ABSTRACT

A system of organizational control is intended to provide motivation for organizational members to take actions and make decisions consistent with the organizations objectives. Over the years there has been a call to link accounting more closely to management, little advancement in our understanding of the role accounting in managing organizations work has been made.

In this term paper, I will x-ray the roles of an accountant in an organization more so as it affects my case study: OCEANIC BANK PLC.

I will equally discuss the fundamental process of information systems including the different process that are involved.

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF OCEANIC BANK PLC

Oceanic Bank was incorporated as a private limited liability company on March 26, 1990 with an authorized share capital of N25million

comprising of 25million ordinary shares of N1.00 each of which 20 million shares were issued and fully paid. The Bank received its

commercial banking license on April 10, 1990 and commenced operations on June 12, 1990. In January 2001, the Central Bank of

Nigeria upgraded the commercial banking license to a universal banking license.

The Bank converted to a public limited liability company on May 26, 2004 when its shares were subdivided into ordinary shares of 50

kobo each. Its shares were also listed by introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on June 25, 2004.

In 2005, Oceanic Bank consolidated with the erstwhile International Trust Bank (ITB) to form a superior, more formidable institution

that is now the 5th largest in Nigeria in terms of total asset base as well as one of the fastest growing financial institutions in the

country.

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1.2 BUSINESS

The principal business of the Bank is the provision of a wide range of services, which include consumer and retail banking, corporate finance, treasury & funds management, tax banking, personal banking, e-banking, public sector services and investment banking amongst others. The Bank is situated in all states of the country and has over 191 branches, which are all linked online.

In 2006, Oceanic Bank signed an agreement with Cominvest (the asset management subsidiary of CommerzBank AG) to become one of the banks appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to manage the Federal Government external reserves. This agreement also provides for training assistance that would help Oceanic Bank become a leader in the provision of world-class asset management service in Nigeria. This new relationship will boost the current correspondent relationships with Deutsche Bank, New York, London & Frankfurt as well as Belgolaise Bank, London

1.3 AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

In the last year, Oceanic Bank was the recipient of several awards and distinctions from the apex banking regulator (CBN) and several local & foreign independent groups. One such award was the “2006 Bank of the Year” prestigious award by the Banker Magazine, a subsidiary of Financial Times of London. In addition to this, we have been awarded the following:

Best bank under the Small and Medium Enterprises Equity Investment Scheme (SMEEIS)” award by the Central Bank of Nigeria

(CBN)Top 20 banks in Africa: December 2006 by The Banker, Financial Times, London

2003 Central Bank Of Nigeria (“CBN”) Bankers Committee Award for Best Bank in Real Sector Financing

Highly Ethical Bank - Adjudged by CBN Bankers Committee on Real Sector Financing Award 2003 Western Union Money Transfer Award “WUMT” for surpassing set target

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Largest Participating Bank Clearing Center “PBCC” in the Nigerian Automated Clearing System

Leading investor in Small and Medium Industries Equity Investment Scheme (“SMIEIS”)

Received an accolade of been one of the Top 5 African Stocks (outside South Africa) by Reuters. All these achievements are in recognition of the Banks committed and focused management team and staff functions “to provide excellent and comprehensive services to all customers in a friendly environment using qualified and experienced personnel and appropriate technology

1.4 INCORPORATION AND SHARE CAPITAL HISTORY

Oceanic Bank was incorporated as a private limited liability company on March 26, 1990 with an authorized share capital of N25million comprising of 25million ordinary shares of N1.00 each of which 20 million shares were issued and fully paid. The Bank received its commercial banking license on April 10, 1990 and commenced operations on June 12, 1990. In January 2001, the commercial banking license was upgraded to a universal banking license.

The Bank converted to a public limited liability company on May 26, 2004 when its shares were subdivided into ordinary shares of 50 kobo each. Its shares were also listed by introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on June 25, 2004.

In 2005, Oceanic Bank consolidated with the erstwhile International Trust Bank (ITB) to form a superior, more formidable institution that is now the 5th largest in Nigeria in terms of total asset base as well as the fastest growing financial institution in the country.

As at September 30, 2006 the Company had an Authorized share capital of N6,000,000,000 and a paid up capital of N4,656,803,650.

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This was subsequently increased at the AGM held on January 22, 2007 to N7,500,000,000 and N5,821,003,313 in authorized and Issued share capital respectively.

1.5 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

CHAPTER 2

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THE ROLE OF AN ACCOUNTANT IN OCEANIC BANK PLC

Before we analyze the role of an accountant in Oceanic Bank Plc, it is expedient to define who actually is an accountant.

An ACCOUNTANT is one who is skilled in the practice of accounting or who is in charge of public or private accounts. An accountant is responsible for reporting financial reports, whether for a company or for an individual, in accordance with government and regulatory authority rules.

The accounting function in Oceanic Bank plc is critical in the sense that it is concerned with the planning for finance, the provision and control to finance and funds to ensure equitability, propriety, probity and accountability. To enhance this function, Oceanic Bank PLC did put in place feedback mechanism as a means to empower the accountant to measure performance and effectively control activities so as to reflect the expectations of the stakeholders in the organization.

An accountant in every egalitarian, modern business must possess a background encompassed with the following;

a. Financial management and accounting skillb. Budgeting and financial forecasting skill c. Full knowledge of accounting package software skilld. Good organizations and management skille. Cash disbursement and record keeping skillf. Good analytical and reasoning skillg. Good leadership and supervising skillh. Preparation of financial statement skill

The accountants role in Oceanic Bank Plc include internal reporting to managers for use in making non – routine decisions and in formulating major plans and policies. The other role of the accountant is the external reporting to shareholders, the government and other outside parties for use in investor decisions, income tax collection and a variety of other applications and purposes.

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2.1 CLASIFICATION OF ACCOUNTING

Accounting is sub – divided into three broad areas which include: Cost accounting, management accounting and financial accounting. I will offer their definition below:

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING: Management accounting or managerial accounting is concerned with the provisions and use of accounting information to managers within organizations, to provide them with the basis to make informed business decisions that will allow them to be better equipped in their management and control functions. Managers use management accounting information to choose, communicate and implement strategy. They also use management accounting information to coordinate product design, productivity and marketing decisions. Management accounting focuses on internal reporting.

COST ACCOUNTING: Cost accounting establishes budget and actual cost of operations, processes, departments or product and the analysis of variances, profitability or social use of funds. The cost accountant provides information for management accountants and financial accountant. The cost accountant measures and reports financial and non-financial information relating to the cost of acquiring or utilizing resources in an organization. Cost accounting includes those parts of both management accounting and financial accounting in which cost information is collected or analyzed.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING: Financial accounting focuses in reporting to external parties. It measures and records business transactions and provides financial statements that are based on generally accepted accounting principles. Managers are responsible for the financial statements issued to investors, government regulators and other parties outside the organization. Executive compensation is often directly affected by the numbers in these financial statements. It is no gain saying the fact that managers are interested in both Financial and Management accounting.

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2.2 DUTIES OF AN ACCOUNTANT IN OCEANIC BANK PLC

Consistent with other roles in today's corporation, accountants have a dual reporting relationship. As a strategic partner and provider of decision based financial and operational information, accountants are responsible for managing the business team and at the same time having to report relationships and responsibilities to the corporation's finance organization.

The activities accountants provide inclusive of forecasting and planning, performing variance analysis, reviewing and monitoring costs inherent in the business are ones that have dual accountability to both finance and the business team. Conversely, the preparation of certain financial reports, reconciliations of the financial data to source systems, risk and regulatory reporting will be more useful to the corporate finance team as they are charged with aggregating certain financial information from all segments of the corporation. One widely held view of the progression of the accounting and finance career path is that the various divisions of accounting is harmonized to produce appropriate accounting information to the management and shareholders. Consistent with the notion of value creation, accountants help drive the success of the business

In Oceanic Bank Plc that derive much of its profits from the information economy, IT costs are a significant source of uncontrollable spending, which in size is often the greatest corporate cost after total compensation costs and property related costs. A function of accounting in such organizations is to work closely with the IT department to provide IT Cost Transparency.

For the purpose of this term paper let me summarize the duties of an accountant in Oceanic bank below:

1. Prepare profit and loss statements and monthly closing and cost accounting reports.

2. Compile and analyze financial information to prepare entries to accounts, such as general ledger accounts, and document business transactions.

3. Establish, maintain, and coordinate the implementation of accounting and accounting control procedures.

4. Analyze and review budgets and expenditures for local, state, federal, and private funding, contracts, and grants.

5. Monitor and review accounting and related system reports for accuracy and completeness.

6. Prepare and review budget, revenue, expense, payroll entries, invoices, and other accounting documents.

7. Analyze revenue and expenditure trends and recommend appropriate budget levels, and ensure expenditure control.

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8. Explain billing invoices and accounting policies to staff, vendors and clients.

9. Resolve accounting discrepancies. 10.Recommend, develop and maintain financial data bases, computer

software systems and manual filing systems. 11.Supervise the input and handling of financial data and reports for the

company's automated financial systems. 12.Interact with internal and external auditors in completing audits. 13.Other duties as assigned

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CHAPTER 3

FUNDAMENTAL PROCESS OF INFORMATION SYSTEM

An information system is a system that accepts data resources as input an processes them into information products as output. An information system depends on the resources of people ( end users and IS specialist ), hardware (machines and media ), software (programs and procedures), data (data and knowledge bases) and networks (communications media and network supply port) to perform input, processing, output, storage and control activities that convert data resources into information products.

3.1 RESOURCES NEEDED FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS: This information system model highlights the relationships among components and activities of information systems; it provides a framework that emphasizes for major concepts that can be applied to all types of information systems: people, hardware, software, data and networks are the five basic resources of information.

People resources include end users and IS specialists, hardware resources consist of machines and media, software resources include programs and procedures, data resources can include data and knowledge bases, and network resources include communications media and networks.

Data resources are transferred by information processing activities into a variety of information products for end users.

PEOPLE RESOURCES: People are required for the operation of all information systems. These people include end users and information systems specialists. End users are people who use an information systems or the information it produces. They can be accountants, salespersons, customers, managers etc. While IS specialists are people who develop and operate information systems. They can include system analysts, programmers, computer operators etc.

HARDWARE RESOURCES: The concept of hardware includes all physical device and materials used in information processing. Specifically it includes not only

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machines such as computers and other equipments but also all data media, i.e tangible objects on which data are recorded, from sheets of paper to magnetic disks.

SOFTWARE RESOURCES: The concept of software resources includes all sets of information processing instructions. This generic concept of software includes not only the sets of operating instructions called programs which direct and control computer hardware but also sets information processing instructions needed by people called procedures.

DATE RESOURCES: data are more than the raw material of information systems. The concept of data resources has been broadened by managers and information systems professionals. Data can take many forms including traditional alpha numeric data composed of numbers and alphabetical and other characters that describe business transactions and other events and entities.

NETWORK RESOURCES: Telecommunications networks like the internet, intranets, and extranets have become essential to the successful operators of all types of organizations and the computer based information systems. The concept of network resources emphasizes that communication networks are a fundamental resources of all information systems.

3. 2 TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Conceptually information systems in the real world can be classified in several different ways. For example several types of information of information systems can be classified conceptually as either operations or management information systems.

OPERATIONS SUPPORT SYSTEMS: Information systems have always been needed to process data generated by and used in business operations. Such operations support system produces a variety of information products for internal and external use. They include: transaction processing systems, process control systems and enterprise collaboration systems.

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MANAGEMENT SUPPORT SYSTEMS: When information systems focus on providing information and support for effective decision making by managers, they are called Management Support Systems. Conceptually several major types of information support a variety of managers end users responsibilities viz; Management Information Systems, Decision Support Systems, and Executive Information Systems.

3.3 PROCESSES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Taking a closer look at each of the basic information processing activity that occur in an information processing system, one will identify and recognize: Input, Processing, Output, Storage and Control activities taking place in any information system under study.

INPUT OF DATA RESOURCES: Data about business transactions and other events must be captured and prepared for processing by the input activity. Input typically takes the form of data entry activities such as recording and editing. End users typically record data about transactions on some type of physical medium such as paper form, or enter it directly into a computer system. This usually includes a variety of editing activities to ensure that they have been recorded correctly.

PROCESSING OF DATA INTO INFORMATION: Data are typically subjected to processing activities such as calculating, comparing, sorting, classifying and organizing. These activities organize, analyze, and manipulate data thus converting them into information for end users. The quality of any data stored in an information system must also be maintained by a continual process of correcting and updating activities.

OUTPUT OF INFORMATION PRODUCTS: Information in various forms is transmitted to end users and made available to them in the output activity. The goal of information systems is the production of appropriate information products for end users. Common information products include messages, reports, forms, and graphic images which may be provided by video displays, audio responses, paper products and multimedia.

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STORAGE OF DATA RESOURCES: Storage is a basic system component of information systems. Storage is the information system activity in which data and information are retained in an organized manner for later use.

CONTROL OF SYSTEM PERFORMANCE: An important system activity is the control of its performance. An information system should feedback about its input, processing, output, and storage activities. This feedback must be monitored and evaluated to determine if the system is meeting established performance standards. This appropriate system activity must be adjusted so that proper information products are produced for end users.

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CHAPTER 4

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

From the presentation above it can be seen that accountants play vital roles in any organization. These roles make them indispensable in the day to day running of any business more so as it affects Oceanic Bank PLC. From the presentations above it can be seen that these roles accountants play affect management, shareholders, investors, government and even customers. There is therefore the need for organizations to employ the services of qualified accountants to be able to meet the needs of these diverse interest groups.

Furthermore I did outline the process of Information systems. These processes are the guide to any organization that intends to set up a working information system that will be able to meet the needs of information in such organizations. These processes are like the golden rules that must be followed religiously. From the submissions above it can be deduced that indeed information must be adequately prepared, vetted, crosschecked before it can be called information. In this regard, Information system is essential in any modern, egalitarian organization.

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REFERENCES

James A, O’Brien. Introduction to information systems 9 th edition . United States of America: Irwin/Mcgraw Hill, 2000.

T. Lucey. Management Information Systems 7 th edition. Guernsey: The Guernsey press co. ltd, 1995.

Oldroyd, David & Dobie, Alisdair. Themes in the history of bookkeeping, London, July 2008.

Dimoji D.O, Oju Onuoha. Introduction to management information systems,Nigeria: Zemek Publishers, 2009.

Akuwadike H. C, Ugwu O. I. Management information systems for tertiary institutions, Enugu: Gostak Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd, 2002.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting

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