<s>
An	O
accounting	O
as	O
an	O
information	O
system	O
(	O
AIS	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
system	O
of	O
collecting	O
,	O
storing	B-General_Concept
and	O
processing	O
financial	O
and	O
accounting	O
data	O
that	O
are	O
used	O
by	O
decision	O
makers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
system	I-Application
is	O
generally	O
a	O
computer-based	O
method	O
for	O
tracking	O
accounting	O
activity	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
information	O
technology	O
resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
are	O
designed	O
to	O
support	O
all	O
accounting	O
functions	O
and	O
activities	O
including	O
auditing	O
,	O
financial	O
accounting	O
porting	O
,	O
-managerial/	O
management	O
accounting	O
and	O
tax	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
resolve	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
above	O
issues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
were	O
designed	O
for	O
payroll	O
functions	O
in	O
1970s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
,	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
were	O
developed	O
"	O
in-house	O
"	O
as	O
no	O
packaged	O
solutions	O
were	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Today	O
,	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
are	O
more	O
commonly	O
sold	O
as	O
prebuilt	O
software	O
packages	O
from	O
large	O
vendors	O
such	O
as	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
Sage	O
Group	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
and	O
Oracle	B-Application
where	O
it	O
is	O
configured	O
and	O
customized	O
to	O
match	O
the	O
organization	O
's	O
business	O
processes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
connectivity	O
and	O
consolidation	O
between	O
other	O
business	O
systems	O
increased	O
,	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
were	O
merged	O
with	O
larger	O
,	O
more	O
centralized	O
systems	O
enterprise	O
resource	O
planning	O
(	O
ERP	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
ERP	O
,	O
a	O
system	O
such	O
as	O
an	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
system	I-Application
is	O
built	O
as	O
a	O
module	O
integrated	O
into	O
a	O
suite	O
of	O
applications	O
that	O
can	O
include	O
manufacturing	O
,	O
supply	O
chain	O
,	O
human	O
resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Today	O
,	O
Cloud-based	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
are	O
increasingly	O
popular	O
for	O
both	O
SMEs	O
and	O
large	O
organisations	O
for	O
lower	O
costs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
adoption	O
of	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
,	O
many	O
businesses	O
have	O
removed	O
low	O
skills	O
,	O
transactional	O
,	O
and	O
operational	O
accounting	O
roles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
AIS	O
typically	O
follows	O
a	O
multitier	B-Operating_System
architecture	I-Operating_System
separating	O
the	O
presentation	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
,	O
application	O
processing	O
and	O
data	O
management	O
in	O
distinct	O
layers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
include	O
transactional	O
data	O
generated	O
from	O
the	O
core	O
business	O
processes	O
(	O
purchasing	O
,	O
inventory	O
,	O
accounting	O
)	O
or	O
static	O
,	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
that	O
is	O
referenced	O
when	O
processing	O
data	O
(	O
employee	O
and	O
customer	O
account	O
records	O
and	O
configuration	O
settings	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
an	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
system	I-Application
,	O
an	O
accounts	O
payable	O
clerk	O
enters	O
the	O
invoice	O
,	O
provided	O
by	O
a	O
vendor	O
,	O
into	O
the	O
system	O
where	O
it	O
is	O
then	O
stored	O
in	O
the	O
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
the	O
accounts	O
payable	O
department	O
pays	O
the	O
vendor	O
,	O
the	O
system	O
's	O
application	O
processing	O
tier	B-Operating_System
performs	O
a	O
three-way	O
matching	O
where	O
it	O
automatically	O
matches	O
the	O
amounts	O
on	O
the	O
invoice	O
against	O
the	O
amounts	O
on	O
the	O
receipt	O
and	O
the	O
initial	O
purchase	O
order	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
big	O
advantage	O
of	O
computer-based	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
is	O
that	O
they	O
automate	O
and	O
streamline	O
reporting	O
,	O
develop	O
advanced	O
modelling	O
and	O
support	O
data	O
mining	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
system	I-Application
pulls	O
data	O
from	O
the	O
centralized	O
database	O
,	O
processes	O
and	O
transforms	O
it	O
and	O
ultimately	O
generates	O
a	O
summary	O
of	O
that	O
data	O
as	O
information	O
that	O
can	O
now	O
be	O
easily	O
consumed	O
and	O
analyzed	O
by	O
business	O
analysts	O
,	O
managers	O
or	O
other	O
decision	O
makers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
most	O
of	O
these	O
scandals	O
were	O
rooted	O
in	O
the	O
companies	O
 '	O
accounting	O
practices	O
,	O
much	O
of	O
the	O
emphasis	O
of	O
Sarbanes	O
Oxley	O
was	O
put	O
on	O
computer-based	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Today	O
,	O
AIS	O
vendors	O
tout	O
their	O
governance	B-Application
,	I-Application
risk	I-Application
management	I-Application
,	I-Application
and	I-Application
compliance	I-Application
features	O
to	O
ensure	O
business	O
processes	O
are	O
robust	O
and	O
protected	O
and	O
the	O
organization	O
's	O
assets	O
(	O
including	O
data	O
)	O
are	O
secured	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
large	O
and	O
SMEs	O
are	O
now	O
adopting	O
cost	O
effective	O
cloud-based	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
system	I-Application
in	O
recent	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
existing	O
automated	O
accounting	B-Application
systems	I-Application
use	O
typical	O
databases	O
(	O
DBF	O
,	O
MS	O
SQL	O
,	O
MS	O
ACCESS	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2020	O
accounting	B-Application
software	I-Application
used	O
94%	O
of	O
pollees	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
steps	O
to	O
implement	O
an	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
system	I-Application
are	O
as	O
follows	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
a	O
goal	O
of	O
an	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
system	I-Application
to	O
provide	O
information	O
that	O
is	O
relevant	O
,	O
meaningful	O
,	O
reliable	O
,	O
useful	O
,	O
and	O
current	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tools	O
Online	O
resources	O
are	O
available	O
to	O
assist	O
with	O
strategic	O
planning	O
of	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Accounting	B-Application
Information	I-Application
System	I-Application
is	O
characterize	O
by	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
different	O
approaches	O
and	O
methodologies	O
Over	O
the	O
past	O
50	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
technological	O
advancement	O
,	O
traditional	O
accounting	O
practice	O
will	O
shift	O
to	O
accounting	B-Application
information	I-Application
systems	I-Application
practice	O
.	O
</s>
