Information Technology's Impact on Accounting Profession

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of how information technology (IT) is reshaping the accounting profession. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the shift from traditional bookkeeping to a more integrated, technology-driven approach that spans various business departments. The report explores the need for IT skills among accountants and the importance of continuous training to enhance these skills. It delves into the evolution of the accountant's role, the integration of IT in financial reporting, and the impact of globalization. The methodology includes a survey of 100 participants, focusing on their IT knowledge and usage. The analysis of the survey data reveals insights into the participants' demographics, IT proficiency, and the computer programs they use. The report also discusses the challenges and opportunities presented by IT, emphasizing the need for accountants to adapt and acquire competitive advantages through technology. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and offers recommendations for improving IT skills among accounting professionals to meet the demands of the modern business environment.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In conditions where technological advancements progress at a rapidity quicker, it is indispensable to
inspect how this expertise effects the accounting vocation, in a manner which is similar to how it has
had an impact on the other aspects of human life. Due to technology, the profession as an
accountant has changed into much more than just book-keeping. It has now become far-fetched into
practicality which extends across all the departments of an entity which comprises of delegated
functions, processing methodologies, controls and expected outputs which is known as “the
systems”. It factors in all the scopes of how a business operates, which takes into account the flow of
economic statistics across the business and beyond. The paper also details about various problems
such as how awareness and familiarity about information technology deal with the accounting
professionals and how these professionals works upon enhancement of their IT skills with the help
of vigorous training. Last but not the least, the report will also highlight the importance of gaining IT
knowledge for an accountant. The paper is summarised by producing an overview basis the data
collected and analysed.
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Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION 4
1.1 RESEARCH AIM AND RESEARCH QUESTION 4
2. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE REVIEW 5
3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR ACCOUNTING PROFESSION 6
4. METHODOLOGY 8
5. ANALYSIS OF DATA 8
6. DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11
7. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12
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1. INTRODUCTION
The main function of an accountant has not altered over the years i.e. the main purpose or job of n
accountant remains the same “stipulation of information on the financial recital of a company” and
the said aim is attained by identification, recording, processing, storing, summarising and reporting
various occurrences within an entity. The “system” which defines the extent, to which the
accounting professionals’ job has extended from mere recording of the financial events to analysing
the data, is in fact the framework of accounting which covers almost all the operational areas of the
business (Mohamed & Lashine, 2003). The complication of these companies and computerisation
have done that in many trades must be acquaintance regarding information technology and one of
these is the accounting profession. The knowledge that an accountant gains about IT during the
course of accountancy is general in nature and thereby they are required to get in depth knowledge
about the subject by taking further training courses so as to add value to their general knowledge
about the subject (Bassellier et.al. 2003).
At present, accounting as a profession is closely related to the development of information
technologies. The financial reporting formats have become so complicated that there has been seen
a need for co-operation between the accounting professionals and the informatics (Ghasemi et.al.
2011).
1.1 RESEARCH AIM AND RESEARCH QUESTION
The main aim behind the said research is to give an overview to the fact that a professional
accountant must have a theoretical knowledge about the subject, post which with the help of a field
survey the said target will be noted as to how the accountants gain knowledge. Further to this,
recommendation which would mention the steps, should be undertaken so as to increment their
level of knowledge. The main problems being discussed in the said paper are as under:
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a) What knowledge should an accountant gain post his degree and what is the source of
obtaining the said knowledge.
b) How the said knowledge will help them in developing and polishing their skill as a
professional accountant.
2. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE REVIEW
In most of the literature reviews conducted, labours to reinforce the incorporation of knowledge in
IT within the accounting profession is seen. Such as Salleh (2000) have mentioned and detailed the
various uses of information technology in the field of accounting. Various professional accounting
bodies and institutions such as the IFAC in United Kingdom, provide guidelines and regulations for
the development of IT skills and knowledge for those who want to become accounting professionals
(Ahmad, 2003). The positive impact of the latest information technology in the companies is very
prominent and clear. Integrated systems such as the enterprise resource planning systems and the
internet helps to keep at pace with the latest changes in the companies knowledge (Brady
et.al.2001) . It is said that accounting field was one of the first to take into account information
technology as a part of their subject. However earlier it was only limited to ledgers and reporting
systems.
Another issue lies in the integration with the resources available. Even though accounting and
finance related modules highly favour the IT modules as well, even then the same is not made
available to all the students because of very less resources with regards the personnel and the
infrastructure. Various issues related to infrastructure have also been found out such as
discrepancies, issues with regards accessibility of the software and technical guidance (Aisbitt &
Sangster. 2005). Apart from the above, there is yet another reason as to why there is a letdown of
the integration of the IT in the accounting profession, i.e. the number of people enrolling for the said
profession is too high and there is no support from the international bodies as well (Long and
MacGregor, 1996, Baker and White Jr. 1999 and Allen, 2000).
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Today, the accountants are successfully being able to form added values for the financial units
thereby bringing a remarkable change in the community. The age old accounting functions such as
that of recording and processing of the transactions can be easily automated now. Thereby in the
present day, the value of accountants is much more than mere book-keepers. They are looked upon
as a professional possessing a very high level of critical thinking skills, for example, designing f the
processes to be adopted by the business, developing e-commerce models and incorporating tactical
knowledge. Speedy developments of IT signify latent prospects as well as high risk for the accounting
professionals. By dealing with the probable risks, the professionals can utilise the latest IT to
improvise upon their intra-organizational roles (Shields 2001). Pre 1970s era, the role of an
accountant was limited to only recording of the transactions and proper maintenance of the books
of the accounts. However the scenario underwent a drastic change post 1970, wherein there was
seen an increased desire by the management with regards various other details about the financials.
Thus management information systems (MISs) were developed which would help the accountants
justify their roles (Melville et.al. 2004). Due to globalisation, integration was possible only with the
help of information technology being made an integral part of the accounting profession. Due to the
development of IT, doing business globally was possible. Studies have proved that IT helps to give
wider propagation of data and facts, thereby saving upon the time to disseminate the required data.
However the speed of assimilation arrangement is not at a desired pace (Yufa 2009).
3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION
Given that economists engage into tasks that differ basis the functions they carry out within their
associates, financial divisions should ensure to be up to the mark with technological revolutions and
in harmony with internationally recognized standards so that they can work well with an
organization which works globally. A professional accountant’s job is not only to record the various
financial transactions, but also to assess the importance of the financial data for the business and its
development. Thereby, gaining knowledge about IT is a must so that their career is bright and they
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can get various opportunities in their favour. They are expected to possess the basic knowledge
about the computers, the accounting knowledge that they have- the same should be in conjunction
with the computer knowledge as well, advanced computer skills in accounting and to be updated
about the latest developments in the field of IT related to accountancy.
Two of the most sought after reasons as to why IT has become very important for the accounting
profession is that, first and foremost they are generally and most often demanded to examine the
effectiveness and efficiency of the system which is already present and secondly, IT will have a major
implication on their work in the future (Kaye & Nicholson, 1992). Further to this, the importance of
gaining IT knowledge also ensures that the accountant is competitive enough as it is rightly said that
in order to compete in this increasing competitive environment, one has to compulsorily possess
competitive advantage. The IT’s effect on the accounting profession thereby allows the person t
perform his job in a better manner in comparison to someone who is not updated with the IT
knowledge. Hence due to the same, there is an increasing worry about the intensity of capability
that the accountants have, the usage of the IT and whether at all they are ready to face the
challenges of the present business environment. The said paper details about the information
technology within the core competencies for the accounting professionals specifically those who
operate within smaller entities and schools (Belfo & Trigo, 2013). The said study derives a very
crucial contribution to the exercise by providing the hypothetical beginning for the growth of the
information technology competencies associated to professional accountants in general and in
particular as well(Maisurah et.al. 2012).
With regards the same, it can be said that even in Albania, the accounting professionals with IT
knowledge are being given priority and allotted better roles. Thus the first part basically deal with
the dissemination of knowledge in the field of IT and second is correlating the same with the
accounting profession (Pepe, 2011).
4. METHODOLOGY
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To emphasize the state of affairs in reality, our discussions were used to examine the main
information which will be the major foundation of giving advices at the conclusion of the paper. A
self-effacing survey was organized which was also a very crucial equipment for the research which
was linked to a number of written questions which were relative by nature. The said bank of
questions was socialized within 150 participants out of which 100 were collected. The target
audience selected for the said survey were economists and such other financial analysts with a
distribution as, 35 situated in the city of Vlora, 15 in Pogradec and 50 in Tirana. These were basically
employed in entities which fell into the category of small and medium enterprises. The said sample
of 100 surveys focuses upon the accountants who are knowledgeable about these cities’ prevailing
information technology. The questionnaire of this paper is formed by several varying segments, who
are further segregated by the issues or debates that are to be further analysed. Questions are
opened and closed which allows the participants to express their ideas explicably. The questions
were circulated electronically and also manually i.e. by hand delivery as well which would help the
participants to work upon the same with ease which some of them may find it difficult to answer via
the electronic mode. Also while giving away the questionnaires, secondary source of domestic and
foreign literature was used which helped to formulate a theoretical basis on the scope of the paper.
The fact that the paper has some limitations cannot be denies, however it can easily formulate an
outline at least about the IT and its effects on the accounting profession (Ramaj 2014).
5. ANALYSIS OF DATA
First and foremost, an overall view of the various participants are given describing characteristics
such as the age group of the respondents and the knowledge they possess on IT along withwhat
level of knowledge they have with regards the basic IT programs. Once they have obtained the said
knowledge, then comes as to how long the computer programs are utilised by these participants,
which are the most common programs used by most of them along with the reason behind such an
increased usage of the specific computer programs and how they enter in the information they
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possess into the computer program they use. Further analysis will help to cater to these issues in a
detailed manner.
a) The participants are selected comprising of 66% of participants who are economist by
profession and such acquaintances who have gained knowledge in the undergraduate level,
24% are the ones who are approved accounting professionals and the rest 10% are expert
accountants who may be called experts by virtue of their experience coupled with the basic
knowledge on accountancy. As per the graph below it is understood that the age groups of
the participants have a great impact on the way the questions were answered relating to
information technology. The majority i.e. 25-30 years of age group comprised of economists.
The age group between 31-40 comprised of accountants who have gained the titled of an
accountant over the years and ones above 40 are auditors. As per the survey it was
understood as to how they define IT. Some called it a technology which was a must for the
processing of information, whereas some said that it comprised of such technologies which
was required for the creation, processing, transfer, storage and exchange in various forms.
Some even said that IT means a technology which gives an edge towards processing of data
in an electronic form which helps to provide exactness, swiftness as well as regular updates.
The above mentioned view points with regard what is IT, it is clear that those who fall uder
the age group of 25-30 and 31-40 have a very deep knowledge about IT and also the fact
that their knowledge was gained much before they would attain 50. Further to this, it is very
evident that people falling within these two age group categories have gained IT education
from high school itself whereas those above 40 cannot say so.
Even though accountants and economists who obtain the Approved Certified Accountant fall
under the category of above 40 years of age and hence they are expected to possess much
more knowledge in comparison to the other economists. Howsoever this is not the case
simply because the study module that they study contains very little knowledge about IT
systems. These modules are more concentrated towards providing deep knowledge about
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accounting as a subject and a profession. The present day business environment is such
which demands the job of an accountant to become more digitised and the number of
programs being implemented makes it clear that the expanse of knowledge about IT to the
accountants should not be bounded by any limitations (Lim, 2013).
b) So as to interrogate upon the linkage between the accounting as a profession and
information technology, the participants are required to answer two particular questions
with regards the level of knowledge and the importance of IT while performing the function
of an accountant. 100% of the participants reacted in favour of the fact that IT is important
for the accounting profession. Further to this, to segregate as to what percentage has an in-
depth knowledge and what percentage has general, it was concluded that the former
comprised of only 30% of the population selected and the rest 70% was a part of the latter.
Hence those who possess only the general knowledge should ensure to gain further insight
into the field of IT so as to benefit from the competitive advantage that gives
acknowledgment to the IT labour market.
The said issue was followed by checking out the way the IT knowledge was being gained as it
would help to decide the areas where changes are required to be made in the level of
education and the system which is presently in vogue. These changes will surely would like
contributions from the accountants as well which would in turn lead to deepening of the
knowledge base of the professional thereby leading them towards a successful career.
Further to this, when the participants of the survey were interrogated as to how long the
financial software were used by them, they found the said question as a crucial one since it
has a direct connection between the duration of use and the capability to program the
recording of transactions, concluding the reasoning behind the processing of data by the
program. 32% of the population uses a program for over a year, 42% uses the program
between 2-3 years and the rest uses the program for more than 3 years. When they were
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asked whether they are able to comprehend the reasoning behind such a processing of data
from the software and how are the results generated, the answer was a yes by all.
Next, so as to comprehend the link between a professional and the software he or she uses,
they were asked a question that whether they are able to understand the architecture of the
program they use and the final outcome was that 55% of them sent back the question and
the remaining gave a dual answer which comprised of both a yes and a no.
6. DISCUSSION
Thus, basis the research conducted and survey undertaken, it is clear that IT discipline is considered
as a block of knowledge and unfortunately even now only a very insignificant part of the entire
curriculum of the accountant who is pursuing the same as a profession. In the present era where
information in the processed form and the ever increasing need for technology, the demand for the
accountants and the outlook of them has undergone a major change (Rom & Rohde 2007). The
training of the gen-next accountants who can cater to the scenario which comprises of high level of
technology is more difficult than ever before for the educational institutions. There does not lie any
laid down rules and regulations with regards the accounting profession and the IT knowledge that is
to be gained by them (Yongmei et.al. 2008). The analysed information collected from the survey
conducted it was understood that a major part of the accounting professionals possess the basic
knowledge and idea about IT and that most of them have gained at least the first level of IT
knowledge if not the second. The professionals are well versed with the software and how to use it
in their profession as well (Amiri, & Amiri, 2014). However, their level of education on the subject of
IT should not be restricted to only the high school or the college level Thereby the analysis makes it
clear that the knowledge about information technology is ever increasing in demand for any
profession especially for an accountant as is very clear from the demand. Globalisation is the future
for all businesses and in order to ensure timely reporting of transactions, proper analysis of the
company performance and how competitive it is, knowledge of IT and usage of the software for the
benefit of the entity is a priority.
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7. CONCLUSION
Thus on a concluding note it is understood that accounting profession and information technology
are closely linked for ages now. Accounting was that part of a business which adopted the IT first and
made an expansive use of the same. Although the kind of knowledge and insight the accountants
need about the IT in vogue changes on a continuous basis, yet its importance cannot be negated.
Today’s accountants are desired to possess a very high level of knowledge on the field of information
technology. To achieve the same, the accountants curriculum has also undergone a drastic change
which have started to adopt a huge range of modules so that the accounting students are imparted
with the required knowledge about IT and make them competent enough. Unfortunately, it is still
not clear as to what level of knowledge would be best for the businesses and how and to what
extent the same should be given to the professional. The competencies can be gained either at the
time of undergoing education or post educational stage when the person can call himself a
professional with a degree in hand.
Many companies have also started to invest in imparting training to their accountants so that they
become well versed with the information technology and the software incorporated by the
company. This would help them to derive various crucial business reports which would in turn help
the businesses to take worthy and speedy decisions in this era of globalisation and competition.
Thereby the impact of information technology on the accounting profession can be under-estimated
as the advantages it has to offer, over shadows the disadvantages it has. Most of the companies
irrespective of their size, look for such professionals who are well versed with the accounting norms
and also have knowledge about the information technology. The software they may not be aware
but the basic knowledge and the urge to learn the new language would help the accountant gain a
professional edge over others. Thus the impact is so stark that all accounting professional who are
not well versed with IT should undergo compulsory and proactive training programs in order to
survive in this profession.
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