The effects of ERP systems implementation on management accounting in Iranian organizations

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to study the effects of enterprise resource planning (ERP) on management accounting in Iranian organizations. Preparing and offering different reports and budgets remain important activities for accountants, and directly implementing ERP systems improves the quality of these reports through real-time data transfer. Design/methodology/approach – The research methods used in this paper are descriptive surveys with questionnaires and interviews as the main data collection tools. Statistical population comprises every organization which has implemented an ERP system with financial/accounting modules. The participating 12 organizations were selected based on consultation with experts, and a seven-item Likert questionnaire was prepared and its validity approved and used to collect data. The t-test and Friedman test were applied to assess the hypotheses and rank parameters. Findings – Results revealed that the highest effects of implementing an ERP in surveyed Iranian organizations are improving standard levels and the quality of reports, creating more organizational integration and empowering personnel. Research limitations/implications – As the implementation of ERP in Iran is still in its initial phases and the sample is restricted to only four organizations, when considering the generalizability of the obtained results, caution should be taken. Originality/value – This research is among the few studies on the effects of ERP implementation on accounting management departments, particularly in the context of Iran.

Accounting Information Systems Effectiveness: Evidence from the Nigerian Banking Sector

“…However, banks in Nigeria are faced with an IS crisis, which has resulted in an increase in operational costs (Dandago & Farouk, 2012), uneconomical utilization of resources, errors in financial reports, maintenance issues, technical problems, underutilization and the waste of valuable organizational resources (Aali, Sargazi, & Tayyar, 2014;Abbasi, Zamani, & Valmohammadi, 2014;Kurti, Barolli, & Sevrani, 2013;Molavi & Emamverdi, 2014). Moreover, users have complained of persistent system failure due to a large amount of data being processed, a lack of system stability, operating system crashes, and undetected data transmission errors (Dandago & Rufai, 2014;Ekwueme, Egbunike, & Okoye, 2012).…”

Enterprise resource planning enabling segmental information reporting practices of UK‐FTSE 100

“…Integrated information delivered by ERP was reported not only across business segments in the contexts of Australia (Booth et al , 2000), Denmark (Dechow and Mouritsen, 2005) and Greece (Spathis and Ananiadis, 2005), but also in relation to the integration between financial and non‐financial information (Scapens and Jazayeri, 2003). Information accuracy and timely (i.e., reducing the time lag) reporting is another implication that is facilitated by ERP adoption and that is reported in the contexts of the USA (Brazel and Dang, 2008), Canada (Sánchez‐Rodríguez & Spraakman 2012), Greece (Spathis, 2006) and Iran (Abbasi et al , 2014). Arguably, these information qualities that are associated with ERP adoptions have had an impact on financial statements (Booth et al , 2000) and will be further discussed.…”

“…ERP standardisation was a notable characteristic that offered best practices in information processing, analysis and reporting. For budgetary reporting, ERP shows a positive impact for the capital budget process, in terms of flexibility, preparation, time and accuracy, in the context of Australia (Jackling and Spraakman, 2006), Greece (Spathis and Constantinides, 2004), and Iran (Abbasi et al , 2014). Being advanced by ERP, companies will be able to report voluntary segmental information relating to capital expenditure on planning and equipment.…”

“…This was recently endorsed by the conclusion that the extent of managerial information system use influences the costing system, leading to improvements that affect customer satisfaction and company profitability (Maiga et al , 2013), and all of them interact in order to have a positive impact on financial performance in the US context (Maiga et al , 2014). As a complement to this, integration has demonstrated the positive impact that ERP has had on managerial changes, including reporting on new segments, the integration of functions among departments, offering effective monitoring and the exploitation of segments’ assets and revenue‐expenditure flow in different contexts (Spathis and Ananiadis, 2005; Spathis, 2006; Abbasi et al , 2014). Whilst this enables ERP adopters to exercise control at both the general (entity‐wide), and individual (account‐level) levels (Morris, 2011), such capabilities are attributed to charts of accounts that have increased both information availability and consistency, thus empowering performance measures across units and products (Sánchez‐Rodríguez & Spraakman 2012).…”

“…These implications were ranked firstly, for the managerial level; secondly, for the operational level; and, thirdly for the IT infrastructure level (Spathis and Ananiadis, 2005). Improving timely access, decision‐making processes and maintaining competition showed a positive association with ERP adoption, offering better support for planning and decision‐making, higher quality reporting, and organisational flexibility and efficiency in different contexts (Booth et al , 2000; Spathis, 2006; Abbasi et al , 2014). More specifically, ERP enables strategic decisions (Rom and Rohde, 2006), and this offers a competitive advantage over non‐ERP adopters (Hunton et al , 2003; Spathis and Ananiadis, 2005).…”