In his empirical study, Spathis (Spathis and Constantinides, 2004) concluded about the benefits that accounting system receives from an enterprise information system. It also includes detailed benefits related to the 5 subgroups as above. Specifically:
Organizational benefits:
o Increase decision making based on reliable and timely accounting information.
o Increase internal audit function.
Operational benefits:
o Reduce closing time.
o Increased control of working capital
o Reduce accounting department staff
Management benefits
o Increased use of financial ratio analysis
o Increased flexibility in information creation
o Improve the quality of accounting reports
1.1.4. Limitations of ERP
There are two sides to every coin. ERP implementation often brings more benefits to large enterprises and causes some limitations for small enterprises (Shehab et al., 2004) such as the cost of ERP is too high, the project implementation time is long (from 2-5 years) and requires enterprises to prepare enough conditions in terms of technology, training management skills and changing corporate culture, so ERP application often causes disruption and even loss, financial damage to enterprises. For example, ERP software providers such as Baan, PeopleSoft as well as SAP have calculated that customers need to spend 3-7 times more on ERP implementation than on purchasing ERP software (According to Scheer and Habermann, 2000 - quoted from Shehab et al. 2004).
Another difficulty associated with ERP applications is that there is no complete standard for ERP software. Depending on the supplier, ERP subsystems can change and therefore
There will be difficulties in integrating different applications from different vendors.
Another prominent difficulty of ERP implementation is the mismatch or gap between the functions provided by the ERP software and the requirements of the ERP-using organization in terms of data organization, processing and content and form of information.
Another important challenge in ERP implementation is the ratio between business reengineering and customization. Not all pre-written ERP business processes and procedures are suitable for the business that uses it. However, customizing them will take a lot of time, cost and even defeat the original goal of ERP software which is to improve the quality of business processes.
In addition, in the ERP environment, users can take advantage of high technology to commit fraudulent activities against information and assets of the enterprise.
1.1.5. ERP software classification
Talking about ERP system means talking about 3 issues: management method and operation process; ERP processing software and equipment and network system serving calculation and human-machine communication.
ERP software is not just a simple data processing software but it is a tool that integrates management processes into automatic processes programmed in the software. Therefore, many people call it an ERP solution. In this section, we will look at the solution classifications and applications of these solutions in the world and in Vietnam.
Classification by software size
Low-end foreign ERP software. These are software sold worldwide and are intended for small family-owned businesses that operate in only one location. They are only effective for simple accounting operations. These include Quickbooks, Peach Tree, and MyOB. In Vietnam
Nowadays, these software are no longer used by businesses. Instead, if they are small businesses, applying accounting software early and initially adding some other management subsystems, they often choose domestic software solutions.
Mid-level foreign ERP software with not too high cost has an average value from 20,000 USD to 150,000 USD including implementation cost (Mekong Capital 2004), such as SunSystems, Exact Globe 2000, MS Solomon, Navision, Scala, Accpac, Intuitive ERP, Marcam... However, depending on the needs and usage level, the value of the software can increase. These software support most business processes such as purchasing, sales, production, accounting, human resources, warehouse and are designed for use on network systems with a client/server structure, in which the main software runs on a server and allows clients to access from the local network.
High-end foreign ERP software with an average value of hundreds of thousands to millions of US dollars. These are software designed mainly for multinational companies with many locations, branches and many users at the same time to serve complex business processes with strict operational requirements. Examples include: Oracle Financials, SAP, PeopleSoft, Baan.
Classify ERP according to market share corresponding to the size of the enterprise implementing ERP
According to the report of Panorama Consulting Group when conducting the research "Situation of ERP application 2008", SAP accounts for 35% of the total market share worldwide, Oracle 28%, Microsoft 14% and the remaining 23% for other solutions such as Baan, Epicor, Exact, IFS, Infor, Lawson, Netsuite, Sage, Syspro and many other solutions. Classified by the size of the enterprise using ERP, SAP accounts for 30% (small enterprises), 43% large enterprises. Oracle 30% small enterprises, 33% large enterprises. The rest is divided between Microsoft solutions and other solutions as described above.
Classification of ERP software by application industry
Also according to statistics from Panorama Consulting Group (Panorama 2008), ERP software market share by industry is distributed as follows. All ERP solutions are applied in all industries, specifically SAP is used for the retail industry 30% (equal to Microsoft), 39% for consumer goods manufacturing industries (largest in the consumer industry), up to 44% in other heavy industries. Oracle is applied 25% in retail businesses, 32% in consumer manufacturing and 29% in heavy industrial manufacturing. Microsoft is applied mainly in retail 30% and consumer manufacturing businesses 16%, heavy industrial manufacturing 6%.
In summary, SAP and Oracle solutions are very popular in the world, followed by Microsoft.
1.2. QUALITY OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION IN ERP ENVIRONMENT
1.2.1. Information quality.
Information is facts and figures presented in a form useful to users for decision making. Information is useful for decision making because it reduces uncertainty and increases knowledge about the issue at hand (Gelinas and Dull, 2008).
There are many different views and standards of information quality. For example, according to Wang et al. in 1999, “information quality can be defined as the information that is suitable for the use of the information user” (this is the most popular view of information quality because it comes from the classic studies on quality by Deming in 1986, Juran and Gryna in 1988, Figenbaum 1991(Khalil et al., 1999)); or according to Kahn, Strong in 1998, “information quality is the characteristic of information that helps to achieve the requirements or expectations of the information users”; or according to Lesca, Lesca in 1995, “information quality is defined as the difference between the required information specified by the goal and the achieved information. In an ideal situation, there will be no difference between the required information and the achieved information. Measuring information quality is important.
“The smaller the difference between the information required and the information obtained, the higher the quality of the information” (Eppler and Wittig, 2000).
Although the definitions and perspectives of researchers on information quality are different, they all have some common characteristics, which are: Information quality or data quality depends on the perception of the information user. It has many different characteristics (or properties) depending on the philosophical perspective of the user or researcher and it needs to be considered in the specific context (or context) of the information user (Knight and Burn, 2005). This can be clearly explained that the same information is good for one person but not suitable for another. Or the same information, if taken from a source such as documents or newspapers, the user may feel more confident than taking it from the Internet because it is difficult to verify the source of the data.
Eppler and Wittig (Eppler and Wittig, 2000) conducted a synthesis of information quality studies over a 10-year period from 1989 to 1999. The information quality studies that the authors selected needed to ensure four goals: (1) Provide a set of information quality standards that are concise, succinct and assessable; (2) Provide a complete description of the relationship between the standards to help analyze and solve information quality problems; (3) Provide a basis for measuring and managing information quality; (4) Be able to provide researchers with a logical map to structure (or arrange, explain logically) different approaches, different theories and phenomena related to information quality. The synthesis and analysis of 7 of the 20 information quality studies showed that information quality standards typically include:
Timely or current. Some studies describe timeliness as the concept of information being updated promptly, describing the currentness of information. Others define timeliness as the rapid, timely delivery of processing results to users.
Accessible or achievable.
Objective.
Suitable
Correct.
Consistency
Full.
These studies also highlight trade-offs between some information quality criteria, such as between security and accessibility (because the more secure the information, the less accessible it is); or between accuracy and timeliness; between generality of information and level of detail (the more detailed the information, the less general it is).
Knight and Burn also conducted a synthesis of 12 widely accepted information quality studies between 1996 and 2002. The results showed that there were up to 20 information quality standards mentioned in the following table 1.1:
Table 1.1. Information quality characteristics according to Knight and Burn's synthesis
Characteristic
Number of times mentioned in the study | Explain | |
1. Accurate | 8 | The information is calculated accurately, not errors from reliable data |
2. Consistency | 7 | Information is presented in the same presentation and consistency with previous data. |
3. Security | 7 | Properly limit access to maintain security security |
4. Timely | 7 | Information is fully updated for ongoing goals |
5. Full | 5 | Information is not missed, wide and deep enough for ongoing goals |
6. Be concise | 5 | Information is presented concisely and clearly. but full |
7. Trust | 5 | Accurate and reliable information |
8. Can be accessed access | 4 | Information availability or easy access easy and fast |
9. Ready | 4 | Information is accessible |
Maybe you are interested!
-
Identifying and controlling factors affecting the quality of accounting information in the environment of applying enterprise resource planning system ERP in Vietnamese enterprises - 12 -
Controlling Factors Affecting the Quality of Accounting Information in the ERP Application Environment at Vietnamese Enterprises. -
The Impact of Accounting Information System Quality on Operational Performance -
Research on factors affecting the quality of accounting information systems in Vietnamese traffic construction enterprises - 26 -
Quality of Accounting Information System
10. Objectivity
4 | Neutral, unbiased information unbiased | |
11. Suitable (Relevancy) | 4 | Useful information, relevant to real goals presently |
12. Usability | 4 | Information is clear and easy to use. For example, in the context of computer use, information that has good content but is presented in a language that the reader cannot understand is That information is not of good quality either. |
13. Understandable Okay | 5 | Clear, unambiguous information |
14. Quantity information | 3 | Amount of information (level of detail) available ready and fit for purpose |
15. Can be trusted rely | 3 | Information from honest and reliable sources |
16. Easy to search | 3 | Information is easily found and easily linked (this case for the search context) search for information online) |
17. Popular | 3 | Information is easily searchable from data sources. whether |
18. Useful | 3 | Useful and usable content information applicable to the purpose at hand |
19. Efficiency | 3 | Information is generated quickly and efficiently from data for ongoing purposes |
20. Value added increase | 3 | Information provides good predictions for goal in progress |
Source: excerpt from (Knight and Burn, 2005)
The period 1996-2001 was a period of maturity and strong development of the application of information technology in management. Technology and management methods developed highly and along with that, the techniques of "hackers" also developed very well. Obviously, this period had many characteristics of information quality added and mentioned more in studies than the previous period, such as "security", "efficiency", "access", "search" etc., which are more suitable for the new context of use of information users. However, the characteristics of measuring information quality as described above have many overlaps with each other.
The study, consideration of the characteristics of information quality and its classification into standard dimensions is carried out by both academic researchers and practitioners.
both the people or organizations that actually apply it. In order to easily build the concepts of quality, the standard dimensions of classifying information characteristics were first initiated by Ballou and Pazer 1982,1985,1987 and Ballou et all 1987,1993 (Xu et al., 2002), and until now have been accepted and used by many researchers of information quality, data quality (Lee et al., 2002). That is, quality information is information that ensures:
Intrinsic IQ. This dimension refers to the most basic characteristics of information quality. It typically describes the accuracy of information and data; completeness (in the sense that information is not omitted or not processed from incomplete data sources), consistency of information calculation and processing; objectivity of information; and reliability of the source of data that creates information.
Context of information (Contextual IQ) . This dimension emphasizes the need for information quality to be considered in the context of the goals and activities being performed. It needs to ensure relevance, timeliness, completeness (completeness in the sense that detailed information is sufficient and appropriate for the goals being performed), and appropriateness in terms of information quantity to be able to increase the value of information.
Representational IQ . This dimension emphasizes the need for information to be presented in a form that is interpretable, understandable, clear, concise, consistent, and comparable to the information user. In an IT environment, since data is stored in a binary language, this dimension emphasizes the importance of information being expressed and presented in a way that is interpretable, understandable, and easily processed by the user.
Accessibility of information (Accessibility IQ) . This dimension emphasizes that in an information technology application environment, data and information need to be stored in a way that users can access.