Accounting Information Systems: Tutorial Questions Assignment HA2042

This document presents solutions to a series of tutorial questions from an Accounting Information Systems (AIS) course, covering topics from weeks 2 to 11. The assignment addresses key concepts such as accounting information systems, the use of data for business advantage, and the roles of steering committees. It also delves into specific accounting procedures, including bank reconciliations, internal controls, perpetual and periodic inventory systems, and the use of credit notes. The solutions analyze control weaknesses in sales, accounting, billing, and warehouse departments, proposing corrective actions. Additionally, the document contrasts the functions of HRM and payroll departments, addresses fraud detection methods, and identifies indicators of personal fraud. The solutions provide practical insights into various aspects of accounting and financial management.

Assessment Task – Tutorial
Questions Assignment
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Contents
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REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
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1.
a. Overall company information is efficient approach used by businesses to preserve their current
uncertainty while seeking to optimize competitive advantages in the forward. An information
system is data mechanism of organizations that need to provide management consistency or aid
for administrative decision-making. Thus the, accounting information system is area of
the accounting management which uses accounting information regarding scheduling,
performance monitoring, decision-making including financial reporting. An accounting
information framework is the main operating system for organizations that gather transaction
details for stakeholder’s management through various business processes to manage, summaries,
and report accurate and accounting details. The development of management knowledge that
facilitates efficient preparation, productivity monitoring, useful decision making, and annual
report accuracy can be carried out by effective AIS.
b. These data can be used by company to identify their potential customers and attract different
customers. A company can offer a more customized shopping experience to its clients by
maximizing the utilization of data. This is eager to remind its clients of the exclusive deals and
discounts accessible to them. This can enhance incentives to raise their profitability. To enhance
the in-store experiences of their clients, company can also use collected data. Proper consumer
data processing can assist the organization to offer personalized deals and effective promotions.
The most successful customers are still loyal buyers. Corporations can have long-term consumer
loyalty and boost their income through customer insights. Research should be carried out on
which network brings more clients to the organization and measures must be undertaken to
strengthen the channel.
c. Loyalty programme cards can be counterfeited as well as, without appropriate authorization,
internal personnel can steal such cards to selling them. client data may be hacked and the
possibility of fraud from identity stealing is substantially high. These data ca be used by hackers
and intruders which can affect customer financially and personally.
2.
a. A Steering Committee, as name suggests, aims to guide a project towards beginning to
completion. This can often be entirely created by personnel from the company designing and
executing the project, but it is more commonly comprised up of members of key organisations
that are project collaborators and/or provide unique expert knowledge to contribute to project
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and/or whose customers are the targeted users of project's production. Including at minimum one
customer of the service or future user of project being built is very vital (and beneficial) as their
feedback can be beneficial in ensure that project is appropriately targeted. For Project
Manager, Steering Committee ought to be supportive, not a nuisance, so involvement must be
treated carefully. Role of Steering Committee is offer guidance, ensure that project results are
delivered, and that project outcomes are achieved. this may involve activities such as: providing
insight into project creation, including evaluation strategy; providing budgetary guidance;
identifying and assisting to attain project outcomes; determining project goals where most
resources should be guided; identifying possible risks; tracking risks; tracking timeframes;
tracking quality of project;
b. Support, direction and monitoring of progress is provided by Steering Committee. Typically,
members don't really function on project themselves. In fact, project manager as well as other
project group members are actually doing the project implementation job. As a general
rule, Project Manager will join Steering committee meetings for update on developments and
address any concerns posed by participants. To support Project Manager through
recording minutes and judgments of meeting, it is helpful to have an extra person (these as
somebody else employed on project or administrative staff member) present.
3.
1. The main reason for difference between bank deposit and cash receipts is deposit in
transit. There may be timing difference due to delay in clearing deposits in bank which is
most common reason for difference in cash receipts and bank deposits.
2. All control of a process into single hand may lead to misuse of authority. In this case one
single employee handling all bad debt write off can lead to fraud by making fictitious
journal entry.
3. As they are introduced to or deducted from stock, perpetual inventory continually
monitors and documents products. And it maintains track of costs of obtained and sold
products. To physically count and log items and keep control of cost of what is purchased
and selling, physical stock utilizes a periodic plan.
4. For products or services subsequently invoiced, credit note documents return of products
by a client or credit change (refund) to customer's account. This allows all necessary
adjustments to the accounts of inventory and sales. A credit note doesn't really report the
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actual transfer of money to client, but instead adjusts balance of client in receivable
accounts. It is possible to establish credit note irrespective of whether consumer has
already paid for products or services. Unauthorized stock record access. Suggested
action: Restrict physical and conceptual exposure to inventory documents to authorised
employees; Ensure that responsible official approves all changes to stock records.
5. Cause: Poor/bad product’s quality
Recommended action: Fixing production problems.
6. Reason: Fraud was committed, original prints of the records were lost and printouts were
substituted.
Recommended acts: Examine all cases where there are lost copies and printouts have
been used.
7. Reason: Sales that are unrecorded.
Suggested activity: Enable the usage of pre-numbered selling reports and do not enable
stock without accompanying sales report to leave warehouse.
8. Cause: Fraud performed by bypassing mechanism of approval.
Suggested action: Investigate the proof of fraud in unauthorised documents; Dismiss any
staff who commit fraud.
4.
Five control weaknesses as per flowchart.
Sales department: The sales clerk accepts the debt and handles the sales order. As well as the
sales department is not able to follow a systematic way of recording the financial transactions in
a manner that can make clarity in recorded items. In addition to this, this department is giving
sales invoice to customer before making the sales journal.
Accounting department: The clerk of accounting department has access of both AR sub ledger
and control account in general ledger. This is main weakness of the department as one clerk is
having access on different kinds of ledger of accounts without informing to the accountant.
Billing department- The weakness of this department is that clerk is billing the customers and
entering the value of sales in accordance of sales order without ensuring that goods are shipped
or not to customer.
Warehouse department- Similar to accounting department, the clerk of this department has
access over both stock and stock sub ledger which is not as per the accounting standards.
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Shipping department- The weakness of this department is that shipping clerk is not preparing the
shipping notice to inform the function of billing about goods are shipped or not.
5.
(a) Difference in employee background and functions performed by the HRM and payroll
departments.
The background of employee of both departments is different from each others. This is so
because an employee of HRM is responsible to track and hire new applicants in a company.
While payroll department is only liable to pay monthly salary to employees by considering
number of leaves in a month.
Functions:
HRM- The hr department, handling employees inside the company, strives to brought out the
best in workers, thus leading to the organization’s success (Turner, Weickgenannt and
Copeland, 2020). The prime objective of the human resources department is to recruit new staff,
and this requires recruiting the best applicants for vacant vacancies. HR practitioners must ensure
that the workers perform as per standards after they take on new staff. It is also the duty of the
HR manager to empower workers, and to this effect, by creating incentive programmers that can
include holidays or mid season bonus awards and pay increases, they compensate employees.
HR also establishes educational plans and guarantees the personnel follow a general path while
informing them of the priorities of the organization.
Payroll department- Payroll refers to the form from which employers earn their wages. Functions
include maintaining and resolving payroll records, and taxes being deposited and reported. Wage
adjustments, data gathering and checking the authenticity of pay data are taken care of by the
finance office. The payroll and provide payroll checks, complies with tax regulations, documents
new hiring paperwork, and modifies current employee files. It is also the duty of payroll
practitioners to measure payments.
(b) Respond to Peter.
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As per explanation given by Peter, I would state to him that ignoring separate cheque account is
not a good idea. This account is useful for many aspects. It's better to merge financial deposits by
keeping a separate payroll checking account (McCallig, Robb and Rohde, 2019). Several of the
reconciliation payments will be identical in nature, including exchanges of checks or digital
payments, since sometimes individuals want to bank their salaries directly. It's better for storage
and audit to provide just one fund to search for while trying to reconcile monthly taxes. It creates
a solid independent audit as well.
Internal controls are the prime justification for maintaining a different payroll account. As well
as others giving access to payroll funds, a payroll bank account divides accounts. A individual
reconciling payroll statements is not a viable person for payroll management. In accounting, for
monitoring and protection, responsibilities and connections to such places are completely
separated in order to protect both business and staff.
6.
(a) Discuss two (2) procedures that can be applied to find Mr. Peter's fraud.
This case involves payment fraud, which often involves vendor fraud systems and the
development of fake client accounts to produce fake payments, such as changing the payee
information on checks and payables. In the context of above case of fraud, below process can be
applied in such manner:
By checking theft search- To find any inconsistencies here between two, many Accounts Payable
divisions conduct a comparison of Accounts Payable with the quarterly Bank Statement
(Mandala and Astika, 2019). In detecting check cheating, this method may also be functional.
Identifying incomplete identifies process or discrepancies in reunited check data are one easy
way to detect possible check manipulation. It is typically marked with a '*' or '#' on the bank
report to show the check amount is not sequential.
 Abnormal Invoice Volume Activity- Seller payment amount tracking is one way to
inform it to unusual behavior. Significant rise in payment size may imply a real business rise, but
it may also suggest that a scammer has become much more secure in taking money. The change
could, any way, warrant attention.
(b) Discuss indicators of personal fraud that can reveal the possibility of such fraud.
Indicators of personal fraud:
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 Overbilling- To compensate the business for more products than it delivers or to charge
higher prices than negotiated, a supplier pads transactions.
 Price fixing- When rival suppliers conspire to themselves to maintain a specific price or
price point, this form of scam exists (Rosa and Purfini, 2019).
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REFERENCES
Turner, L., Weickgenannt, A.B. and Copeland, M.K., 2020. Accounting information systems:
controls and processes. John Wiley & Sons.
McCallig, J., Robb, A. and Rohde, F., 2019. Establishing the representational faithfulness of
financial accounting information using multiparty security, network analysis and a
blockchain. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 33, pp.47-58.
Mandala, I.G.N.A.K. and Astika, I.B.P., 2019. Effect of work environment, quality of system
and work culture on satisfaction of accounting information system user. International research
journal of management, IT and social sciences, 6(4), pp.37-43.
Rosa, D. and Purfini, A.P., 2019, November. Analysis Effect Quality of Accounting Information
Systems to Support Company Performance. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and
Engineering (Vol. 662, No. 3, p. 032015). IOP Publishing.
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