Information technologies impact every aspect of accounting, including financial reporting,
managerial accounting, auditing, and tax. The nature of the work done by accountants
continues to evolve as these technologies advance. For example, less than 30 years
ago, accountants could have spent much of their day footing ledgers and making hand
calculations. Today, of course, accountants use the many helpful functions in spreadsheet
software, and update or change calculations instantly, instead of the days it would have
takenwith paper and pencil. Internet technologies continue to change theway accountants
do things. And because most accounting systems are now computerized, accountants must
understand software and system processes to effect and evaluate systems of internal
control. Business and auditing failures continue to force the profession to emphasize
internal controls and to rethink the state of assurance services. As a result, the subject of
accounting information systems (AIS) will continue to be an important part of the new
vision of the accounting profession.
The purpose of this book is to help students understand basic AIS concepts. Exactly
what comprises these AIS concepts is subject to some interpretation, and is certainly
changing over time, but most accounting professionals believe that it is the knowledge
that accountants will need for understanding and using information technologies and for
knowing how an AIS gathers and transforms data into useful decision-making information.
In this edition of our textbook, we include the core concepts of accounting information
systems indicated by chapter in the table below. The book is flexible enough that instructors
may choose to cover the chapters in any order.