Learning Accounting Information Systems

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Rationale

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AIS Foundations
Data Management and Electronic Commerce
Internal Control
AIS Applications
Systems Development

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Accounting Information Systems

Rationale

The term information system has the following meanings:

In rough set theory, an information system is an attribute-value system.

In information systems, an information system consists of three components: human, task, application system. In this view, information is defined in terms of the three levels of semiotics. Data which can be automatically processed by the application system corresponds to the syntax-level. In the context of an individual who interprets the data they become information, which correspond to the semantic-level. Information becomes knowledge when an individual knows (understands) and evaluates the information (e.g., for a specific task). This corresponds to the pragmatic-level.

In general systems theory, an information system is a system, automated or manual, that comprises people, machines, and/or methods organized to collect, process, transmit, and disseminate data that represent user information.

In telecommunications, an information system is any telecommunications and/or computer related equipment or interconnected system or subsystems of equipment that is used in the acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of voice and/or data, and includes software, firmware, and hardware. (Federal Standard 1037C, MIL-STD-188, and National Information Systems Security Glossary).

In computer security, an information system is described by five objects (Canal 2004):

Structure:

Repositories, which hold data permanent or temporarily, such as buffers, RAM, hard disks, cache, etc.
Interfaces, which exchange information with the non-digital world, such as keyboards, speakers, scanners, printers, etc.
Channels, which connect repositories, such as buses, cables, wireless links, etc. A Network is a set of logical or physical channels.

Behaviour:

Services, which provide value to users or to other services via messages interchange.
Messages, which carries a meaning to users or services.

In the mathematical area of domain theory, a Scott information system (after its inventor Dana Scott) is a mathematical structure that provides an alternative representation of Scott domains and, as a special case, algebraic lattices.

See also

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

This is a non-taught unit designed for self-directed study by those intending to enhance their professional or managerial competence, knowledge, understanding, and skills in business finance.

Knowledge

After completing the course, students will understand

1. the AIS foundations

2. the concepts and principles related to data management and electronic commerce

3. the main topics of data management

Skills

After completing the course, students will be able to

1. understand and apply systems internal control

2. use the appropriate AIS Applications

3. participate in a firm's systems development

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AIS Foundations

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An Accounting Information System (AIS) is the system of records a business keeps to maintain its accounting system. This includes the purchase, sales, and other financial processes of the business. The purpose of an AIS is to accumulate data and provide decision makers (investors, creditors, and managers) with information to make decisions. While this was previously a paper-based process, most modern businesses now use accounting software.

In an Electronic Financial Accounting system the steps in accounting cycle are dependent upon the system itself. Example: some systems allow direct journal posting to the various ledgers and others do not.

Accounting Software is computer software that records and processes accounting transactions within functional modules such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll and trial balance. It functions as an accounting information system. It may be developed in-house by the company or organization using it, may be purchased from a third party, or may be a combination of a third-party application software package with local modifications. It varies greatly in its complexity and cost.

Since the mid 1990s, the market has been undergoing considerable consolidation, with many suppliers ceasing to trade or being bought by larger groups.

See also

Data Management and Electronic Commerce

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Data Management comprises all the disciplines related to managing data as a valuable resource. The official definition provided by DAMA is that "Data Resource Management is the development and execution of architectures, policies, practices and procedures that properly manage the full data lifecycle needs of an enterprise." This definition is fairly broad and encompasses a number of professions which may not have direct technical contact with lower-level aspects of data management, such as relational database management.

Topics in Data Management include:

External links

ZEMA Data Management Suite
Data Brokerages - Yale Economic Review
DAMA International - The Data Management Association
Oceanographic and atmospheric data management and
on-line data access

Electronic Commerce (also referred to as EC, e-commerce or ecommerce) consists primarily of the distributing, buying, selling, marketing, and servicing of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The information technology industry might see it as an electronic business application aimed at commercial transactions; in this context, it can involve electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, e-marketing, online marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), automated inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Electronic commerce typically uses electronic communications technology of the World Wide Web, at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although of course electronic commerce frequently depends on computer technologies other than the World Wide Web, such as databases, and e-mail, and on other non-computer technologies, such as transportation for physical goods sold via e-commerce.

According to Forrester Research (as cited in Kessler, 2003), electronic commerce in the United States generated sales worth US $12.2 billion in as of 2003.

External links

Article from the 'Economist', one of the earliest surveys of Electronic Commerce

General Information
- CIO's E-business Research Centre
- Net Academy on Electronic Markets
- An e-commerce primer (UK oriented)
- "Business Models on the Web", by Dr. Michael Rappa [1], North Carolina State University
- "Managing the Digital Enterprise", by Dr. Michael Rappa

UNDP-APDIP Books
- Wiki legal journal

This book is donated by UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (UNDP-APDIP) to the community.

The original publication by:

Author: Zorayda Ruth Andam
© UNDP-APDIP, 2003, 47 pages
ISBN-10: 81-312-0076-6 ISBN-13: 978-81-312-0076-6

is located at http://www.apdip.net/publications/iespprimers/eprimer-ecom.pdf

This wikibook is available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons Attribution License 2.5

Internal Control

Tutorials

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In general, information processing is the changing (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an observer. As such, it is a process which describes everything which happens (changes) in the universe, from the falling of a rock (a change in position) to the printing of a text file from a digital computer system. In the latter case, an information processor is changing the form of presentation of that text file. Information processing may more specifically be defined in terms by Claude E. Shannon as the conversion of latent information into manifest information. Latent and manifest information is defined through the terms of equivocation (remaining uncertainty, what value the sender has actually chosen), dissipation (uncertainty of the sender what the receiver has actually received) and transformation (saved effort of questioning - equivocation minus dissipation).

In cognitive psychology, Information Processing is an approach to the goal of understanding human thinking. It arose in the 1940s and 1950s. The essence of the approach is to see cognition as being essentially computational in nature, with mind being the software and the brain being the hardware. The information processing approach in psychology is closely allied to cognitivism in psychology and functionalism in philosophy although the terms are not quite synonymous. Information processing may be sequential or parallel, either of which may be centralized or decentralized (distributed). The parallel distributed processing in mid-1980s became popular under the name connectionism. In early 1950s Friedrich Hayek was ahead of his time when he posited the idea of spontaneous order in the brain arising out of decentralized networks of simple units (neurons). However, Hayek is rarely cited in the literature of connectionism.

See also

Information Processing Languages (IPL), by Newell, Shaw, and Simon
Educational psychology
Information Processor
Information science

Information Security is the process of protecting data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, destruction, modification, or disruption.^[1] The terms information security, computer security and information assurance are frequently used interchangeably. These fields are interrelated and share the common goals of protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information, however there are some subtle differences between them. These differences lie primarily in the approach to the subject, the methodologies used, and the areas of concentration. Information security is concerned with the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data regardless of the form the data may take: electronic, print, or other forms.

Heads of state and military commanders have long understood the importance and necessity of protecting information about their military capabilities, number of troops and troop movements. Such information falling into the hands of the enemy could be disastrous. Governments, military, financial institutions, hospitals, and private businesses amass a great deal of confidential information about their employees, customers, products, research, and financial status. Most of this information is now collected, processed and stored on electronic computers and transmitted across networks to other computers. Should confidential information about a businesses customers or finances or new product line fall into the hands of a competitor, such a breach of security could lead to lost business, law suits or even bankruptcy of the business. Protecting confidential information is a business requirement, and in many cases, it is also a legal requirement, and some would say that it is the right thing to do. For the individual, information security has a significant effect on Privacy, which is viewed very differently in different cultures.

The field of information security has grown and evolved much in recent years. As a career choice there are many ways of gaining entry into the field. The field offers many areas for specialization including Information Systems Auditing, Business Continuity Planning and Digital Forensics Science to name a few.

This article presents a general overview of information security and its core concepts.

See also

Further reading

External links

Information Security Group, Royal Holloway, University of London
Seattle Security Forums
Israsec
BrazilSec
National Information Assurance (IA) Glossary
Return on Information Security Investment (ROISI)
RFC 2828: Internet Security Glossary
IT Security portal Online news site.
InfoSec News Longest running, well respected, human edited, mailing list that caters to the distribution of information security news.
SANS Institute Information security training and free computer security resources.
Online and Computer security news and articles
Home computer security advice
The Centre for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security
securegg.com - An IT Security News Aggregator
Information Systems Audit and Control Association
Human and Social Elements - CFC

AIS Applications

Tutorials

Readings

A Business Process is a set of linked activities that create value by transforming an input into a more valuable output. Both input and output can be artifacts and/or information and the transformation can be performed by human actors, machines, or both.

There are three types of business processes:

Management processes
Operational processes
Supporting processes - these support the core processes. Examples include Accounting, Recruitment, IT-support.

A business process can be decomposed into several sub-processes, which have their own attributes, but also contribute to achieving the goal of the super-process. The analysis of business processes typically includes the mapping of processes and sub-processes down to activity level.

Activities are parts of the business process that do not include any decision making and thus are not worth decomposing (although decomposition would be possible), such as "Answer the phone", "produce an invoice".

A business process is usually the result of a business process design or business process reengineering activity. Business process modeling is used to capture, document and reengineer business processes. To visualize a business process, one of the graphical notations can be used such as Business Process Modeling Notation.

See also

Systems Development

Tutorials

Readings

A Software Development Process is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. Synonyms include software lifecycle and software process. There are several models for such processes, each describing approaches to a variety of tasks or activities that take place during the process.