ีunlike many other accounting subjects, such as intermediate accounting, accounting information systems (AIS) lacks a well-defined body of knowl-
edge. Much controversy exists among college faculty as to
what should and should not be covered in the AIS course. To some extent, however, the controversy is being resolved through recent legislation. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 established new corporate governance regulations and standards for public companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This wide- sweeping legislation impacts public companies, their man- agement, and their auditors. Of particular importance to AIS students is the impact of SOX on internal control standards and related auditing procedures. Whereas SOX does not define the entire content of the AIS course, it does identify critical areas of study that need to be included for account- ants. These topics and more are covered in several chapters of this text.
The purpose of this chapter is to place the subject of AIS in perspective for accountants. Toward this end, the chapter is divided into four major sections, each dealing with a different aspect of information systems. The first section explores the information environment of the firm. It intro- duces basic systems concepts, identifies the types of infor- mation used in business, and describes the flows of information through an organization. This section also presents a framework for viewing AIS in relation to other information systems components. The second section of the chapter deals with the impact of organizational structure on AIS. Here we examine the business organization as a system of functional areas. The accounting function plays an impor- tant role as the purveyor of financial information for the rest of the organization. The third section reviews the evolution of information systems. Over the years, AIS has been repre- sented by a number of different approaches or models.