Investment in information systems and the financial performance of the firm

Determinants of information system quality and data quality in management accounting

Data quality is critical to adequately perform management accounting (MA) tasks, and information systems (IS) provide the data for the MA domain. However, IS can vary vastly across firms, which may influence the basis for rational decision making (i.e., data quality). This study therefore aims to investigate the impact of IS quality on data quality in MA and to analyze the determinants that can influence IS quality in MA. We conduct a cross-sectional survey among 143 medium-sized and large firms. Based on a structural equation model, we predict and find that IS quality significantly affects management accounting data quality (MADQ). Company’s IT investments, internal and external IT knowledge, innovative technologies, and data source variety are significantly associated with IS quality in MA and in turn indirectly affect MADQ. This study highlights the importance of IS quality for management accountants’ practice and simultaneously provides new insights regarding the efficacy of selected determinants of IS quality.

The Impact of Firm Characteristics and IT Governance on IT Material Weaknesses

Accurate and timely reporting of organizational performance is becoming increasingly important and highly regulated. However, organizations face a variety of challenges in seeking to provide accurate and reliable information due to the existence of IT control problems. Hence it is important for end users including auditors and managers to understand how to manage IT material weaknesses (ITMWs). While there is extensive accounting research on general material weaknesses (MWs), ITMWs are under researched. This article identifies key firm characteristics that appear to be related to ITMWs. In addition, the authors suggest that IT governance may help firms mitigate such problems. To gain a deeper understanding of IT governance effects, this article proposes a model which includes an innovative construct, ITGOV, operationalized using secondary data. The authors empirically validate the proposed model based on a data set of 1,112 firms. Their study illustrates the differences between ITMWs and general MWs. These results can also help end users computing by offering insights into better management of ITMWs.

XBRL

Ranked as one of top ten technologies for accounting and auditing professionals, eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is a freely available, open, and global standard language for exchanging business financial information digitally. XBRL holds the greatest promise for building a global standard that is pledged to enhance the accuracy, reliability, efficiency, accessibility and availability of electronic communication of business financial data. This paper sets out to provide a review of literature to lend insights into our understanding of XBRL adoption, implementation, and value realization assessment. A comprehensive review uncovers four sub-themes of research in XBRL adoption: perceived benefits of XBRL adoption; organizational readiness; external pressure; and XBRL adoption. Research challenges for future research are highlighted.