E-ACCOUNTING - A STUDY ON VIEWS OF ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONALS IN COIMBATORE CITY 1 Dr.G.Kavitha, Head of The Department, Department of B.COM(e-COM), PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Peelamedu, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu ABSTRACT Electronic accounting or online accounting is new development in field of accounting. It means all the transactions will record in online server or data base, just like website or blog or web blog. e-accounting practices are composed of actions such as following the transactions conducted between firms and customers or sellers, keeping and registering documents, and preparing financial tables in an electronic environment and submitting those to related sons via internet. The concept of accounting has been given a new dimension in the name of e-accounting which overcome all the cons of manual accounting. Hence, an attempt has been made to find the views of accounting professional with regard e-accounting. For the purpose of the study 75 accounting professionals have been chosen by using convenient random sampling techniques. It has been observed that 72 of the respondents are specialized in Banking/companies and 86.7 of the respondents are using tally software. The result shows that the main role of role accounting professionals is implementation of e-environment and ti has been ranked as first. The main problem faced by the professionals is Inaccuracy of report and it has been given the highest rank. e- accounting helps businesses keep their financial data and accounting software in a safe, secure environment by allowing real time access. Key words: e-accounting, accounting professionals, accounting information, accuracy. INTRODUCTION Accounting, as an information system is the process of identifying, measuring and communicating the economic information of an organization to its users who need the information for decision making. It identifies transactions and events of a specific entity. A transaction is an exchange in which each participant receives or sacrifices value (e.g. purchase of raw material). An event (whether internal or external) is a happening of consequence to an entity (e.g. use of raw material for production). An entity means an economic unit that forms economic activities. The reports generated by various streams of accounting, such as cost accounting and management accounting, are invaluable in helping management make informed decisions. Page 21
Electronic accounting can be defined as to follow internal and external oational events as well as to document, record, archive, summarize those events, and to present summary information to the vested interest groups in an electronic environment. It is possible to analyze the electronic accounting concept in three categories, such as e-taxing, e-banking, and e-accounting practices. In e- taxing practice, transactions such as preparation of tax returns, imputation of taxes, and following taxrelated debt and other relevant information occur in an electronic environment. e-banking practices consist of enterprises bank-related transactions that actually take place in an electronic environment via internet. e-accounting practices are composed of actions such as following the transactions conducted between firms and customers or sellers, keeping and registering documents, and preparing financial tables in an electronic environment and submitting those to related sons via internet. e-accounting or online accounting is new development in field of accounting. It means all the transactions will record in online server or data base, just like website or blog or web blog. But for opening or making accounts will uses login id and password. There is large number of companies who started e-accounting. e-accounting involves forming regular accounting functions, accounting research and the accounting training and education through various computer based /internet based accounting tools such as digital tool kits, various internet resources, international web-based materials, institute and company databases which are internet based web links, internet based accounting software and electronic financial spread sheet tools to provide efficient decision making. Online accounting through a web application is typically based on a simple monthly charge and zeroadministration approach to help businesses conrate on core activities and avoid the hidden costs associated with traditional accounting software such as installation, upgrades, exchanging data files, backup and disaster recovery. In e-accounting the accountant and employer both feel satisfaction because, this is cheap and without software defaults or failure. The accounts saves in online server or database, so there is no need to record manually. By this way we can save large amount of money spending on manual books and different accounting software, e-accounting or online accounting is the application of online and Internet technologies to the business accounting function. Similar toe-mail being an electronic version of traditional mail, e-accounting is "electronic enablement" of lawful accounting and traceable accounting processes which were traditionally manual and pa-based. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The conventional type of maintaining manual records involves procedural complexities such as errors, long time consumption, lack of accuracy etc., more over the conventional form of maintaining accounting records was not subject to innovations. Hence, the concept of e-accounting came into existence. Were, the process of accounting enjoys more flexibility, accuracy, effectively and efficiency. The concept of accounting has been given a new dimension in the name of e-accounting which overcome all the cons of manual accounting. Hence, an attempt has been made to find the views of accounting professional with regard e-accounting. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The study has the following objectives, 1. To examine the changing roles of accounting professional for implementation of e-accounting. 2. To find out the benefits of using e-accounting. 3. To know the view of accounting professionals on certain accounting issues relating to e- accounting RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The following methodology adopted for conducting the research. Primary data has been collected from accounting professionals through structured questionnaire. The data has been collected Page 22
from the respondents in Coimbatore city. The primary data has been collected through structured questionnaire. The respondents have been given brief introduction about the purpose of the study. The size of the sample for this study is 75 respondents, collected from the accounting professionals dealing in e-accounting. For the purpose of the study 75 respondents have been chosen using convenient random sampling techniques. STATISTICAL TOOLS The data collected for the study has been analyzed manually with suitable statistical tools. The following statistical tools have been used for analysis. Simple age analysis Chi-square test t-test ANOVA The Friedman test Kendall s coefficient of concordance HYPOTHESIS A suitable null hypothesis has been framed and tested in the relevant places. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS The analysis and interpretations of the study on the topic e-accounting A study on views of accounting professionals in Coimbatore city, is based on a sample of 75 respondents. The results are discussed in the following tables. Table-1 General profile of the Respondents Factors No of Personal Details Per respondents Age Male 61 81.3 Female 14 18.7 Below 5 years 22.3 Age 5-10 years 24 32.0 11-15 years 16 21.3 16-20 years 9 12.0 21 years & above 4 5.3 Professional exience Below 5 years 22.3 5-10 years 24 32.0 11-15 years 16 21.3 16-20 years 9 12.0 21 years & above 4 5.3 Specialization Accounting 2 2.7 Auditing & Tax 19 25.3 Accounting & Auditing 21 28.0 All the above 33 44.0 Total 75.0 Source-Primary Data From the above table it is clear that, 81.3 of the respondents are male and 18.7 of respondents are female. 48.0 of the respondents belong to the age group of 31-40 years. 32.0 of the respondents have 5-10 years of exience and 53.3 of the respondents have qualified as Chartered accountant. 44.0 of the respondents are specialized in all three the (accounting, tax and auditing) categories. Page 23
Factors No of clients Preparation of final reports Services Specialization Table-2 Business Information Business No. of. Per Information Respondents <50 17 21.7 >50 -< 16 21.3 >101-<150 16 21.3 >151-<200 17 23.7 201 & more 9 12.0 Monthly 17 22.7 Quarterly 31 41.3 Half yearly 7 9.3 Annually 20 26.7 Audit services 15 20.0 Accounting services 7 9.3 Taxation services 31 41.3 Financial services 1 1.3 all the above 21 28.0 Banking/companies 54 72.0 Proty/Construction 13 17.3 Hotels/Travels 6 8.0 Real estate 2 2.7 Accounting software Pastel 2 2.7 Sun business system 6 8.0 Tally 65 86.7 Sage 2 2.7 Total 75.0 Source-Primary Data 23.7 of the respondents have 151-200 clients in their organization. 41.3 of the respondents prepare their final reports quarterly. 41.3 of the respondents provide taxation services to their clients. 72 of the respondents are specialized in Banking/companies and 86.7 of the respondents are using tally software. Page 24
Table-3 Information relating to e-accounting Factors e-accounting Related No. of. information Respondents Per Courses DISA 24 32.0 Any other relevant courses 26 34.7 None 25 33.3 Duration of using Less than 1 year 10 13.3 1-3 years 20 26.7 IT professionals to assist in work 3-5 years 27 36.0 5-10 years 4 5.3 Above 10 years 14 18.7 Yes 24 32.0 No 51 68.0 Total 75.0 Source-Primary Data It is observed from the above table that 34.7 of the respondents have completed relevant courses in e-accounting. 36 of the respondents are using e-accounting for 3-5 years and 68 of the respondents have IT professionals to assist them. Table-4 Benefits of e-accounting Benefits rank1 rank2 rank3 rank4 Total Timely information management Large storage capacity Reduction of clerical works No 18 18 27 12 75 24.0 24.0 36.0 16.0 No 22 19 20 14 75.3 25.3 26.7 18.7 No 30 23 10 12 75 40.0 30.7 13.3 16.0 No 7 15 16 37 75 Cost efficiency 9.3 20.0 21.3 49.3 Source: primary data It is clear from the rank analysis that the respondents have given top rank for large storage capacity (.3 ) and reduction of clerical works (40.0 ). 36.0 of the respondents given rank 3 for timely information management and rank 4 for cost efficiency (49.3 Page 25
). The respondents given top rank, for large storage capacity (.3 ) and reduction of clerical works (40.0 ) Table-5 Problems in e-accounting problems rank rank2 rank3 rank4 rank5 Total 1 Inaccuracy of reports No 2 3-15 9 Frequent breakdown of system Inability of system to support large volume of data Lack of constant supply of electricity Inability to import or export data 6.9 10.3-51.7 31.0 No 5 2 8 5 9 17.2 6.9 27.6 17.2 31.0 No 5 8 5 8 3 17.2 27.6 17.2 27.6 10.3 No 14 12 3 - - 48.3 41.0 10.3 - - No 3 4 13 1 8 10.3 13.8 44.8 3.4 27.6 Source: primary data It is inferred that 48.3 of the respondents have given top rank to lack of constant supply of electricity, followed by27.6 equal respondents given rank2 or rank 4 for inability of system to support large capacity of data. For inability to import or export data 44.8 of the respondents have given rank 3,51.7 given rank 4 for Inaccuracy of reports and 31.0 of the respondents given rank 5 for frequent breakdown of system. Top rank of 48.3 have given to lack of constant supply of electricity FRIEDMAN TEST The fried man test is used to detect differences in treatments across multiple test attempts. The procedure involves ranking each row together, then considering the values of ranks by columns. Table-6 Role of accounting professionals in implementation of e-accounting Role Mean Rank Accounting policies 3.90 Risk assessment 4.08 Better practice control 3.00 Liaison with legal department 5.03 New procedures for accounting 3.89 Tax revenues 4.00 Cost benefits analysis 4.11 Source: computed Page 26
From the above table it is clear that lowest mean rank of 3.00 is given to better practice control which shows that, this role is considered as the first preferred role in case of implementation of e- environment,3.89 is given to new procedures for accounting is considered as second preferred rank, 3.90 is given to accounting policies is considered as third preferred rank, 4.00 is given to tax revenues is considered as fourth preferred rank, 4.08 is given to risk assessment is considered as fifth preferred rank, 4.11 is given to cost benefit analysis is considered as fifth preferred rank 5.03 is given to liaison with legal department is considered as seventh preferred rank. Table-6(a) N 75 Chi-Square 33.704 df 6 Asymp. Sig..000 From the above table it is inferred that the mean ranking of the respondents differs at.001 level of significance. Hence, the hypothesis is rejected. Table-7 Benefits of e-accounting Benefits Mean Rank Timely information management 2.45 Large storage capacity 2.35 Reduction of clerical works 2.08 Cost efficiency 3.12 Source: computed From the above table it is clear that lowest mean rank of 2.08 is given to reduction of clerical works which shows that, this benefit is considered as the first preferred benefit in case of implementation of e-environment, 2.35 is given to large storage capacity is considered as second preferred rank, 2.45 is given to Timely information management is considered as third preferred rank, 3.12 is given to cost efficiency is considered as fourth preferred rank. Table-7(a) N 75 Chi-Square 26.463 df 3 Asymp. Sig..000 From the above table it is clear that the mean ranking of the respondents differs at.001 level of significance. Hence, the hypothesis is rejected. Page 27
KENDALL'S W TEST Kendall s coefficient of concordance (W) was used to find whether there is any similarity among the respondents in the order of assigning the ranks. Higher the value of W, which is more similarity among the respondents. Kendall s (W) ranges between 0-1. Kendall s coefficient of concordance 1 s used to find whether the respondents agree in their ranking order of items. The mean rank for each item is given in the below table. Table-8 Problems in e-accounting Problems in e-accounting Mean Rank Inaccuracy of report 3.90 Frequent break down of system 3.38 Inability of system to support large volume of data 2.86 Lack of constant supply of electricity 1.62 Inability to import/export of data 3.24 Source: computed It is inferred that the problem Inaccuracy of report is given the highest rank (3.90), followed by Frequent break down of system (3.38), Inability to import / export data (3.24), Inability of system to support large volume of data (2.86) and the least rank is given to Lack of constant supply of electricity (1.62). Table-8(a) Test statistics N Kendall's W a.3 Chi-Square 33.959 Df 4 Asymp. Sig..000 The Kendall s coefficient valued at.3 which lies between the ranges of 0 to 1. This indicates that there is low similarity among the respondents in assigning the ranks for the problems faced by them in e-accounting. SUGGESTIONS Most of the clients were not using e-accounting hence, as awareness about e-accounting is to be provided to them. e-accounting helps to reduce the man hours and also to enhance the system effectively and efficiently. So the important of e-accounting to be given to the clients. If there is a provision of pro IT assistance the accuracy of the techniques can be improved. Pro ipherals should be used in order to overcome the hindrance of inability of the system. It is not just enough, if there is large storage capacity, rather it is more important that the available storage space should be used effectively in order to increase the efficiency of work. Page 28
CONCLUSION e-accounting environment has also opened up new vistas of opportunities for accounting professionals. Lack of knowledge about the real advantages of e-accounting and resistance to change are the reasons for companies not adopting e-accounting. There is a need for standards related to measurement, recording and disclosure of certain e-transactions. e-accounting support the business houses by providing lots of component through which the whole system of accounting become globalized. By implementing e-accounting it has been observed, that the professional aspects of better practice control is subject to change. The foremost attribute of using e-accounting is the large storage capacity and reduction of clerical works. Thus e-accounting helps businesses keep their financial data and accounting software in a safe, secure environment by allowing real time access. REFERENCES 1. Akpa Juliet Uchenna: Definition of accounting and benefits of e-accounting implication of e- accounting to a given firm, Innigeriadia components of 21 st ury scribd.com, 2011 pp 45-62. 2. Deli Kumar Sen and Eno L. Inanga Creative Accounting in Bangladesh and Global spective, Journal of Finance and Tax, Vol.8 2009, pp 1-14 3. Estrin.D and Zhang.L, Design considerations of Usage of E-accounting and Feedback in internet works, ACM Computer Communication Review, 1990, Vol.20, No 5. 4. James Blaylock A Paless office is a must today Accounting Today, September 2005, Vol.38, pp 18. 5. Martina R Noronha and Aiswarya R Kulkarni e-accounting in India, Journal of Finance, June 2012, Vol. XLII (2), pp.1-10. 6. Mohammed Amidu, John Effah and Joshua Abor e-accounting Practices among Small and Medium Enterprises in Ghana, Journal of Management Policy and Practice, Vol. 12(4), 2011 pp 146-155 7. Reemokab Study and Evaluation of Government Electronic Accounting Information Systems - a Field Study in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan ; Research Journal of Finance and Accounts, Vol 3, No 4, 2012 pp88 102. 8. SüleymanYükçü and SeçkinGönen Fraud auditıng in electronic accounting practices, African Journal of Business Management, Vol.3, Nov 2011, pp 1697 Page