The Effects of Technology on the Accounting Profession

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The Effects of Technology on the Accounting Profession
In today’s business society, the accounting technology whether it be software or hardware is a vital part of just about every major business. Many people overlook the importance of the role of accounting technology in business and in the accounting profession. The fact is technology such as accounting information systems can make or break a business.
Utilization of Information Technology in the Retail Businesses (Wal-Mart)
To succeed in the rapidly evolving business environment we face today, businesses rely heavily on accounting technology to track information about their customers and inventory (Lazerus, 2010). Wal-Mart and other businesses around the world have also come to rely on accounting technology to help improve their operations to compete in tough markets. Software technologies such as Microsoft access databases enables Wal-Mart and other companies to search, retrieve, and order additional inventory faster and more efficient internally and externally. For instance, Wal-Mart can communicate changes and updates with a single entry in the database and it is instantly available to employees and managers with access to a computer. Accounting systems also helps employees to become more efficient without hassle of checking and recounting inventory. Accounting systems are also used in the human resources department of Wal-Mart and other businesses to assist with tracking and paying employees. The systems automatically perform the calculations such as adding up an employee’s overtime and available holidays. This reduces the amount of time spent on pay issues thereby increases the time a company can spend on other major issues such as recruitment and retention.
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...counting tasks are still only expected of accounting professionals, the role of accounting professions has decreased because of the emergence of accounting technology. The integration of accounting technology into the vital parts of businesses have made positive impacts that otherwise would be impossible to accomplish. Businesses, who do not take advantage of today’s accounting information systems, place themselves at a big disadvantage to their competitors. The bottom-line is that most businesses would be crippled and maybe even be forced to close their doors without today’s accounting systems.

References
Lazerus, J. (2010). Retail. Retrieved from http://www.visioncritical.com/what-we-do/practices/retail/
Rampur, S. (2011). Basic Elements of Information Technology. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/impact-of-information-technology-on-business.html

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