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Impact of Information Technology on the Accounting Profession

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THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION.

1.1 Introduction
It has become increasingly necessary for all businesses to incorporate Information Technology (IT) solutions to operate successfully and be able to maintain a competitive edge within the market they operate. As a result, many corporations have adopted Information Technology on a large scale by investing in Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) to accomplish their business transactions and data processing needs. Through the use of technology, various organisations have ventured into more efficient ways of conducting their business operations. Focus has since shifted to adopting the latest technology in order to beat competition. In light of the accounting division, this has meant adopting different forms of ERPs, some of which have led to huge failures even in reputable organisations.

In some organizations, decisions with regards to adopting newer technology are made independent of the accounting function. This implies taking on such projects without prior consultation of personnel in the accounting division. As a result, some of the failures in those projects have adversely affected the accounting function of many organizations.

In this study of the Impact of Information Technology on the accounting function I intend to establish a conclusion as to whether the impact being made by Information Technology on the accounting profession is positive or negative with particular attention to the aspect of the use of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems for financial reporting purposes.

2.1 Background to the study
In my previous studies there has been a reflection of major failures displayed arising directly from the adoption or pursuit to adopt certain ERPs in organisations leading to loss of substantive amounts of funding and disruption of important services.

This is of

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