1. The Potential of Accounting as a Management Information System.
- Author
-
Firmin, Peter A.
- Subjects
ACCOUNTING ,MANAGEMENT information systems ,MANAGEMENT ,ELECTRONIC data processing ,DECISION making ,ASSETS (Accounting) ,BUSINESS enterprises - Abstract
The article discusses the potential of accounting as management information system. Much of contemporary literature in management, accounting, data processing and allied disciplines is concerned with the need for timely and relevant information to facilitate the decision-making process at all levels of management. The recommendations in this paper focuses on transactions, as business events which affect the magnitude and nature of the net assets of the business entity, have many dimensions. Accounting for the many dimensions of a transaction facilitates planning, reporting, analysis and control in the business organization. Conventional accounting rules, while important for some purposes, must not constrain the data processed. Non-monetary as well as monetary, predictive as well as historial, data must be generated, reported and evaluated. The double entry network flow mechanism which is characteristic of the accounting model is an excellent mechanism for tracing the flows of recourses, viewed in their many facets, through the various organizational activities and levels. Vector and matrix concepts provide a particularly useful structure for implementing the accounting model.
- Published
- 1966