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Duong Thi Quynh Lien, Ph D., Faculty of Economics, Vinh University E-mail: [email protected]
THE IMPACT OF ERP ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM AT VIETNAMESE BUSINESSES
Abstract : Applying information technology in management in general and accounting in particular is an indispensable trend of enterprises in the context of economic integration today. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is a tool to integrate business processes of enterprises on the basis of using the centralized database. With a new management mindset, ERP is considered as an optimal solution to help businesses improve their capacity in the current competitive tendency and fierce is being interested in many businesses. This article deals with ERP and the impact of ERP on the organization of accounting information systems in Vietnamese enterprises.
Keywords: Accounting, accounting information, organization of accounting information system.
ERP is a term related to information systems inte- tion with each other. When using ERP, information is
gration and business processes including functional modules that are installed according to the purpose of the business. ERP is backed by interoperability software that helps businesses plan and manage critical parts of their business processes including production planning, purchasing, inventory management, dealing with supplier, customer service and order tracking. In Vietnam, the ERP market is becoming more and more active, many enterprises have demand for ERP applications to change the management mode of their production and business activities, but not all enterprises have the knowledge. profound in this field.
1. The interaction between ERP and accounting information systems [1; 2; 3; 8]
In terms of management information systems
ERP is a system that integrates the whole information system of the whole enterprise including: sales information system, production information system, purchasing information system, financial information system accounting information and human resources information system.
One of the striking features of ERP is the linkage of the system. With this feature, functional departments in the enterprise are easily linked and share informa-
reflected in real time, continuously and timely.
In terms of management information systems, both ERP and accounting information systems have similarities in the functional model that an information system needs to be: data collection, processing, and archiving. Data is intended to provide information to ERP users with an impact on the accounting information system and vice versa. The accounting information system wants to process data that needs to be retrieved from other systems. This data is stored in the database. Shared Databases of ERP When the accounting information system processes data it generates information. This information is provided to multiple audiences, multiple levels of administration and is integrated in the ERP system. This will create outlining various information flows: horizontal information and vertical information For vertical information flow s supports the decision of the different levels of governance: including the decision is structured, semi-structured decisions and decisions without structure.
Considering the analysis and control of data
In the ERP environment, in order to be able to analyze and control data well, accountants need to have certain knowledge of information technology,
knowledge of the business and business processes of the enterprise, understanding About the difference between ERP and traditional accounting. Knowledge of information technology If in accounting software, accounting can be the starting point of all data processing processes, the ERP environment is quite the opposite. The data processing process starts from another department and the accountant will next. Remain those data, conduct analysis on the available database, and collect additional data for your own departmental processing. Accountants need to have knowledge of information technology, namely ERP knowledge, how to exploit and analyze data from other departments, how to process and store data in the system. ERP system.
Understanding the business and business process Each business has its own characteristics and strategies, different business characteristics. Therefore, although many enterprises may use the same ERP, but does not mean that the process is the same. Business process of the business. Influence the analysis and control of data. Input data is collected on the basis of information needs of each department and throughout the system. The initial input does not affect the function itself but also directly affects the function. In the ERP environment, the process of analyzing and controlling data is related to the elements of activity including: resources, events and people (REA model).
Understanding the difference between ERP and traditional accounting
Compared with traditional accounting in Vietnam, the ERP system has some differences: flexible account structure, the presence of intermediary accounts, the use of single entries inverted to adjust the system, the Entries are created automatically and controlled into multiple layers through the approval process, requiring accountants to follow the process.
2. The impact of ERP on the organization ofthe accounting information system [4; 5; 6;7; 9; 10] Process changes Data collection
When organizing the accounting information system in the ERP environment, the corporate voucher system can be affected in many ways: Form of voucher (may be displayed on the screen / printed from the system), serial number is established. In addition, in the course of operation, the enterprise can use the intermediary account to control the process closely but still ensure the provision of financial reports as prescribed.
In addition, the structure of the account system is set up more flexible, detailed management object is also controlled through various code systems.
Data processing
Because ERP is a general structure of many modules, there are some fundamental differences in data processing:
Difficult to observe professional traces: if in the manual environment, a wrong entry can be made according to regulations and leave traces. However, in ERP it is difficult to observe business traces, so the accountant needs to enter the accounting entries to be able to control. This means that all accounting adjustments are recorded through the system including the content, timing and adjustment module.
Up-to-date: The characteristics of ERP are data sharing and use of shared databases, so once a journal is updated once, it affects a lot of data throughout the system. Accounting data will affect not only the accounting module, but also other modules such as purchasing, sales, production, human resources.
Some functions performed automatically: ERP for automatic copy of some journals. In order to do this, the system needs to be programmed to ensure time savings for routine operations that are routine and less frequent. Automatic way in the system: when recording revenue, automatically recorded cost or automatically carry out monthly depreciation.
Complete operation: For ERP, the system is designed for process management, so the starting point of a component is the result of information processing by another department. the department / department in the business is very tight, the job
responsibilities are also divided and shown clearly in the implementation process.
Installation of some control features: Due to the specificity of the ERP is composed of many modules and high linkages, so if a mistake of a module will affect the whole system. Therefore, to ensure the results of accounting reliable, many procedures are implemented such as: access control system, total debt generation = total incurred ... .
Provide information
The ultimate aim of the organization of the accounting information system is to provide useful information for decision-making. With the ERP system, this provision affects many different aspects: content, time, object, and use of information.
Content: Due to the impact of the initial data collection, the content provided includes both financial and non-financial information. Information is provided consistently, fully and continuously.
Mode: In the ERP system, due to the application of new technologies and centralized database management, it allows for the provision of information at a variety of levels: from high levels of detail to low levels of detail. The system also performs flexibly according to the object and forms diversity (printed on paper / on the screen, can be in the form of tables, charts) and can be accessed from different places.
Time: When using ERP, enterprises can know information from time to time. Whenever information is needed, it can be met on the basis of process consistency. High-timeliness is a prominent feature of the ERP system in helping the decision-making process of the manager more effectively. thereby increasing the competitive advantage of the business.
Suppliers and users of information: Because of the shared nature of ERP, anyone who is authorized and licensed to use the system can provide / retrieve information easily.
Control Overall control
Access Control: This is a very important issue because ERP uses a generic and linked database.
If an unauthorized user accesses all the data in the company.
Functional separation: Designers / programmers and users should be separated, data and data are separated. Clear division of duties of each person, department in the ERP system.
Storage control: involves two basic elements: storage and backup equipment. In particular, enterprises need to clearly and specifically regulate the individual and organize the time plan. save, method, responsibility in the backup process.
Process Compliance: ERP is a highly compliant system, a function that will not perform if the previous functionality is not implemented. When implementing an ERP, a clear, details and dissemination to the whole enterprise together with related responsibilities.
Application control
Data source control: Several control procedures are required for each application, such as logical, limited, automatic, full, format, mark, capacity Currently, many ERP systems have used POS, electronic data transmission to reduce personal errors and cross check between departments. together.
Process control: There are a number of mandatory requirements for process control such as data integrity constraints, reporting of abnormalities, automatic processing control, review ofprocess execution. Settling according to rules.
Control of processing results: It is important to ensure that the results are correct and that the results are correct. This also depends on the decentralization of the system, the setting of regulations and the strengthening of the solution. network security.
Changes in the organizational structure of the accounting system
Personnel structure
The structure of personnel in the accounting department depends on the organizational structure of the company, the workload, characteristics and orientation of information technology application in the management of the enterprise. Application of
ERP can introduce new requirements for personnel in the accounting system There are 4 possible cases for this problem:
First, the enterprise retains all of its employees and does not recruit new employees. In this case, the company believes that the former employee may be knowledgeable of the organization's activities, however, training and enhancement of the employee's ability to adapt to the new environment.
Second, the enterprise retains all its employees and recruits new employees. In this case, due to the complex nature of the job and the volume of work, the company has to increase the number of employees. Meet the requirements of process compliance, schedule of completion of work, thereby ensuring the promptness of the information supply.
Third, businesses will fire off some of their former employees and recruit new staff. The ERP environment requires both employees and managers to have certain knowledge ofthe organization, skills and proficiency of the technology. information during the work.
Fourth, the business sacked a number of former employees and did not recruit new employees This situation may occur is due to in the ERP environment, the original data collection process mainly re-
lated to other departments, Accountants are involved in processing, providing information and control.
Change in the way we work, corporate culture is a big issue that any business must face. Although personnel may change, their qualifications, knowledge and skills need to be improved. This is also a human factor challenge that enterprises need to pay attention when deploying and applying ERP.
Division of responsibility
The division of responsibilities is done on the basis of the workload, organizational characteristics, management requirements and complexity of the operations. business.
In the ERP environment, an on-site operation may be performed by multiple accountants or an accountant may be responsible for multiple simultaneous accounting operations but still ensure control, no duplication and no abandonment. Each section should have a description of the job description of the following: scope, responsibilities, work (regular and periodic), relations, evaluation criteria.
Permissions access
When using ERP, there are 3 functional groups that closely relate to accounting, namely, declarations, input and information.
Diagram 1. Impact map of ERP to organization of accounting information system
Declaration: includes general information declaration and list of objects The object list is usually updated regularly during the operation of the business such as suppliers, customers, goods, budget ... This declaration is usually assigned to the individual responsible for each individual, its influence may relate to one or more parts of the accounting and other modules.
Input: including input balances and input numbers In the ERP system, the accounting data generated by the accounting is significantly reduced due to the inheritance of data of other modules. but there are some data available that are not authorized to modify.
Provide information: For each section of accounting, access rights are strictly controlled on the rights: view, add, edit, delete. Therefore, even in the accounting module, if not Similarly, the sales and purchase module may not be able to view the accounting module and vice versa if it is not licensed system.
As such, ERP has played an increasingly important role in enhancing its competitiveness and benefiting businesses through the ability to integrate information and business processes effectively. It includes many functional modules, stored in a centralized database that allows enterprises to plan and manage resources, using information in multiple dimensions. When applying ERP, organizing the accounting information system is an important task to do, this is not just the internal work of the accounting department but also affects the whole business. Businesses need to focus on both organizational content (including data collection, data processing, information provision, control, accounting apparatus) and appropriate organizational processes from the systems analysis phase. up to the operating stage of the system.
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