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Accounting Information Systems

Chatfield, Michael, and Vangermeersch, Richard, eds. (1996). TECHNOLOGY
The History of Accounting: An International Encyclopedia. New Contemporary technological capabilities permit a range of
York: Garland.
possible designs for an AIS. Yet, the basic structure of a
Edwards, James Don (1988). History of Public Accounting in the
system continues to include essentially the same three
United States. New York: Garland.
components: input, processing, and output.
Hills, George H. (1982). The Law of Accounting and Financial
Statements (2nd ed.). New York: Garland.
Input. The input devices commonly associated with an
Johnson, H. Thomas, and Kaplan, Robert S. (1987). Relevance AIS include standard personal computers (PCs) or work-
Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management Accounting. Boston:
stations running applications, scanning devices for stan-
Harvard Business School Press.
dardized data entry, and electronic communication
Littleton, A.C. (1988). Accounting Evolution to 1900 (2nd ed.).
devices for electronic data interchange (EDI) and elec-
New York: Garland.
tronic commerce (e-commerce). In addition, many finan-
Lockwood, Jeremiah (1938). “Early University Education in
cial systems come “Web enabled” to allow devices that
Accountancy.” Accounting Review 38(2): 131-143.
connect to the World Wide Web AIS access.
Miranti, Paul J., Jr. (1990). Accountancy Comes of Age: The
Development of an American Profession. Chapel Hill: Univer-
sity of North Carolina Press. Processing. Basic processing is achieved through com-
Previts, Gary John, and Merino, Barbara Dubis (1998). A His- puter systems ranging from individual PCs to large-scale
tory of Accountancy in the United States: The Cultural Signifi- enterprise servers. Conceptually, however, the underlying
cance of Accounting. Columbus: Ohio State University Press. processing model is still the double-entry accounting sys-
Reid, Glenda E., Acken, Brenda T., and Jancura, Elise G. tem invented many centuries ago.
(1987). “An Historical Perspective on Women in Account-
ing.” The Journal of Accountancy 163(5) (May): 338-355. Output. The output devices used include computer dis-
Study on Establishment of Accounting Principles. (1972) “Rec- plays, impact and nonimpact printers, and electronic
ommendation on the Study on Establishment of Accounting communication devices for EDI and e-commerce. The
Principles.” The Journal of Accountancy 133(5) (May): 66-71.
output content may encompass almost any type of finan-
Wootton, Charles W., and Kemmerer, Barbara E. (1996). “The cial report, from budgets and tax reports to multinational
Changing Genderization of Bookkeeping in the United financial statements and sustainability reports.
States, 1870–1930.” Business History Review 70(4) (Winter):
541-586.
Wootton, Charles W., and Kemmerer, Barbara E. (2000). “The MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
Changing Genderization of the Accounting Workforce in the SYSTEMS
US, 1930–1990.” Accounting, Business & Financial History Management information systems (MISs) are interactive
10(2) (July): 303-324. human/machine systems that support decision making for
users both in and out of traditional organizational bound-
aries. These systems are used to support an organization’s
Carol J. Normand
Charles W. Wootton daily operational activities, current and future tactical
decisions, and overall strategic direction. MISs are made
up of several major applications, including the financial
information and human resources systems.
ACCOUNTING
INFORMATION Financial Information Applications. Financial informa-
tion applications make up the heart of AIS in practice.
SYSTEMS Modules commonly implemented include: general ledger,
An accounting information system (AIS) combines the payables, procurement/purchasing, receivables, billing,
study and practice of accounting with the design, imple- inventory, assets, projects, and budgeting.
mentation, and monitoring of an information system.
Such a system involves applying modern information Human Resource Applications. Human resource applica-
technology resources to traditional accounting controls tions make up another major part of modern information
and methods to provide users the financial information systems. Modules commonly integrated with the AIS
necessary to manage their organizations. This system is include: human resources, benefits administration, pen-
often a component of an entity’s management informa- sion administration, payroll, and time and labor report-
tion system. ing.

10 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE, SECOND EDITION