be done online as Signatory Identification would have advanced to the point where Today’s biometric encryption and Cryptographic Techniques would have surpassed Security Intrusion Attempts by the ever present Hackers.
We are talking of situations where Accounting would be done based on an individual’s economic location status, as the certainty that Embedded Identification Sensors would be widespread and standard issue for citizens of the Earth then.
In much the same way Goods and Trade issues would bear on these facts as the E-business and Enterprise Resource planner Technology would allow a grid system of Interconnected transactions clearly following the Accounting double Entry principles as millions of transactions are carried out daily.
We are talking of people living in an age where cash would become an extinct notion as all payments would henceforth be embedded somehow within human entities from chip technologies which are already present. This clearly would affect the accounting profession in no small way.
Already the kind of analytical tools available to Accounting Technologists are quite sophisticated e.g Profit Driver from CCH , Comprehensive financial organizer from ACCPAC (www.accpac.com) and a host of other Accounting analytical tools.
It is also clear that as integration between systems increase, there is likely to be spawned a global Accounting Network Database system .
This system can be likened to a distributed Database with thousands of Networked Computers, Peripherals, order and invoicing objects , shipping and handling Tools and costs all vastly managed as Objects within one Global Accounting System Network that sees all Transactions and knows all Transactions.
This is largely been viewed as the epitome of object oriented Networks .A situation where each entity within the Accounting framework is classified as distinct in its creation , Recording or storage , its analysis or application and its influence within the global system of Economics and trade .
Accounting Double entry Techniques would become invaluable in a world where Accounting would be extended towards Human Beings and their accountability for existence!
This therefore shows how Accounting would transform into a system that intrudes into all aspects of Life as we see it today thereby showing how control systems would not only survive but proliferate into this gargantuan Accounting packages.
Just as a tsunami can be predicted from Earthquakes deep within the ocean .Economic Trends within Accounting discrepancies for example the failed energy group Enron can be predicted as anomalies arise within this Global Accounting Network.
Moving from a Star Wars approach, let us look at the roles in which Accountants would find themselves .
In as much as Information Technology practitioners are considered the Tools that drive business .Accountants are largely the Janitors of the whole Financial sector. This trend will reduce as Computers take over the business of Double Entries and Accountants ply their trade as more or less acting as Neuro Surgeons of the Corporate world .
Data mining/Warehousing would influence most decision making within organizations and these Accountants would largely be the CIOs and CEO , within the managerial team of organizations , not as Accountants but as Business Specialists and trend forecasters whilst Technology remains as the Foreman and Deep Sea Exploration Rigs of these Data Oil Wells .
Information Superhighway Impacts
The internet has long been able to spin off a kaleidoscope of solutions that have addressed the way business has been done since its proliferation .Some of these solutions have remained just that, as Toys that became extinct playthings, the dot com bust era affected Accounting professionals and speculations were rife that as the Ebusiness savvy of Accountants and other financial professionals was in its infancy at that time it was inevitable that farfetched information produced by Accountants then were tainted and unaware of such business risks.
These factors might have unknowingly contributed to the great depression of Internet Companies in the mid 90s.
Also the introduction of ASPs (Application Service providers) was a means of providing on demand software via the Internet so that we do not need to ever see a Cdrom for installation of applications .
The plan was for serving such applications over the internet was seen within the Accounting world as a novelty because of the anywhere anytime approaches of Application Service provision.
Sadly, this fizzled out in the mid to late 90s as Bandwidth provision a key component of this approach was still in its early stages of development, then 56kb or dial up connections were completely unsuitable for such deployments.
Any smart person would look at ASPs then as a situation where the idea was good but the demand was uneducated as to the benefits .Accountants as it was then were definitely uninterested as they were trying to come to terms with Computers anyway.
In the Technology world of today especially in Information Technology this and any such assumptions are regarded as reachable and in some cases surmountable beyond belief as breakthroughs are achieved almost weekly within the numerous research labs around the world.
Today and the future ASPS are back for good, Broadband is gaining a strong grounding. It is common place to have 1mb per second connections even in residential homes now at costs which five years ago would have looked impossible.
NAS (network attached storage) and SANS (Storage area Networks) are today powering Enterprise Accounting applications across the globe. The future is here as ideas envisaged for future deployments have actually been embraced by Accountants now hence the return of ASPs.
Companies like RIA’s checkpoint (https://ria.thomson.com/oneplace) which is one United States Industry leader in Online Tax and Accounting Research. Their principal goal is to help Individuals and Accountants carry out their Tax research so that different Tax laws across States within the US can be instantaneously generated efficiently and reliably.
Conclusion
Security Issues have been penciled down as the chief constraint that will affect Modern Accounting .
Privacy:As e-commerce increases , new web technologies will come on stream traditionally posing security threats from Hi Tech Hackers which by then and even now awill become financial geniuses .Internet Terrorism and cybercrime would escalate and privacy will become a major issue for many Accounting clients and Customers.
The Accountant with sensitive data transfers must himself posses adequate
technical expertise to face these threats.
Many Accounting Firms might go the way of Swiss & Cayman Island Banking where closeted Banking is done within Geographical Boundaries that restrict International Standards of Finance and therefore the Networked Accounting Community.
The point to note here is that this will be restricted to private limited firms that will not be enveloped within the Global Stock Exchange of the future.
Nonetheless, however which way we look at it Accounting and Technology are here to stay.
Appendix
Questionnaire:
If asked to rate a question kindly rate from 1 to Ten marks with 1 being the highest.
1 .If you had your way would you like Accounting to be so closely linked with Technology
2. As an Accountant what area do you think technology has improved your overall understanding of Accounting.
3. As an Accountant what area do you think technology can improve on within the Accounting profession.
4. Are today’s Accounting packages as user friendly as they used to be 10years ago. If they have improved please indicate.
5. How difficult was it for you to adapt to Accounting Technology from former ways of doing things .
6. Has accounting become more readily accessible to professionals without Accounting backgrounds more easily.
7. Do these professionals pose threats to Accounting Jobs availability.
8. Would you like to see Accounting &Technology treated as a single course of study more often within our University /Colleges Structure.
9. Name and rate your ideal Accounting Technology tool
10.How do you rate Privacy and Security in Accounting as a result of modern day technology, are there any evident risks if so rate these risks
11. Has the tool in 6 been an adequate ROI (Return on investment)
12. With the international Appeal of most Accounting Packages today , how has it affected your abilities to be an international Accountant.
13What are your views on Outsourcing Accounting as a result of Technological Advancements.
14. Looking into the future what do you see for Accounting Technology in say the next 10 years .
15.Do you have more respect and Understanding for Technology as a whole Rate Technology Generally .
References
ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) 2004 Paper 1.1, 1.2,1.3 recommended Texts ,FTC Foulks Lynch, Berkshire.
Lombardo, C. 2005, ‘Cleaning out Paper’ Accounting Technology Magazine, January 2005,p.56.
Kao, Y. (2002), ‘Impact of information technology on public accounting firm productivity ‘Journal of Information Systems’ .Available from:
https://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3.asp?docid=1G1:94770461&ctr… [Accessed 11th march 2005].
Glossary &Definitions
Abacus: Ancient calculating device
ASB: Accounting Standards Board Regulatory body of Accounting in the UK
Babbage: Analytical Engine One of the first attempts by Charles Babbage to create computers a mechanical marvel that inspired today’s masterpieces
Balance Sheet: Accounting statement that shows the assets and liabilities of a Business Entity
Bookkeeping: The process of recording business transactions into the accounting records. The “books” are the documents in which the records of transactions are kept. Available from:
www.powerhomebiz.com/Glossary/glossary-B.htm [Accessed 11th march 2005].
BPMN: defines a Business Process Diagram (BPD), which is based on a flowcharting technique
tailored for creating graphical models of business process operations. A Business Process Model,
then, is a network of graphical objects, which are activities (i.e., work) and the flow controls that
define their order of performance. Stephen A. White, IBM Corporation
Broadband: Internet deployment many times faster than traditional dialup..
COBOL (common business oriented languages) Early Business Computer programming language largely extinct now alongside its programmers
CISA: Certified Information Systems Auditors
CISM: Certified Information Security Manager
CRM: Customer Relationship Management
EDI: Electronic Data Interchange
FRS: Financial Reporting Standards of the Accounting Standards board of the UK
ISACA: Information Systems Audit & Control Association
Java: Object oriented Computer programming language developed by Sun Micro Systems.
MIS: Management Information Systems
Mobile Computing: Usage of Computers outside the Office
NAS: Network attached storage
Pocket Desktop Assistants (PDAs) Hand held Computer
P & L: Profit & Loss Account Statements: Accounting Statement that shows the Net profit and general performance of a Business Entity.
SANS: Storage area Networks
Sarbanes Oxley Act :The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (often shortened to SOX) is legislation enacted in response to the high-profile Enron and WorldCom financial scandals to protect shareholders and
the general public from accounting errors and fraudulent practices in the enterprise. Available from: :https://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid19_gci920030,00.html [Accessed 11th march
2005].
XML: Short for Extensible Markup Language, a specification developed by the W3C.
XML is a pared-down version of SGML, designed especially for Web documents. It allows designers to create their own customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations. Available from: https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/X/XML.html [Accessed 11th march 2005].
UML Short for Unified Modeling Language, a general-purpose notational language for specifying and visualizing complex software, especially large, object-oriented Available from: https://www.webopedia.com projects.[Accessed 11th march
2005].