Accounting Information Systems Midterm

Accounting Information System

as a system that records, processes, and
reports on transactions to provide financial and
non-financial information to make decisions and
have appropriate levels of internal controls for
those transactions

Data

simply raw facts that describe an event and have little meaning on their own

Information

processed data organized in a meaningful way to be useful to the user

Discretionary Information

information that is not required by law

Mandatory Information

information that is required by law

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

a centralized database that collects
data from throughout the company including orders, customers, sales, inventory, and employees

Supply Chain Management Software

can be used to optimize processes within the supply chain

Customer Relationship Management

this software is used to manage interactions with customers

Changing Role of Accountants in Business

Now accountants also take active role in
analyzing the business
– Helping enterprises optimize processes
– Achieving competitive advantage
– Maximizing shareholder value

Business Process

a defined sequence of business
activities that use resources to transform specific inputs
into specific outputs to achieve a business goal

Business Analysis

the process of defining business
process requirements and evaluating potential improvements

Business Model

a simple abstract representation of
one or more business processes

Documentation

explains how business processes and
business systems work; a tool for information transmission and communication

Importance of Business Process Documentation

• Made documentation essential for businesses
  • Requires managers to assess and attest to the
  business’s internal control structure and procedures
  • Requires external auditors to audit management’s
  assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls
  and express an opinion on the company’s internal
  control over financial reporting

Activity Models

Describe the sequence of workflow and control
logic in a business process
• Tools for planning, documenting, discussing,
and implementing systems
• Business Process Model and Notation
(BPMN)

Business Process Model and Notation

Specifically designed for process modeling
• Designed to be understood by business
people
• Software available to support modeling and
subsequent process simulation
• The Object Management Group (OMG)
maintains the BPMN specification

Events

include start, intermediate, and end events.
Intermediate events affect the flow of a process, but do
not start or end the process

Activities/Tasks

represent specific steps in the
business process. Basic activities are modeled as
rounded rectangles
• Each activity is described with a short verb phrase

Sequence Flows

Represented by arrows to indicate the progression of
activity within the process

Gateways

Show process branching and merging as the result of decisions

• exclusive - blank or x, only one path can be taken

• inclusive - o, one or more paths can be taken

• parallel - plus, all paths are taken

Message Flows

• Exchanges between two pools (participants) in the
same process are represented as message flows
• Message flows are shown as dashed lines with an
arrow on the destination end and a small circle on the
source end
• Message flow content should be described with text

Message Events

• start message - white envelope, begins a process based on an incoming message'

• intermediate message events - black (throwing) or white (catching) envelope with two circles, the process sends or receives a message from an external participant

• end message - black envelope black double circle, process sends a message when it ends

Timer Events

• start timer event - white timer, starts at a particular time or date

• intermediate timer event - two lines, indicates a delay in the process flow until a specific time

• intermediate error event - lightning bolt look, boundary event to indicate an alternate process flow when an error occurs