Accountancy Accounting Information System (AIS) is a collection of resources (people and equipment), designed to transform financial and other data into information. This information is communicated to a wide variety of decision-makers. Accepting information systems performs this transformation whether they are essentially manual systems or thoroughly computerised. Conventionally, MIS was also perceived as day-to-day financial accounting systems that are used to ensure basic control is maintained over financial record keeping activities, but now it is widely recognised as a broader concept and accounting system is a sub component.
The reports generated by the accounting system are disseminated to the various users – internal and external to the organisation. The external parties include the proprietors, investors, creditors, financiers, government suppliers and vendors and the society at large. The reports used by these parties are more of routine nature. However, the internal parties – the employees, managers, etc.
use the accounting information for decision- making and control. . . Designing of Accounting Reports Data when processed becomes information.
When the related information is summarised to meet a particular need, it is called as a report. The content and design of the report is expected to vary depending upon the level to which it is submitted and decision to made on the basis of the report. A report must be effective and efficient to the user and should substantiate the decision- making process. Akin to any report, every accounting report must be able to fulfil the following criterion : (a) Relevance (b) Timeliness (c) Accuracy (d) Completeness (e) Summarisation The accounting reports generated by the accounting software may be either routine reports or on the specific requirements of the user.
For example, the ledger is a routine report while a report on supplies of a particular item by a given party is an on-demand report. However, from a broader perspective, the accounting related MIS reports may be of following reports : (a) Summary Reports : Summarises all activities of the organisation and present in the form of summary report. Profit and Loss account and Balance Sheet. © NCERT not to be republished