Mechanisation, computerisation and information systems

Abstract

OverviewThis chapter examines the effects of technical innovations in record keeping on accounting and the nature of accounting work. There is no clear-cut periodisation of the changes in technologies but, for convenience, changes are dealt with in four overlapping eras. The first era covers the period of increasing mechanical aided recordkeeping from the mid-19th century until about 1930. The second period looks at the changes from the Second World War until the early 1970s arising from the early introduction of digital computing into the business sphere. The last three decades of the century, when computing became established as the prime mode of business record keeping and the personal computer (PC) revolution took place, represents the third era. This epoch blends into the final era when the combination of the Internet and highly integrated systems change the nature of business operations as well as the recordkeeping of which accounting is a part.One of the reasons for a lack of clear periodisation is that not all businesses, or all accounting practices, changed at the same rate or in the same ways. There were clear sectorial differences in all periods, in several dimensions, as well as geographical differences in part influenced by levels of economic development. In this context, the periods discussed are mainly from the developed Anglo-Saxon and European perspective. Additionally, various degrees of delay and inertia operated with the result that, even in the later, more technically advanced, periods, some organisations continued to use systems from earlier eras though possibly for good (economic) reasons. Indeed it is likely that even today there are small organisations using little technology, and some not keeping accounting records at all. The chronological study of accounting technologies is then shown to be central to the transformation of the ways in which accounting and accountants operated. Beyond these first order changes, the technological changes have, partly through lowered processing costs and increased process and commination speeds, facilitated growth in the scale of business operations and led to more information for decision making and control. It is clear that the technical changes discussed in this chapter have created opportunities and threats for accounting firms and for accountants, both within public practice and the commercial or public sectors. Some of these changes are explored, including; the effects of lack of 'paper trail' on the audit process; the opportunities for accounting firms to broaden their scope of business consultancy; the separation deskilling and feminisation of bookkeeping; and threats from new technologies.The chapter concludes with a review and reflections on the further development of information systems in accounting and their impact.