• Computerized information systems collect, process, store, transform, and distribute financial and
non-financial information for planning, decision-making, and control purposes.
• Data are raw facts; information refers to data that are meaningful and useful.
• By law, the accountants in many specific financialinstitutions must now file suspicious activity
reports that document potential instances of fraud, money laundering, or money transfers to
terrorist organizations.
• Accounting information systems can help to thwart terrorism.
• Some of the recent corporate scandals involved manipulation of accounting data, which has led to
the passage of legislation to protect investors.