会计电算化外文文献.docx

1、会计电算化外文文献ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF A COMPUTERIZED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM作者: Danciu, RaduAbstract: The study aims to present the criteria for assessing the performance of a computerized accounting system starting with completeness, ergonomics, information integration, flexibility, adaptability, accessi

2、bility, adaptability, accessibility, adaptability, safety and security in the operations. The studys conclusions formulate a set of minimum requirements for the creation, implementation and use of a computerized accounting system. Key words: computerized accounting system, ergonomics, information in

3、tegration, flexibility, adaptability, accessibility, operational safety 1. Introduction The deliverance of an independent opinion, by a group of specialists, referring to the informational system used for organizing and conducting the accounting is one of the modern business management goals. Among

4、the objectives that must be considered in the process of assessing the financial and accounting system we can mention: * checking the operating systems correctness, completeness, flexibility, adaptability, cost of maintenance, ergonomics and operational safety * expressing an opinion on the computer

5、ized accounting systems usage facilities and efficiency (computing and software), as well as on the businesss place in the informational economic environments, before and after its purchase/creation. * formulating some proposals regarding the achievement of the objectives, the informatics systems de

6、velopment and the elimination of the deficiencies consigned in the assessment reports. In order to be able to quantitatively and qualitatively asses the computerized accounting system one must answer at least the following questions: What is the systems degree of flexibility? Is the system ergonomic

7、 and accessible? Is the system adaptable? Is the system complete? Does it cover the information management needs of the enterprise? What kind of operational safety does the system offer? Do the programming language and the databases satisfy the requirements of an enterprises dynamic modelling system

8、? What are the mutations produced by such a system in the financial and accounting management? After the acquisition or creation of a computerized accounting system and its implementation, the system must undergo an audit to determine the weaknesses in the systems usage. The auditing of the informat

9、ion systems is a very complex operation and it involves the auditor expressing his opinion on real time data processing, database management, system integration, the work with computer networks, etc. The claims for an audit of the computerized accounting system are very high, which involves the impl

10、ication of some specialists in accounting and in the field of applications design and implementation. Computerized systems audit should include the general examination of the computerized accounting system and the analytical examination of each application individually. Among the objectives of the c

11、omputerized accounting systems general examination we may include : * assessing the completeness of the information system, therefore the coverage degree of the accounting needs for organization and management * assessing the integration degree of the systems applications, of the way they communicat

12、e * assessing the flexibility and adaptability * assessing the accessibility, reliability and security * assessing the way the minimum conditions to be met by the computerized systems are being respected * assessing the delimitation procedure for the attributions and responsibilities of the people i

13、nvolved in the computerized systems management * assessing the way the computerized system complies with the accounting principles and methods * assessing the systems ergonomics. Among the objectives of the computerized accounting systems analytical examination we may include : * assessing each appl

14、ications architecture * assessing the integrity and the integrality of the systems main functions and of their usage possibility * assessing the effects of using the application functions and of every functions usage degree * detecting function overlaps in the accountings implementation * establishi

15、ng and evaluating the applications additional functions * assessing the automation degree of accounting projects * assessing the degree of detail in the information description, namely the adequacy or inadequacy of the informational attributes necessary to identify the transactions, events and objec

16、ts * assessing the menus of data collection and validation * assessing the fairness of the data processing and systematization procedures * assessing the manner of creating, consulting and printing the accounting reports as well as their informational content * assessing the manner of database prese

17、ntation and consultation * assessing the level of maintenance and system administration functions accomplishment To facilitate the discovery of an answer for the questions formulated above and to detail the objectives of the computerized accounting systems general and analytical examination, the sys

18、tems main characteristics will be described: flexibility, adaptability, ergonomics, accessibility, reliability, integration and operational safety. 2. Qualitative characteristics of the computerized accounting system 2.1. Flexibility and adaptability The flexibility of the computerized applications

19、refers both to the multitude of options available to create a function, as well as to the possibility of going behind some commands or application functions without altering the collected, processed and archived databases. All the applications functions must be characterized by flexibility, namely:

20、User-defined sort keys should provide the opportunity to choose attributes ordering information by seeking data from a database or a table. * The data collecting function should provide at least the following facilities: * accessing auxiliary databases in order to choose data when collecting it thro

21、ugh a control key / a command button. For example, when collecting an account, the user, by pressing a key / button control should be able to access the chart of accounts in order to select the desired account * allowing the user, when using the key / command button, to add new items to auxiliary da

22、tabases or modify existing ones when the data he is searching for is not there * displaying the processed and stored data, useful in the collection process, such as: displaying the quantity available on stock and the stocks output unit price or showing the invoices to be paid to suppliers at the mom

23、ent when the payment data is being collected, etc. * the data collection function should allow deletion or modification of not validated data * ensure the possibility of operating or de-operating data at a documents level * multi-criteria search and selection of data in order to choose the data by m

24、ultiple informational attributes combined with mathematical operators: equal = lower , lower and equal =, including $ different #. * the multiple classification of data by one or more informational attributes, for example: in the case of stock entries sorting can be done by input document type, docu

25、ment number and date, etc. There are two types of ordering keys for flexible applications: - ordering keys defined by software - user defined ordering keys. The user defined ordering keys must provide him with the opportunity to choose the informational attributes based on which he wants the orderin

26、g of data from a database or a table to be made. * the generating, consulting and listing function for the financial and accounting statements must offer at least the following facilities: * obtaining accounting reports for any period of time by indicating the starting and closing dates for informat

27、ion to be included in the report * obtaining accounting reports both in foreign currencies and in lei when indicating a different currency than the domestic one * getting full reports or only for a list of indicated entities / objects , such as: accounts, distributors, partners, stock items, etc. *

28、displaying in screen mode all the financial and accounting statements made before listing * listing of the reports with the following options type of printer (local or n network/printer name) - type of printing ( normal or reversed ) - first page - final page - documents margins, etc. * the processi

29、ng or auxiliary database consultation function must at least provide the following facilities: * prohibiting additions, changes and deletion from processed and archived * multi-criteria search and selection of data * enabling the listing of selected data * the applications parameterization and manag

30、ement function should provide at least the following facilities: * saving / restoring data and software from multiple drives. Thus, before performing these operations, the choice of the magnetic disk drive to / from which the backup / restore of data or software will be performed must be leftup to t

31、he user * facilitating the access to data belonging to any processing period by simply pointing it out * the possibility to update the readymade applications without intervention from the producer, based on the new software package provided, by using the software update option. The lack of options l

32、isted above leads to the creation of a system which is rigid and cumbersome in use. The existence of functions / options is not the only one important, but also the programmers and analysts tenacity in putting them into the right place , the control keys / control buttons having to be easy to remember, and to be the same for the same function / option in all applications. In fact, achieving a high flexibility of an integrated computerized system is the result of combi