Computer Based Method For Tracking Accounting Information Systems

This assignment reviews basic accounting entries for a series of transactions, emphasizes the integration of journals to the financial statements, and introduces students to these journal entries in SAP ERP

The word “fraud” was magnified in the business world around the end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002. No one had seen anything like it. Enron, one of the country’s largest energy companies, went bankrupt and took down with it Arthur Andersen, one of the five largest audit and accounting firms in the world. Enron was followed by other accounting scandals such as WorldCom, Tyco, Freddie Mac, and HealthSouth, yet Enron will always be remembered as one of the worst corporate accounting scandals of all time. Enron’s collapse was brought upon by the greed of its corporate hierarchy and how it preyed upon its faithful stockholders and employees who invested so much of their time and money into the company. Enron seemed to portray that the goal of corporate America was to drive up stock prices and get to the peak of the financial mountain by any means necessary. The “Conspiracy of Fools” is a tale of power, crony capitalism, and company greed that lead Enron down the dark road of corporate America.

Accounting information systems (AIS) are useful instruments businesses use in the management of business activities. The kind of system installed depends on the size, nature of a business and the objectives managers have. One common objective though is that to minimise cost and increase

Some can say that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is working while some say that there still ways to get around to committing corporate fraud. Washington wants to crack down on corporate fraud so they came up with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 that was designed to protect the interest of investors. “The Sarbanes-Oxley Act established oversight of public corporate governance and financial reporting obligations and redesigned accountability and ethics standards…” (Ferrell, O., Hirt, G., & Ferrell, L., 2009). The act was an important stepping-stone in the right direction especially when responding to the financial scandals of Enron and WorldCom. Those scandals shook customer’s faith and confidence in corporate management of private organizations.

 Information system: Information is available and clear to communicate responsibilities and expectations. Every system within a business that processes accounting data should capture transactions as they occur, journalize transactions in an accurate and timely manner. Also, posting those transactions in the books, and report the transactions in the form of account balances in the financial statements.

Over the years, technology has become a major part for a business and for an individual as well. Technology has become so advance that it has made a major effect for the staff as well as for the customers. New technology has helped in many areas such as data and information storage, advertising, transportation and communication.

“No longer is IT just another tool the CEO might use to accomplish costs saving and operational ends. Today, information technology can help solve product problems, set new levels of service and create new distribution and communication channels.”

Information Technology (IT) is a foundation for conducting business today. It plays a critical role in increasing productivity of firms and entire nation. It is proven that firms who invested in IT have experienced continued growth in productivity and efficiency. Many companies' survival and even existence without use of IT is unimaginable. IT has become the largest component of capital investment for companies in the United States and many other countries.

Some industry-specific factors, such as having valuable near-cash assets, can increase the organization's vulnerability. Also they will need to rationalize the actions as justifiable. The individuals committing the fraud must first convince themselves that their behavior is acceptable or will be temporary. For example, Barry Minkow’s believed that the lies and deceit are for the betterment of his company and that with time everything will eventually return to normal.

Throughout history there have been many white collar crimes. These crimes are defined as non-violent and financial-based crimes that are full ranges of fraud committed by business and government professionals. These crimes are not victimless nor unnoticed. A single scandal can destroy a company and can lose investors millions of dollars. Today, fraud schemes are more sophisticated than ever, and through studying: Enron, LIBOR, Albert Wiggan and Chase National Bank, Lehman Brothers and Madoff, we find how the culprits started there deception, the aftermath of the scandal and what our country has done to prevent future scandals.

As we look back on the first decade of the 21st Century, we see that Corporate America and the Financial Markets were riddled with corruption and fraud. At the beginning of the decade we saw the likes of Enron and WorldCom become insolvent due to accounting frauds of epic proportions. The one case that stands out amongst all of them is the Bernard Madoff case, which is considered to be the largest fraud case of all time. “Madoff managed to lure billions of dollars away from huge charities, as well as wealthy individuals in both the United States and Europe by getting them to invest in his hedge fund. He did so by claiming extraordinary returns (generally

The perfect fraud storm occurred between the years 2000 and 2002 involving two of the largest energy and telecom corporations in the United States: Enron and WorldCom. It was determined that both organizations fraudulently overstated assets, created assets from expenses or overstated revenues, costing investors billions of dollars and resulting in both organizations declaring bankruptcy (Albrecht, Albrecht, Albrecht & Zimbelman, 2012). Nine factors contributed to fraud triangle creating this perfect fraud storm, and assisting management in concealing the fraud until exposed and rectified.

James Guisti, the manager of the North Providence branch of the Greater Providence Deposit & Trust Bank took out 67 fraudulent loans all with 90-day notes over a 3-year period. He did this to fund his gambling addiction and pay off its debts. When a loan matured, he paid off the loan by creating another 90-day note loan and kept rewriting the loans to make more money off of them. He committing identify theft by using the name of his wife, his father, two friends of his, and a fictitious person. No documentation was provided for any of the loans. The loans were in low amounts that they would not be flagged by internal auditors or his employees.

In today’s society, people cannot imagine life without technology. Technology has made life easier and has enabled individuals to do extraordinary things that were not possible in the past. As of right now my future major and career is in the accounting industry. Accounting has gone through many changes throughout the years. There are changes with technology, new regulations and standards, and the uncertainty of the economic market that may affect the accounting industry. The advancements of technology have been one of the biggest changes around the world, and it is also affecting the accounting world today. Future technologies will change the way accountants do their job, just like it has in the previous years. As the years pass, we will advance in the electronic field and the accounting industry will continue to advance with us. Modern technology is taking over traditional ways in accounting and is changing it for the better. New technologies and regulations will affect the future of accounting in a positive way by making the job easier with less room for error and by giving more communication opportunities and better time management.

Accounting professionals are in very high demand. The nature of work in accounting is so vast an individual would have so many different areas of accounting to choose from. Accounting requires people who can work with complex business structures, computer systems, and financial analysis packages. Accounting work further requires an aptitude for mathematics and the ability to compare and analyze accounting data quickly. Accountants also need to have strong communication skills as they must effectively communicate accounting data to their employers and/or clients. The accounting profession also demands a high level of integrity and morality because the financial data prepared by accountants is used by business managers to run their