The Disadvantages of Accounting Information Systems

An accounting information system is designed for businesses to use for recording their financial transactions. Information is entered, processed, stored and distributed through this type of system. Accounting information systems have many benefits; however, there are also some disadvantages to them.

Learning an accounting information system can often be difficult and time-consuming. Individuals must be trained on a system, and this can cause a disadvantage to companies in terms of time and manpower. An accounting information system is made up of many different components, and almost all systems are computerized. Because of their complexity, some people may find them hard to use. It can take weeks or months for a person to understand an accounting system, and usually the individual still does not understand completely what the system is capable of. If the employee quits working at the organization, it can take weeks or months, once again, to train another employee.

Accounting information systems are usually computerized. Because of this, there is always a risk of losing information through power outages or system crashes. When this happens, there is a chance that all the information in the system could be lost. Companies take precautions for this problem by backing up their files regularly and performing standard maintenance on all computer systems. They also install anti-virus software as another precaution. Still, none of these steps eliminates the potential problem that may occur. Accounting information systems store a company’s financial information for years. If a system crash occurs, it causes a major disadvantage to the company. All, or some, information is lost, and there’s a chance it may never be recovered.

Companies often change their way of doing business to keep up with the latest trends. To keep up in a demanding business world, these changes may impact an accounting system. An accounting information system is difficult to set up because every company is unique in its own way. In order to keep up with changes, accounting information systems must be re-evaluated often. Changes often need to be made in a system in order to process information efficiently. This can be a disadvantage to companies because it takes time for the re-evaluation, and it costs money.