Financial Accounting Information System: Quality Assurance Plan and Implementation Steps

This presentation discusses the features of an IT business model for an accounting firm, a quality assurance plan, steps involved in implementing the plan, and measures taken to maintain quality to meet Australian standards.

A PRESENTATION ON FINANCIAL
ACCOUNTING INFORMATION
SYSTEM
STUDENT
TUTOR
INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATIONS
DATE

OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENTATION
Background information
Features of IT business model
Quality assurance plan for accounting firm
Steps involved in implementing the quality plan
How the quality assurance process will be controlled
Defects and measures taken to be modified
Measures taken to maintain quality to meet the Australian standards

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
An accounting firm needs to utilize multiple technology to increase its efficiency for
delivering services to its clients.
The critical infrastructures and software must be compatible and effective to suit all
operations pertaining to but not limited to financial accounting activities involving
credit card processing and the ability to send invoice.
The organization needs to utilize cloud based services for its operations and it must
adhere to the statutory requirements concerning copyright and intellectual property
in its operations.

FEATURES OF IT BUSINESS MODEL
Given the requirements, the organization needs a robust information system business model to ensure that the firm utilize
technology to generate maximum profit and to ensure that the firm is in compliance with the legal requirements of the state
(Momoh, Roy, & Shehab, 2010; Rainer, Cegielski, Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, & Sanchez-Rodriguez,
2013). The proposed features of the business model that will take care of the organizations business operations are:
 The organization must have skilled personnel who operate the system. They include information technology experts,
accountants, business analysts and managers.
 There must be instructions and procedures on how data is collected, processed, stored retrieved and disseminated.
 Software involving all computer programs used in the accounting information system to process data.
 Information technology critical infrastructure including all hardware used in accounting information system operations.
 A pertinent IT business model must have internal controls as security measures to protect the information system and data
from cybercriminals.

QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN FOR ACCOUNTING
FIRM
A promising quality assurance plan is essential for delivering the best possible versions of services for the firm. The
proposed plan for this firm is shown in the following sections (Goetsch, & Davis, 2014).
The plan
1. Purpose
• This Quality Assurance comprise the overall approach to the quality assurance of the accounting firm’s activity for
accounting information system. The plan documents how the accounting information system project define, implement and
assure quality during establishment of accounting information system in the accounting firm.
2. Scope
• The focus of this quality assurance plan is to define the techniques, methodologies and procedures that are essential for the
accounting firm to ensure effective use of the organization’s accounting information system and critical infrastructure to
meet its quality goals.

QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN FOR ACCOUNTING
FIRM
3. Quality objectives
To ensure faster and accurate results of financial accounting process that satisfy the needs of
customers.
To ensure effective use and compatibility of accounting information system hardware and software to
assure the quality of deliverables, process and procedures which are essential for service deliveries.
4. Reviews and approval
• This quality assurance plan shall be continuously reviewed, any change will be
handled as per the legal procedures of quality delivery of the firm.

QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN FOR
ACCOUNTING FIRM
5. Quality management approach
 The approach ensure that all personnel in the firm do the right thing right at the right time in order to
ensure the quality of the services (Ward, 2012). This is achieved by:
 Early identification and reviews of the quality-impacting factors.
 The use of the predefined quality standards procedures.
 Utilize customer satisfaction as a tool for controlling the quality of deliverables.
 Cloud based services
 Accounting software tools
 Internet services among others

QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN FOR
ACCOUNTING FIRM
6. Tools to be used while performing quality assurance activities
oComputers
oServers
oNetwork and embedded devices
7. Configuration management
 The configuration management will apply to the following areas:
 Software and hardware
 The configuration management must apply to ISO 10007 controls.
8. Risk management strategies
• The risk management program for this organization will be based on NIST framework to ensure security for the accounting information
system.

STEPS INVOLVED IN IMPLEMENTING THE
QUALITY PLAN
The essential steps that will be followed during the implementation process for this security plan
will be as follows (Markides, & Oyon, 2010; Gelinas, Dull, & Wheeler, 2011):
Identification of the corporate’s goals
Identification of the success critical factors
Identification of internal and external customers
Implement continuous improvements
Select quality management software
Measure results

HOW THE QUALITY ASSURANCE PROCESS
WILL BE CONTROLLED AND MONITORED
The quality assurance process can be controlled and monitored by:
oMaking commitments
oTracking mistakes
oInvesting in training
oOrganizing quality circles
oPositive attitude

DEFECTS AND MEASURES TAKEN TO BE
MODIFIED
Data breach. There are chances that the system can be attacked by cybercriminals, this may
compromise the organization’s data. As a countermeasure, the organization can develop and
implement security management programs (Hall, 2012).
Security threats associated with cloud vendors. This can be mitigated by setting an agreement
with cloud vendors regarding information security. The organization should also double check
security measures put in place by the cloud vendors before deciding which vendor to work with.
The firm’s sensitive information and critical infrastructures can be stolen. This can be mitigated
by setting up disaster recovery and contingency plans along with policies and procedures to
protect its assets.

MEASURES TAKEN TO MAINTAIN QUALITY TO
MEET THE AUSTRALIAN STANDARDS
To meet the standard 7: quality assurance in Australia, the following measures
will be put into consideration:
Ensure the information system is flexibility, usability, accessibility and
availability to meet all types of the business needs.
The system must be reliable and provide accurate information.

The system must be scalable to adopt the increased demand of growth.

REFERENCES
Gelinas, U. J., Dull, R. B., & Wheeler, P. (2011). Accounting information systems. Cengage learning.
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Hall, J. A. (2012). Accounting information systems. Cengage Learning.
Markides, C., & Oyon, D. (2010). What to do against disruptive business models (when and how to
play two games at once). MIT Sloan Management Review, 51(4), 25.
Momoh, A., Roy, R., & Shehab, E. (2010). Challenges in enterprise resource planning
implementation: state-of-the-art. Business Process Management Journal, 16(4), 537-565.
Rainer, R. K., Cegielski, C. G., Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, I., & Sanchez-Rodriguez, C.
(2013). Introduction to information systems. John Wiley & Sons.
Ward, K. (2012). Strategic management accounting. Routledge.