The ability to use various software and tools is important for students entering the accounting profession. In an exploratory study, we develop a survey to assess accounting practitioners' evaluations of the importance of various software tools, as well as the importance of data analytics and data visualization skills. Responses from 197 practitioners indicate that Excel is the most frequently utilized software / tool, the most important software tool for new hires, and that Excel should be emphasized in university accounting programs. We find that the importance of Excel is consistent across different accounting areas (audit, tax, advisory, and corporate) and across all experience levels. In addition, Adobe Acrobat, PowerPoint, accounting / ERP software, and the FASB Codification were identified as frequently utilized across the various accounting areas and experience levels. Finally, practitioners in each of the different accounting areas and at all experience levels indicate data analytic skills and data visualization skills are important, but that data analytic skills are perceived as more important than data visualization skills. Our study contributes to the accounting information systems literature by identifying the specific software and tools that are relevant to the profession and provides guidance on the software and tools that should be emphasized in university accounting programs.
Advances in information technology (IT) present important new organizational risks, and the assessment and management of these risks may involve a variety of groups, including internal auditors, external auditors, in-house IT experts, and outside consultants. To begin to understand how organizations are addressing their IT risks, this exploratory study examines the IT-related activities of one group—internal auditors. Information gathered from over 100 internal audit directors indicates that internal auditors focus primarily on traditional IT risks and controls, such as IT asset safeguarding, application processing, and data integrity, privacy, and security. Much less work is done on system development and acquisition issues. Several factors are associated with internal auditors' performance of IT evaluations, including the nature of the audit objective, the prevalence of computer audit specialists on the internal audit staff, and the existence of new computerized systems. To supplement these results, we encourage further research on the efforts of other groups in addressing IT risks.
In recent years, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) has revolutionized the way in which businesses conduct their trading activities. Even though the popularity and potential attached to EDI is growing rapidly, knowledge regarding the nature of EDI benefits and EDI control practices is very limited. This paper reports the results of a survey of EDI users that explores these key implementation issues. This study focuses on organizational factors that are associated with EDI adoption and implementation. Findings indicate that organizations experience both operational and strategic benefits from EDI. Customer-initiated EDI users recognized slightly greater EDI strategic benefits than did other users. Also, long-time users recognized both strategic and operational benefits in greater proportions than did more recent users, and smaller firms more often cited better customer service and convenience (as strategic and operational benefits, respectively) from implementing EDI. An examination of control practices revealed that while some basic procedures such as passwords and logs are widely used, the overall EDI control structure is typically weak. The role of management support and awareness and the implications for the management and control of EDI are also discussed.
This study examines the extent to which undergraduate accounting programs are integrating information technology (IT) across the curriculum. Based on responses from nearly 70 accounting programs, respondents believe that integrating IT into the curriculum is important, but (1) few departments have an IT policy, (2) coverage of general IT topics is minor to moderate, and (3) student usage of computer applications is fairly low. The main technical barriers to IT integration are inadequate lab personnel and continual changes in technology.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.