The rapid advancement of information technology and its widespread availability have increased businesses’ reliance on computerized programs and systems in various industries and at all levels. Banks are now the most critical sectors affected by this development and have transformed into computerized accounting information systems, improving financial and administrative performance. In addition to decision-making processes in the banking sector, they provide statistical methods and testing tools that aid in evaluating business performance and decision-making.
The research on the risk associated with the design and analysis of accounting systems indicated the most significant hazards to which computerized accounting systems can be exposed. It includes the unintentional and intentional submission of insufficient data, the accidental deletion of data, employee password sharing, and the introduction of viruses into computers. However, this advancement in accounting systems in the business is coupled with multiple significant risks relating to the security and safety of computerized accounting information systems. Mainly because a similar advancement does not attend to this advancement in the capabilities and efficiency of human resources by users of the technology, and it is also not accepted.
Software errors and equipment malfunctions, such as hardware failures, errors or software malfunctions, operating system failures, electrical interference and oscillations, and undiscovered data transfer faults, threaten the firm.
Unintentional activities, like errors or deletions due to ignorance or accident, pose a hazard to businesses. Human error, the inability to follow defined procedures, and inadequate supervision or trained workers are the most common causes. Users frequently lose or misplace data and accidentally remove or update files, data, and applications. Operators and users of computers may enter erroneous or unreliable data, use the incorrect version of the software, utilize the wrong data file, or save the file in the wrong location. Analysts and system programmers make errors in the system’s logic, create systems that do not satisfy the company’s needs, or develop systems that cannot meet the company’s needs.
You must manage internal and external risks to accounting information systems to be credible and appropriate for decision-making. The ease with which you can penetrate accounting information systems leads to distortion of accounting data, which harms the quality of judgments made. Accounting information system inputs serve as the foundation for the design of any program, whether administrative, financial, or control, implying the need to pay attention to data accuracy and prevent unauthorized changes, which reflects the credibility of accounting data and thus affects the effectiveness of internal control.
The inadequacy of input controls, processing, and directing designed for electronic work environment applications and insufficient procedures to secure software related to the security of electronic work environment information are all risks associated with electronic work environment applications.
Unauthorized access, multiple people using the same passwords, and messing with data entry through the server or computer networks are all things to watch out for when it comes to the IT systems used for accounting data processing.
The increased use of technological applications requires the development of internal control functions at the technical and technical level commensurate with the degree of technology used in the company, which you can accomplish through the ongoing development and qualification of employees in modern technology.
Accounting is a control that aims to achieve control over financial and accounting regulations and instructions to preserve the integrity of a particular establishment’s assets and prevent accounting errors in the financial statements. It means that accounting control achieves widespread application and broad control. This control is designed to ensure that management’s orders are carried out legally, that financial transactions are recorded historically and by accounting principles, that the establishment’s assets are appropriately used, and that the actual assets are by what is recorded.
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