Role of Accounting Information in Decision Making Process

Question: Discuss about the Role of Accounting Information in Decision Making Process. Answer: Introduction: Profession is defined as any sort of paid occupation, which involves the prolonged training and the formal qualification in order to achieve the job specification of a particular. The report aims to provide a contextual background of the future profession. In the given case, my future profession has been seen in term of being designated in the role of chartered financial analyst in a reputed accounting firm based in Australia. The report aims to identify and explore the relevant ideas of the profession in terms of the identifying the role for the accounting information in the overall decision-making process in the organization. The report will further aim to provide the necessary information, which is needed to produce a critical review of the understanding of the report title and essence of 'become a professional in the accounting area. The main aim of the report will be directly related to the application of the key components of the accounting information in the overall decision-m aking process. The future role has been identified in terms of the application of the relevant concepts related to the accounting information and accounting information system (Christensen Feltham, 2012). The main objective of the accounting information system has been identified in terms of identifying and providing of relevant solution related to the financial information concerning a particular organization. In general, the role of the accounting information has been seen in terms of the components concerning the financial situation of a particular organization. The importance of the accounting information is seen as important criteria to achieve the relevant objectives of the company and comparing the parameters in terms of the other companies. Influence of External Environment According to Jackson, Hussainy, Kirkpatrick (2016), there have been different factors observed affecting the external environment. The influence of the external environment in accounting context will be done based on PESTLE analysis. The efficient and open nature of the legal system of Australia has paved the way for efficient, transparent and legal framework for the application of the accounting information system in the overall decision-making process. It has been further observed that the country has shown several scope of improvement in offering great investment opportunity. This is directly relevant to the application of the accounting information system (King, 2016). Based on the information available from the social stratification, it has been identified that the Non-manual workers are seen to be earning more than the manual workers are earning. It has been further observed that the profession, which includes occupations such as accountants and management accountants, have be en identified as one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. The situational analysis has thus been depicted using various factors for the external environment (Morris Metternicht, 2016). Influence of Internal Environment The research will also take into account the internal environment. According to Grant (2016), the internal factors are those factors, which are intrinsic to a particular organization. This is directly relevant to the application of the concepts related to the organizations internal environment. Some of the internal environment in term of the project context will be taken in form of the factors such as policies, nature of business, culture, methods and the standards. The standards are related to the respective AASB accounting standards. Furthermore, the different internal parameters will be identified in terms of the project, innovation and business as usual (Cabeza et al., 2014). Background and problem The main problem has been identified in terms of generating poor quality of the accounting information. The report will look forward to generate information based on various types of the quality dimension parameters. These dimensions will look into the issues, which have been mainly observed in the areas such as accuracy, timeliness and consistency with representation of the information value. The main aim of the report is to generate a comprehensive data is directly related to identification of the issues in areas such as total quality management (TQM) and Just in time (JIT). The report also aims to focus on the effectiveness on the use of the accounting information for the industries based in Australia. Objectives The main objective to identify the previous cases, which has been seen with the different types of the concerned issues as proposed to be addressed in the report. The research study will also identify the frequency of using accounting information in decision making in various type of the companies and industries based in Australia. The study will further know about the effectiveness of the use of the accounting information for the fulfillment of the long-term objectives. The latter part of the report also aims to provide the relevant solutions and recommendation measures to overcome the relevant accounting problems. What are the main quality issues identified in terms of accounting information Why is it necessary to use accounting information for the purpose of effective decision making? What is the role of the accounting information in terms of corporate vision, corporate objectives, corporate growth strategies and in achieving core competency of the organization in terms of the competitors? What is the role of quality accounting information in capital raising activities of the organization? Accounting Information According to Sutton Arnold (2013), accounting information is identified as the procedure of storing, collecting and the processing of the various type of financial information, which may be later on used by the decision makers. The process of the accounting information has been mainly seen to done on computers. With the advent of the cloud commuting concepts several software like MYOB and XERO has enabled the management professionals and accounting professionals to store and access the data using the online accounting tools. Hence, the above discussed tools has been able to cover the different aspects of accounting information (Ball, Li Shivakumar, 2013). The main benefit of the use of the online tools has been able to suffice the relevant requirement of the organizations in terms of the fast storing, retrieval and easy updating of the information. The computer based accounting system is in conjunction with the information technology (Drake, Guest Twedt, 2014). It has been further observed that the management can use the various types of the financial information available both internally or externally. This includes the concern of the various types of the parties such as investors, creditors and the information gathered from the tax authorities (Demski, 2013). The accounting information are designed to support the accounting functions which includes the various types of activities such as financial accounting, reporting, auditing, managerial/ management, accounting and application of the taxation norms in the company (Hall, 2012). Role of accounting information in decision-making According to Ismail King, (2014), since the beginning of 1970s, the main use of the accounting information has been identified in terms of the application of the system has been seen to be designed for the payroll functions. The use of AIS also plays a significant role in terms of delivering adequate quality in the reports (Adenike Michael, 2016). It has been also seen that the accounting information has been also put to use for the predominant development of the in house legacy systems. As the these approaches are seen to be time consuming and difficult in nature the accounting information in the modern times has been seen to be used in terms of the commercially sold prebuilt software packages such as Xero, MYOB, Microsoft, Sage Group, SAP and Oracle Corporations (Soudani, 2012). Hence, several types of the large organizations are known to use the ERP system to integrate the various types of the accounting information (Collier, 2015). Proposed data collection and analysis The data will be collected from 25 respondents based in Australia. Among the 25-selected participant for the research study, 20 will be management accountants and 5 will be managers working different types of companies based in Australia who are responsible to deal with accounting information in day to day life. The primary data collection process will be mainly involving survey method. The secondary data collection process will be done based on books and articles, which will signify the previous trend of the quality issues in terms of the accounting data. The secondary sources will be also able to signify the deferent types of the influence, which the accounting information has in the overall decision making of the organization. Hence, the research process is identified as a mix of both primary and secondary analysis of the information. The analysis of the data will be done by using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The different types of the responses of the participants will be converted in percentage values. In addition to this, Sample technique such as simple random sampling and convenience sampling method. The quantitative techniques will involve the application of evaluation techniques like central tendency analysis of respondents data. Some of the techniques applied are Mean, Standard Error, Median, Mode and Standard Deviation. The qualitative analysis will be mainly based on the business research methods, service demonstrations and the evaluation based on a thematic approach. Milestones and schedule Formulation of Milestone Report SL No. Particulars Week No. Start Finish 1 Reviewing the Research objectives Week 1 Mon 1/2/17 Tue 1/10/17 2 Carrying out Survey research Week 2 Wed 1/11/17 Thu 1/19/17 3 Updating the questionnaire Week 3 Thu 1/19/17 Fri 1/27/17 4 Identifying Relevant quality issues Week 4 Fri 1/27/17 Mon 2/6/17 5 Updating research processes Week 5 Mon 2/6/17 Tue 2/14/17 6 Formalizing business accounting information with participants Week 6 Tue 2/14/17 Wed 2/22/17 7 Application of the data analysis techniques Week 7 Wed 2/22/17 Thu 3/2/17 8 Initiation of the Recommendation Process Week 8 Fri 3/3/17 Mon 3/13/17 Conclusion The various types of the research approach given will be able to evaluate the different types of the data analysis. The different types of the perspective of the data collection technique will include the use of both primary and secondary data collection technique. The data evaluated will be based on qualitative and quantitative method of data collection. The various types of the data collection technique will be able to how the different types of the research application techniques used as a methodology of the research. This will have a direct impact in the future profession to identify the various types of the parameters, which will be directly related to the identification of the quality issues in the repro the accounting information. The different type the accounting information will be also based on the identification of the use accounting information for effective decision-making. The report will be also able to state the role of the accounting information in terms of corporate vision, corporate objectives, and corporate growth strategies and in achieving core competency of the organization in terms of the competitors. In addition to this the different types of the data analysis conducted in this research will be able to provide the necessary data for the role of quality accounting information in capital raising activities of the organization. The research process will also be able to state on the sequence of the activities, which needs to be maintained for conducting the research. Reference List Adenike, A. T., Michael, A. A. (2016). Effect of Accounting Information System Adoption on Accounting Activities in Manufacturing Industries in Australia. Ball, R., Li, X., Shivakumar, L. (2013). Mandatory IFRS adoption, fair value accounting and accounting information in debt contracts.Fair Value Accounting and Accounting Information in Debt Contracts (September 11, 2013). Cabeza, L. F., Rincn, L., Vilario, V., Prez, G., Castell, A. (2014). Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) of buildings and the building sector: A review.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,29, 394-416. 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