Kajian ini menguji status penggunaan sistem perakaunan berkomputer (CBAS) di kalangan industri kecil dan sederhana di Wilayah Utara Semenanjung Malaysia. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa tahap penggunaan CBAS adalah melebihi sembilan puluh peratus. Walau bagaimanapun, CBAS yang digunapakai pada umumnya adalah di peringkat asas yang mana majoriti syarikat hanya menggunakan CBAS untuk tempoh enam tahun atau kurang. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa tempoh penggunaan CBAS berhubung langsung secara positif dengan kualiti keseluruhan CBAS. Hasil kajian juga mendapati hubungan di antara kematangan kepenggunaan CBAS dan usia sesebuah syarikat adalah berkait rapat pada arah positif. Walau bagaimanapun, dapatan kajian tidak menemui kesan positif usia dan saiz perniagaan dengan bentuk pemilikan ke atas pengunaan CBAS. Kata kunci: Penggunaan sistem perakaunan berkomputer, teknologi maklumat, industri kecil dan sederhana This study investigates the status of computer-based accounting systems (CBAS) adoption among small and medium manufacturing firms (SMEs) in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. Results show that over ninety percent of the firms have adopted CBAS. The adoption of CBAS, however, is still at the beginning stage as majority of the firms only adopted CBAS in the last six years or less and the depth of the CBAS system adopted is behind that of industrialized countries. The results showed that years of adoption are positively correlated with the overall quality of the CBAS adopted. Further investigations on the relationships between CBAS use items and factors that were expected to affect CBAS use indicate that the maturity stage of CBAS adoption was significantly positively correlated with age of business. However, the results did not find evidence supporting previous research that argued age and size of the firms as well as the type of ownership influence the adoption of CBAS. Key words: Adoption of computerized accounting systems, information technology, small and medium enterprises

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This paper provides a way to undertake tax administration performance management based on a combination of an integrated approach and an open system approach. A conceptual framework for the new approach to tax administration performance management is developed. The distinct feature of the framework is that it highlights the critical process of transforming inputs into outputs/outcomes in a tax administration by diagnosing the interrelation of the components in the process, i.e. formal organisation, informal organisation, task and people. These components contain both institutional and behavioural factors which have significant effect on tax administration performance and should be managed in an integrated and open system approach. A set of guidelines is also developed in this paper to enable application of the performance management framework. A case study was undertaken to test the applicability of the framework to tax administration based on the guidelines developed. The case study shows that the framework enable better management of tax administration performance by providing valuable feedback on the present state of a tax administration, identifying possible reasons for underperformance and highlighting ways in which a tax administration can improve its performance.

This study examined the level of transparency among unit trust funds in Malaysia. Unit trust funds were the focus of this study due to its nature: unique, heavily regulated and rapidly growing. The study investigated the extent of disclosure in relation to the various mandatory and voluntary requirements and the roles of the specific characteristics of trust funds in explaining their level of disclosure in the annual reports. The findings showed that the level of disclosure increased rapidly within the period of study suggesting that trust funds were becoming more transparent. With regard to the funds' specific characteristics, the study showed that the influence was not consistent. The model best explained the disclosure level during the pre-mandatory period, i.e. 1996. During this year, the variables 'sponsor of the fund' and 'auditors' significantly influenced the disclosure level in the predicted direction. In the other years (1997 and 1998), the explanatory power of the model was very low as suggested by the significant reduction in the adjusted R2. One argument was that during this period, the revised Guidelines had been issued and thus the model could not explain much the variation in the disclosure level as a large amount of the items in the study were already mandated.