Acc 340 Preview Full Course

Running head: THE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON THE ACCOUNTING 1

Why do some organizations continue to use both manual and computerized accounting information systems?

Many younger, more computer-literate individuals might believe that computerized accounting information systems are faster and perhaps more accurate but there may also be those who cut their accounting teeth, so to speak, using manual accounting techniques who believe the opposite to be true. Of course, humans often fear that which they do not understand, so training - or the lack thereof - may be a reason for organizations being reluctant to go solely to computerized accounting architectures.

The Effects of Technology on the Accounting Profession

ACC 340

Running head: RIORDAN MANUFACTURING

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RIORDAN MANUFACTURING

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The Effects of Technology on the Accounting Profession

The adage, “Time is money” has never been more true at any point in history than it is

today. For the certified public accountant (CPA), the adage holds even more significance as the

more time a CPA has to spend in a project, the less valuable that project becomes. It also means

less time to devote to the next project. Technology has aided the CPA in numerous ways in

recent years. From accounting software to devices with accounting applications, CPAs have a

variety of new technology to help save time and money. In this paper, I will explore some of the

technologies available to CPAs.

1. What are some of the hardware components of your PC at work? How are they different from the components of your PC at home?

Remember, providing your initial response to the Discussion Questions and fulfilling assignments (group or individual) will not be considered as full participation. Participation will consist of substantive comments that are added to the newsgroup in addition to these requirements.

My PC at work consists of a Mini-tower HP PC, running Intel Core Duo2 chipset at 3.16GHz, 2GB RAM and a 120GB harddrive. It is uses a 1GB network card to connect to our network and I have a 22" Widescreen flat panel monitor, a DVD/CD-RW drive, standard keyboard and an optical mouse. This computer uses an on-board sound card and an integrated graphic adapter.

What are the benefits and limitations of the network being used at your organization?

Our network at work is really small and very manageable. It is also very secure from the outside intrusions thanks to our SonicWall Firewall. That device keeps everyone out and I have to sometime punch a hole in the wall for our outside IT guys to VPN in to work on some of our machines remotely. The Domain Server is not too big for what we need it for and is has the


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ability to add more drives when needed. We do not house email on-site. It was cheaper for us to turn to RackSpace for that service. At $2.00/email address per month we figured out that an exchange server with setup would run about $2k and we would have to maintain it, it is a lot cheaper to outsource it at a total of $50.00/month. We hire an outside IT company to keep us running smoothly, and I am tasked to interact with them when problems arise. They have a device onsite that keeps a Virtualized copy of our servers in real-time off-site. The device also backs up Critical systems (Timberline Accounting) every 15 minutes. So if a problem happens we are up in no time and may lag only 15 minutes behind! It is great to be so small.

SERVICE REQUEST FLOW CHART

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

(Service request from Production Department including suggested time)

R&M (REPAIR & MAINTENANCE) DEPT. (Supervisor)

(The Supervisor makes cost estimates-in duplicate, based on labor and material used.

Labor cost based on man hours used)

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

(Department gives approval then one copy returned to R&M)


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Riordan Manufacturing Accounts Receivable

ACC/340

Running head: ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS SIMULATION

SUMMARY

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Riordan Manufacturing Accounts Receivable

Riordan Manufacturing Incorporated is proclaimed to be an industry leader in the market of plastic injection molding. With facilities throughout the world Riordan can design and create unique and innovative plastic products that add value to a company’s promotional marketing strategy. Throughout this paper the subject is to focus on Riordan Manufacturing’s business processes. The subject of this paper will also identify the five accounting cycles used by Riordan and provide in-depth process analysis for the accounts receivable cycle and discuss how the company performs this accounting cycle.

What are the advantages of a relational approach to database design? What are the drawbacks?

When using the relational database, designers do not have to worry about creating a previous linkage in the database between two different types of data in case this relationship is needed later on. Since users might find different relationships between different datum along within the

ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS SIMULATION SUMMARY 7

process, while using the relational approach they do not have to be handcuffed to the relationships already established.

Does your firm use a DBMS? Can you tell us about it?

The organization that I work for uses a database management system (DBMS). A DBMS helps to create database records and access certain information. My organization also uses a DBMS to query records and to reorganize records into a format that is needed.

Accounting Information Systems Simulation Summary

ACC 340

Running head: FAIRFAX RECREATION CENTER 8

FAIRFAX RECREATION CENTER 9

Accounting Information Systems Simulation Summary

Some advantages to having the same person performing multiple activities in a particular process is that person will understand where they left off during the process should they become distracted or need to step away from the task at hand. Understanding special coding he or she may have set up to aid in successfully completing the task is also an advantage to having one person handling several duties.

Fairfax Recreation Center

ACC 340

Running head: HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE SELECTION 10

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE SELECTION 11

Fairfax Recreation Center

As auditor of Fairfax Recreation Center internal cash controls, there are six principals

that I must consider. These controls include:

1. Delegation of authority and separation of duties: Separation of duties reduces

temptation and misuse of assets.

2. Reconciliation: Occurs by confirming that the cash written records match actual

activity

Hardware and Software Selection

ACC 340

Running head: SARBANES-OXLEY ACT ARTICLE ANALYSIS 12

SARBANES-OXLEY ACT ARTICLE ANALYSIS 13

Hardware and Software Selection

The accounting cycle boils down to a set of rules used to ensure the accuracy of financial statements filed or submitted by those in an organization responsible for filing said statements. Mathematical errors have been significantly reduced thanks to the use of computers and related software applications. Both hardware and software are essential for integrating the accounts receivable process into the automated system.

What are the steps in the SDLC? Which is most important? What are the ramifications of skipping one of these steps?

The SDLC is Systems Development Life Cycle. There are four main steps in the SDLC. The first step is the planning and investigation. Step one involves investigating the current system, organizing the systems team, and creating strategic plans for the study. Step two is analysis. Step two is analyzing the current system to identify needs, strengths, and weaknesses of the current system.

What is your personal involvement in determining IS requirements?

I am in a unique position in my company in that I have more technical experience than most of the people in my company. I am the liaison for our external IT Contractors. If we have a problem, I am the one that initially diagnoses the issue, I call the IT company, they send someone out to work on it and they report to me when onsite.

Data TablesPersonnel

The table below is the master table for the sales personnel at Martin’s Shoes and consists of general information about the sales personnel. Included information is the name, address etcetera. The structure with the data type is given below

Field Name Data type Size Description

Identification Character 25 Primary Key, consisting of person’s identification code

Name Character 25 Sales person’s name


Address Character 50 Sales person’s physical address

Gender Character 10 Males or Female

Age Numeric 3 Age of the sales personnel

Email-address Character 25 Electronic email address

TelephoneNo Numeric 15 Sales person’s cellular number

WorkArea Character Sales Person’s assigned territory


University of Phoenix Material

Database Definitions Exercise

Define the following terms related to databases.

a. Field - A column within a table that holds specific pieces of information in a record ______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

b. Record -The row within a table that contains specific information related to a person, event or product______________________________________________________________

Database Tables ExerciseACC/340


Database Tables ExerciseDesign Tables

tbl_ ar_orders

column Type Description

invoice_num text Primary Key

date date

customer_id text FK - tbl_ar_approved_customers.customer_id

item_num text FK - tbl_product_inventory.item_number

description text FK - tbl_product_inventory.description

quantity number

unit_price currency FK- tbl_product_inventory.price

quantity_price currency

What is the difference between a general control and an application control?

The difference between general controls and application controls are fairly simple. General controls are controls that are in place to safe guard the entire computer network or the integrity of the data it contains. For example, login passwords that require specific lengths, characters or numbers and are validated by the server operating system to allow access to the domain.

What internal controls can be implemented using information systems to safeguard your organization’s electronic assets?

Implementation of internal controls using information systems can safeguard an organization’s electronic assets like Wi-Fi local area networks (WLAN), hardwired network systems, and microcomputers. WLANs allow users to transmit and receive voice and data using wireless devices. Virtual Private Networks are internal electronic asset controls used to limit access to these WLANs. They required the user to provide a security key pass-code to gain network access and system access.


Final Exam

Multiple-Choice Questions 1. The process by which a financial transaction is recorded so that its flow through the system can be followed is called:a) Financial shadowingb) Managerial trace techniquec) Concatenationd) Audit trail 2. Justifying expenditures for new technologies is especially difficult because:a) You do not know how many jobs will be affectedb) Expenses are often recurring and are difficult to estimatec) Many benefits are intangible and are not easily known or measuredd) Justifying a new technology is no different from any other capital budgeting problem

3. The essential steps in performing a systems study are (in order of occurrence):a) Analysis, design, implementation and initial operation, follow-upb) Design, planning, follow-up, analysis, and implementationc) Planning, system specification, analysis, production, implementationd) Planning, analysis, design, implementation, and follow-up 4. What is the first step to be performed by most organizations in their accounting cycles?a) Recording business transactions in a journalb) Preparing a trial balancec) Recording closing entries in a journald) Preparing transaction source documentse) none of the above 5. Which systems study step is normally performed first?a) Designb) Initial operationc) Follow-upd) Analysise) none of the above 6. The purpose of a company firewall is to:a) Guard against spoofingb) Assist the IETFc) Deny computer hackers access to sensitive datad) all of the above 7. The term data encryption refers to:a) Storing data in safe places called “crypts”b) Transforming data into secret codes


c) Scrambling data in random ways that cannot be unscrambledd) none of these 8. An advantage of an extranet is that:a) It can disseminate information corporate wideb) It can be accessed by selected trading partnersc) Users can employ common web browsers to access information in themd) all of the above 9. Another name for an Internet domain address is its:a) URLb) ISPc) email addressd) IETF

10. Business process reengineering efforts sometimes fail because: a) Management gets too involved in the process b) Management is too optimistic regarding its expectations from its implementation c) Management support can never overcome employee resistance d) Employees will never accept change

11. The sales process begins with:a) Placing an order with a vendorb) A customer order for goods or servicesc) Production of goods or servicesd) Delivery of goods or services 12. The primary objective in processing revenues is to:a) Sell as many goods as possibleb) Achieve timely and efficient cash collectionc) Maximize an organization’s sales ordersd) Only sell goods to customers who can pay their bills 13. An important input to the sales process is:a) A customer sales orderb) The cash forecastc) Aged accounts receivable informationd) A receiving report 14. Which of the following is not an example of a source document?a) Receiving reportb) Purchase orderc) Sales orderd) Aging report 15. Inputs to transaction processing systems:a) Are always in hard copyb) Are best when input in a graphical format


c) May be in an electronic format when an EDI system is usedd) May never be audio 16.Integrated accounting software programs generally include all of the following, except:a) Graphic reporting capabilitiesb) Internet connectivityc) One standardized chart of accountsd) The ability to handle multiple companies 17. Enterprise-wide AISs:a) Almost never pay for themselvesb) Do not include many more features than middle-range accounting software packagesc) Are seldom used by multinational organizationsd) Integrate an organization’s financial functions with its other functional areas 18. Training and change management activities:a) Take place just before the go live stage of implementationb) Are most effective when conducted throughout design, go live, and post-implementation follow-upc) Include technical training onlyd) Do not include the design of user interfaces 19. Which of the following software packages is not an example of a middle-range AIS?a) Great Plains Dynamicsb) MAS 90c) SAP R/3d) Solomon 20. Many organizations purchased new AISs during the 1990’s:a) Because of the need for Year 2000 complianceb) Because they wanted Internet connectivityc) In order to take advantage of opportunities for reengineeringd) all of the above

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Analysis

ACC 340



Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article Analysis

The Public Company Accounting Reform, more commonly known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or SOX, was enacted in 2002 after dishonesty and corporate fraud by companies such as Enron, Tyco, Worldcom, and Adelphia Communications overstated their corporate earnings to mislead the state of their firms’ financial health. The fallout from the scandals ultimately cost investors billions of dollars, caused the collapse of Enron and Worldcom which also cost employees jobs.

Integrated Accounting Cycle Final ReportACC/340


Integrated Accounting Cycle Final Report Integrating accounting cycles into a company’s financial life is important and can determine the success or failure of a company. Accounting cycles need to be incorporated or integrated and properly followed to make sure that data is enter correctly will benefit a company. The following report is the findings that the Learning Team A of the Accounting Information System I Class found when examining the account receivable accounting cycle

Education

Acc 340 Preview Full Course