In recent years, whether in teaching or academic research, people always confuse accounting informatization and accounting computerization, thinking that they are the same concept, with no substantive difference and can be used interchangeably; Some people think that the concept of accounting informatization is superior to accounting computerization, but they don't know where it is superior. They are only vaguely aware that accounting informatization may replace accounting computerization. The author believes that understanding the ins and outs of the two and distinguishing them correctly are conducive to the development and positioning of enterprise informatization.
1, the origin and meaning of the concepts of accounting computerization and accounting informatization
1979, China started computerized accounting. At that time, people's understanding was that the application of computer technology in the accounting field could effectively improve the efficiency of accounting work, and the academic community did not put forward an authoritative concept to unify people's ideological understanding. 198 1 put forward the concept of "computerized accounting" for the first time at the "seminar on the application of electronic computers in finance, accounting and cost" held in Changchun. The basic meaning of accounting computerization refers to the process of applying computer technology to the field of accounting work and using accounting software to direct various computers to replace accounting work that is difficult or even impossible to complete manually. In August 2005, the concept of "accounting computerization" to "accounting informatization" was put forward at the meeting. Experts attending the meeting had a heated discussion on these two concepts, and agreed that the use of "accounting informatization" can better summarize the further development of "accounting computerization" and further improve the application level of "accounting computerization". Accounting informatization is a process of combining accounting with information technology, and accounting information is used as a management information resource. Comprehensive use of information technology based on computer, network and communication to obtain, process, transmit, store and apply accounting information to provide comprehensive and timely information for internal managers and external information users of enterprises. Accounting informatization is an important part of enterprise informatization. As you can see, two concepts were put forward by people in different periods and stages of information technology development.
2. The difference between accounting informatization and accounting computerization.
It should be noted that it is impossible to put forward and study today's accounting informatization without the rich achievements accumulated by accounting computerization in the past 20 years. There is no boundary between accounting informatization and accounting computerization, but with the continuous development of information technology and the different application depth and scope in accounting field, they have made a leap in understanding. Both are characterized by information technology. The difference is that the extension and connotation of their respective applications are also quite different because of the different information technologies that different times rely on.
2. 1 Differences between information technology environments
What people usually call information technology is not simple technology, but the abbreviation of group technology such as computer technology, network communication technology and information sensing technology. In the stage of accounting computerization, people seek to develop software that can solve individual work or overall accounting work in the accounting field, so as to help accountants realize the liberation of labor force and improve the productivity level; The hardware is mainly based on stand-alone environment or F/S (file/server) architecture, and rarely involves network communication technology and sensing technology. In the stage of accounting informatization, people need to research and develop a management information system that integrates many subsystems such as financial management, production management, supply chain management, human resource management and even decision support. Accounting information system is an important subsystem of management information system. At this stage, products and concepts such as MIS (Management Information System), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), SCM (Supply Chain Management) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) are all put forward on the basis of network and communication technology. Computerization uses less network communication technology, and informationization relies more on the support of network communication technology; Sensing technology is hardly used in computerization. With the development of informatization, barcode sensing and intelligent sensing are used more and more.
2, 2 the difference between the system state level
Accounting computerization mainly serves the accounting and management of the financial department and belongs to departmental application; Accounting informatization is an integral part of enterprise informatization, and accounting information system is the core subsystem of management information system, which serves not only the financial department, but also the information management layer, decision support layer and decision-making layer, and belongs to enterprise-level application.
2, 3 the difference between system goals
Accounting computerization and accounting informatization are different concepts put forward by people with the deepening application of information technology in accounting field. Starting from liberating productive forces and improving work efficiency, accounting computerization first emphasizes the standardization of accounting data processing, changes the irregular reality of manual accounting, and requires that the development of accounting software and the operation of accounting information system be standardized based on the standardized generation of financial reports in accordance with the requirements of China's unified accounting system; Accounting informatization emphasizes the efficiency and value-added of accounting output, which depends on the rapid collection, real-time transmission and deep processing of accounting data at different levels under the network environment. The effectiveness of accounting informatization depends on the diversification of accounting information output.
2, 4 the difference between information input
Under the condition of computerized accounting, accounting vouchers are entered into the system, and the data are mainly entered by the financial department itself; And a large number of accounting information data can be directly obtained from other systems inside and outside the enterprise. At the same time, it can be predicted that with the standardization of original vouchers and the maturity of network security technology, digitally signed original vouchers will directly enter the accounting information system.
2, 5 the difference between data processing
Computerized accounting mainly deals with the data that has occurred in batches, and accounting informatization makes it possible to process the data in real time. Under the computer network environment, the business departments of an enterprise work together through Intranet (T Intranet), and all kinds of data information generated are stored in the integrated database of the system. Internal users of enterprise information can process data in real time by accessing the database in real time.
2, 6 the difference between information output
In the computerized environment, the output of accounting information mainly includes display, printing, disk, etc. In the information environment, in addition to the above methods, internal requirements can also be transmitted and shared through the network. Through the division of authorization and authority level, various institutions and departments within the enterprise can obtain it directly from the information system. With the in-depth study of XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) and the gradual popularization and application of B/S (Browser/Server) architecture in large-scale systems, more and more enterprises will publish their financial information on the Internet.
3. The significance difference between accounting computerization and accounting informatization is helpful for enterprises to correctly position their own informatization process.
The development of information technology restricts the process of enterprise informatization. 1979, China began to engage in computer accounting pilot. 1983 the State Council set up an electronic revitalization leading group. It was not until 1990 that the first batch of brand accounting software was launched in China. It can be said that in the late 1990s, it was not easy for an enterprise to own its own computer hardware and find suitable accounting software. There is no large-scale application and flowering of the Internet, but in the past ten years, the computer accounting of enterprises really just lingered in the stage of accounting computerization. The accounting software industry developed by software manufacturers mainly stays in computerized accounting, that is, software can be used instead of manual bookkeeping, Anita. This is what Holland meant when he said that "the traditional accounting information system is a copy of manual accounting". At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of this century, with the large and medium-sized distributed databases gradually applied to the domestic information processing field; With the development of F/S (file/server) to C/S (client/server) and B/S (browser/server) architecture; With the introduction of more and more ERP products, especially after more and more enterprises have the strength and ability to obtain the above technologies and services, computer accounting has left the era of "information island" and entered the era of enterprise informatization, which integrates finance, manufacturing, supply chain, human resources and business decision. Accounting information system is no longer an isolated system, and no longer only serves the needs of departments. With more accurate input, deeper processing and better accounting information,
Of course, not all enterprises are suitable for C/S and ERP, and all enterprises should correctly position their informatization level. No matter how big the scale of the enterprise is, no matter what the hardware architecture and software level of the enterprise are, it is undeniable that the enterprise has entered the information age together. It can be seen that it is a trend for accounting informatization to replace accounting computerization. The development of information technology makes accounting work make more use of the fruits of the rapid development of modern information technology. In addition, it also profoundly affects and changes the basic theoretical system and practical work of accounting. Accounting informatization is produced in line with the development trend of modern social informatization, which requires people to understand informatization from a new perspective and stand on the height of the whole enterprise, build a new generation of enterprise management information system, promote the comprehensive informatization construction of enterprises, and finally promote the rapid development of the whole social and economic informatization.
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