Defining Accounting Information Systems Boundaries

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Defining Accounting Information Systems boundaries Iacopo Ennio Inghirami [email protected] University of Milan-Bicocca Abstract. It is clear that organizations today expect much more than simple double-entry bookkeeping from their Accounting Information System (AIS): ERPs not only support all transaction-related activities, but also provide com- prehensive tools that are useful to analyze data and make decisions. In fact, AISs support managers in all their tasks. Just as managers make different kinds of decisions depending on their management level and the typology of the decision, AISs also do not consist of a single large system or even of a single computer environment. However, the definition of an AIS, or what it should be, is highly dependant on the definition of accounting itself. Academic courses usually present two main accounting systems: Financial Ac- counting and Management Accounting. An initial objective of this paper is therefore to not only analyze the various kinds of accounting which are adopted in companies and any related computer-based subsystems, but also to determine if the contents of our accounting courses, particularly Management Accounting courses, are effectively aligned with the current needs of organizations. Secondly - this work will try to assess if the current definition and contents of Management Accounting (MA) are still valid or rather new perspectives sug- gest to broad its focus, to include new and promising fields of interest. In other words, by analyzing the available literature on MA, AIS and MAS and observing some empirical evidences, this paper attempts to assess current and future divisions within Accounting Systems and their related implementation in Accounting Information Systems. Keywords. Management, decision making, Financial Accounting, Cost Ac- counting, Strategic Management, Strategic Management Accounting, Account- ing Information Systems. .

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