EVALUATION OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN THE ENHANCEMENT OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION IN NIGERIA PUBLIC SECTOR

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Every organization, private or public profit making or non-profit making, large or small scale, uses accounting information to make decision and information need vary according to the information each users requires. Initially, the appropriate information was prepare manually by the accountant and this has a number of drawbacks. But with the advent of computer technology, the accountants now has at his disposal a number of accounting information tools that help him in simplifying issues and providing quality information for the organization he render services to which will enable them make profitable decision, for the success or failure of an establishment depend on their management and use of accounting information. Accounting as defined by Onyekwelu (2010:4) as that systematic approach procedures and process adopted in gathering, recording of data relating to economic and financial transaction of any organization. (Profit or non-profit making), sorting, classifying.

Summarizing, computing, analyzing, interpreting and communicating the outcome of these process to the users or interpret parties/stakeholders. On the other hand, computer as defined by Ekemezie and Ngene (2004:26) as an electronic device that can accept input data, processes the data retrives the stored data and produces output in a desire format. It can also been seen as a functional devices which have electronic, electrical and mechanical features respectively and have the capacity to perform the following functions solving and defining problems: i. Accounting data instructions necessary for solving a defined problem. ii. Process such instructions as at when due according to some prescribed guideline-albeit computer program. iii. Store instruction/data for reference purpose through a recall or trivial mechanism and for futuristic purpose. iv. Present a feedbacks to its users and or other interacting systems as a consequence of the process function. v. May have the capacity for communication and resource sharing. There is also considerable evidence of accounting being practiced in ancient times in Egypt, China, Greece and Rome. In England the “pipe Roll” the oldest surviving account record in the English language contains an annual description of rents fines and taxes due to the king of England, from 1130 to 1830. When accounting information was being recorded in the middle ages, it sometimes simply took the form of a collection of invoice receipts which were given to an accountant to calculate the profit and loss of the business up to some point in time. The accountants of the middle ages would be someone who learnt how to convert financial transaction data into accounting information. Quite often, the owner of the business perform the function.