The expert systems life cycle in AIS research: What does it mean for future AIS research?

Accounting information system (AIS) is the intersection of the accounting domains and the computer science and information systems domains. Periodically, new technology emerges that generates a new AIS research to explore the application of that technology to the accounting domains. AIS researchers compete with researchers in information systems, computer science, electrical engineering, plus other technology-related disciplines. AIS researchers are also frequently competing with the organizations (e.g., accounting firms) that have resources that far exceed academic resources. This paper explores the life cycle of expert systems research by accounting researchers to provide general insights into the roles of accounting researchers in technology domains. From 1980 through 2011, 315 accounting-related expert systems papers were published. Those publications generally transitioned through the industry life cycle stages. The peak years were the early 1990s. Although most of the expert system publications appeared in AIS-oriented publications, by the 2005–2011 timeframe, a little more than 50% appeared in non-system journals. There were 387 unique authors involved in writing the 315 articles. Interestingly, 20 (5.2%) authors wrote 58% of the papers and 311 (80.4%) authors wrote just one paper. In the practice community, Brown (1991) listed 43 expert systems in use or under development at the Big 6. Any use of expert systems in the firms ended in the late 1990s.     

A conceptual foundation of design and implementation research in accounting information systems

This structured literature review focuses on the design and implementation of systems in Accounting Information System (AIS) research. The review has two objectives: 1) To look in depth at AIS research regarding the design and implementation of information systems related to accounting in the last fifteen years; 2) To understand design and implementation issues in AIS. To do so, this research examines the current state of design and implementation research in the domain of AIS, using a structured review of abstracts in top-level Information Systems, Accounting, and AIS journals. Using a design science in IS theoretical framework, the review categorizes themes and trends in AIS literature. Some of the most relevant themes include audit/auditors, enterprise resource planning, monitoring and control, adoption, and decision making. The most relevant issues include training, commitment, investment, culture, and existing business processes. The research includes gaps, limitations, and opportunities for future research.     

Accounting information systems research over the past decade: Past and future trends

This article reviews the extant accounting information systems (AIS) literature by conducting an analysis of AIS articles published in 18 leading accounting, management information systems, and computer science journals from 1999 to 2009 with a view to identifying whether or not the focus of AIS research has changed, and if so how it has changed, since the Poston and Grabski’s (2000) review of AIS research from 1982 to 1998. We also report our insights into where AIS research is likely to be heading in the future. We analyse each of the 395 articles identified as reporting AIS research to identify their underlying theory, research method and research topic. Our results confirm the continuing decline in analytical and model‐building research in AIS‐related research and this decline is associated with a similar decline in the use of computer science theory to motivate this research. We also find that two theoretical platforms, in particular, now account for almost half (48 per cent) of all AIS research: cognitive psychology and economics. Experimental research methods and archival studies continue to grow as the preferred methods for testing the AIS‐related theories derived from these theory domains.     

Examine ERP post-implementation stages of use and value: Empirical evidence from Portuguese SMEs

There is a great interest among researchers and practitioners in accounting information systems (AIS) value. This is particularly important in cases of systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP). This paper empirically measures and analyses the determinants of ERP use and value in a single framework, as well as provides empirical evidence from Portuguese small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Drawing upon theories on the process and contexts of information technology (IT) we postulate nine hypotheses. Used the technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework to hypothesize how compatibility, complexity, efficiency, best-practices, training, and competitive pressure explain ERP use. Based on the resource-based view (RBV) theory we hypothesize how ERP use, collaboration and analytics explain ERP value, and its potential contribution for the nature of management control and accounting information systems on Portuguese SMEs. Through structural equation modeling, a data set of 134 web-surveyed firms is used to test the hypotheses. Our empirical analysis leads to six main findings: 1) compatibility, complexity, best-practices, and efficiency are more important determinants for ERP use as well as training and competitive pressure, suggesting that technological, organizational and environmental characteristics are the main drivers of ERP use among Portuguese SMEs. 2) Similarly, collaboration and analytics are more important for ERP value upon use, suggesting that system capability characteristics are the main drivers of ERP value. 3) ERP value benefits from system enhancements to firms' business processes in the post-implementation phases. 4) For Portuguese SMEs the mostly valued metric attained through ERP is management control. 5) Impelled by legislation, Portuguese SMEs are using ERP as the accounting system for management, financial and tax accounting. 6) Portuguese SMEs invest more than 70% of their annual IT budget to ERP use. Together, these findings offer insights into how Portuguese SMEs use and extract value from ERP, and how enhancements positively impact the system's value. Unlike the typical focus on ERP adoption described in the literature, this research focuses on the post-implementation phase, linking actual use with value creation, adding an empirical study to the AIS literature.     

Reviewing literature through multidimensional representations

Reviewing literature is a demanding task that calls for effective tools. After examining literature review (LR) practices, this paper develops an innovative approach in representing literature. In particular, the paper introduces depictions based on a three-dimensional structure that enables the generation of unitary and highly informative literature representations, thereby improving the completeness and reducing the mismatch between field complexity and the traditional figures and tables of LRs. The viability of the designed solution is shown by replicating a published LR on a representative topic of the accounting information systems (AIS), namely a literature review on enterprise resource planning systems in SMEs. Its benefits arise from comparing the literature representation developed here with the original figures. The paper has methodological and practical implications. Indeed, it proposes a structured approach to improve the representation of multifaceted literature, but it can also be suitable for other types of analysis. The efficiency and efficacy benefits that emerged from the evaluation activity make the output of the paper useful both for researchers and academic research users. In the light of developments in AIS research, the article also comments on potential applications in this area by examining some recently published LRs.     

Integrating enterprise resource planning (SAP) in the accounting curriculum: a systematic literature review and case study

This study investigates how an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package SAP was integrated into the curriculum of an accounting information systems (AIS) course in an Australian university. Furthermore, the paper provides a systematic literature review of articles published between 1990 and 2013 to understand how ERP systems were integrated into curriculums of other institutions, and to inform the curriculum designers on approaches for adopting SAP, the benefits and potential limitations. The experiences of integrating SAP into an AIS course from both the students and teaching staff perspectives are described and evaluated. The main finding was the importance of resourcing the instructors with technical and pedagogical support to achieve the learning outcomes. The paper concludes by proposing critical success factors for integrating ERP effectively into an AIS course.     

The “now” economy and the traditional accounting reporting model: Opportunities and challenges for AIS research

The real time economy (RTE) can be characterized by a substantive acceleration of business measurement, assessment, and decision processes. It implies a new business model where there is reduction of intra-process and inter-process latency. The AIS research literature has failed to develop new paradigms for accounting of accelerated processes. This paper places key relevant research questions for accounting, assurance, and business information systems in the RTE.     

Reimagining design science and behavioral science AIS research through a business activity lens

In this paper, we present a novel approach for reimagining the scope and impact of design science and behavioral science accounting information systems (AIS) research. We do so by first explicitly considering the broad impact of accounting on business functions. The proliferation of information technology throughout the organization coupled with the blurring of the lines between “accounting” and “business” activities has spawned a world where (technology-enabled) accounting has truly become the language of (technology-driven) business. Leveraging the International Standards Organization model of the phases of business activity, we highlight how utilization of information systems artifacts in each business activity phase yields a broad array of AIS research questions. Second, we encourage design science and behavioral science AIS research to work synergistically, such that the outputs of each paradigm inform the research conducted in the other paradigm. We suggest that a more purposeful integration of design science and behavioral science AIS research over time can improve the rigor and relevance of AIS research to advance knowledge in the field, amplify the impact of AIS research for our colleagues in both accounting and information systems, and improve the practical applicability of the research findings.     

Structuration theory in accounting research: Applications and applicability

Ever since Giddens’ structuration theory (ST) was introduced into the accounting literature some 25 years ago, it has strengthened its position as one of the major schools of thought used to explore accounting as organizational, social and political phenomena. The purpose of this study is to review how ST has been applied, and can be applied, in this sizeable literature. Overall, the review of some 65 published papers, suggests that not only has ST contributed to challenge the assumptions of ‘inherent and functional’ features of accounting systems per se characterizing mainstream research, but also to develop other alternative theoretical perspectives. However, our review also suggests several limitations. These include that the accounting community has not really worked as a collective to develop a structurationist understanding of accounting practices, and that most researchers remain largely uncritical to ST as a theory. We also find that accounting scholars have not yet developed a mutual understanding of how to interpret ST (i.e. there are conceptual unclarities and even inconsistencies), or how to apply ST methodologically in empirical research. Based on these limitations, and the identification of a number of ‘black spots’ in the literature, we suggest several directions for future scholarly effort.     

Management accounting and integrated information systems: A literature review

In order to further advance research within management accounting and integrated information systems (IIS), an understanding of what research has already been done and what research is needed is of particular importance. The purpose of this paper is to uncover, classify and interpret current research within management accounting and IIS. This is done partly to identify research gaps and propose directions for future research and partly to guide researchers and practitioners investigating and making decisions on how to better synthesise the two areas. Based on the strengths of existing frameworks covering elements of management accounting and IIS a new and more comprehensive theoretical framework is developed. This is used as a basis for classifying and presentation of the reviewed literature in structured form. The outcome of the review is an identification of research gaps and a proposal of research opportunities within different research paradigms and with the use of different methods.     

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”—Artificial intelligence research in accounting

Gray et al. (2014) examined the productivity of expert systems/artificial intelligence research in accounting and came to the conclusion that both research on and practice use of expert systems/artificial intelligence had waned since the late 1990s. In our study, we reconsider these findings based on a broader view that is ‘artificial intelligence’ centric versus ‘expert systems’ centric. The results show that while there was a bit of a lull in the late 1990s, artificial intelligence research in accounting has continued to steadily increase over the past 30 years. Further consideration of artificial intelligence techniques as embedded modules in integrated audit support systems also suggest that use by practice continues to be robust. Based on these findings, we make a call for much more research on the usability, and use, of artificial intelligence techniques in accounting domains. Contrary to earlier perceptions, the research domain remains vibrant and holds great potential for AIS researchers to take a leadership role in advancing the field.     

How information systems influence user decisions: a research framework and literature review

Technology has created new information alternatives that may influence the way information system users make decisions. This paper proposes a research framework for examining how features of an information system affect the decision-making process. The framework is synthesized by merging frameworks from the accounting information systems (AIS) literature and the human information processing (HIP) literature. The framework is then used to organize a literature review of 15 journals from 1987 through mid-1999, which identified 57 decision-making studies. Findings indicate that a wide range of opportunities is available for information systems research on issues of contemporary importance. This discussion includes changes in the decision process initiated by implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, data warehouses, electronic commerce, virtual organizations, on-line financial reporting, and disaggregated financial statement information.     

Impact of accounting process characteristics on accounting outsourcing - Comparison of users and non-users of cloud-based accounting information systems

Prior literature informs us that a company's decision to outsource a business process depends on process characteristics such as how frequently the process is performed or how specific the assets required by the process are. In this article, we compare the effects of accounting process characteristics on outsourcing decisions across users of traditional and cloud-based accounting information systems (AIS). By focusing on outsourcing of accounting processes among small and medium sized enterprises, we investigate the effect of five business process characteristics (frequency, human asset specificity, uncertainty, information intensity, and need for customer contact) on the outsourcing decision. Our results reveal that process frequency has a weaker negative effect on the outsourcing decision among users of cloud-based AIS. This appears to contribute to users of cloud-based AIS outsourcing a larger variety of accounting processes. Compared to traditional AIS, the inherent properties of cloud-based AIS such as ubiquitous access, scalability, and integration seem to encourage users of cloud-based AIS to also outsource processes that are frequently performed.     

Environmental,Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure: A literature review

Voluntary nonfinancial Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure is a rapidly growing and increasingly important topic that has attracted great attention from both academic researchers and capital market participants in recent years. The objective of this survey study is to provide a comprehensive review of the ESG disclosure literature in accounting research with suggestions for the future. Specifically, we organize the literature into four categories: motivations for and consequences associated with ESG information, in addition to disclosure- and user-level characteristics with the potential to affect the observed outcome of information disclosure. We also discuss the key role of nonfinancial rating agencies as a new type of ESG information intermediary in capital markets and suggest opportunities for future research.     

Accounting information systems research: Is it another QWERTY?

This article examines the research within accounting information systems (AIS) as found in articles published in leading accounting, management information systems, and computer science journals from 1982 to 1998. Trend analysis is performed on AIS articles found in the following journals: The Journal of Information Systems; Advances in Accounting Information Systems; Journal of Accounting Research; The Accounting Review; Journal of Accounting and Economics, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory; Behavioral Research in Accounting; Journal of Management Accounting Research; Management Science; MIS Quarterly; Decision Sciences; Information Systems Research; and Communications of the ACM, among others. The trend analysis is structured across underlying theory, research method, and information systems lifecycle topics of AIS articles in these journals. This article identifies the extant research streams in AIS, where AIS research has been published from 1982 to 1998, and seeks to provide insight into the question: should AIS exist as its own separate research domain? Is AIS research like the QWERTY keyboard (David, 1985), widely adopted due to popular demand, but ineffective and inefficient, with a better AIS research and teaching model available?     

Using the 2019 JBE conference and 2017 JIS themed issue as natural experiments to examine the role of editors as gatekeepers of the research literature in AIS and ethics

In April 2019, the Journal of Business Ethics (JBE) held a conference devoted to the “The Impact of Technology on Ethics, Professionalism and Judgement in Accounting”. This follows the summer 2017 Journal of Information Systems (JIS) themed issue on “Accounting Information Systems and Ethics” I treat this conference and the themed issue as two natural experiments into the evolution of the research literature on Accounting Information Systems (AIS) and ethics. I label this literature as “AIS-ethics”, which I describe as the intersection of the fields of accounting, ethics and information systems. The choice of papers for these two initiatives is amongst the best available metrics of both the latest research on AIS-ethics, and of the kind of research considered desirable by editors/gatekeepers. In particular, I analyze whether these editors/gatekeepers desire papers that fit unambiguously into AIS-ethics, or whether they are willing to accept papers with a more tenuous connection in order to encourage broader participation by researchers. I find that of nine papers selected for special issues or conferences in AIS-ethics over the last three years, only three clearly fall into this domain, suggesting that achieving a critical mass of papers is prioritized over specialization at this stage in the development of a research literature into AIS and ethics.     

Optimal warranty arrangements for the design of accounting information systems

This paper investigates optimal price/warranty arrangements for the design of accounting information systems (AISs) when the user of the system has alternative sources of information. A mathematical model is developed that focuses on two systems design scenarios commonly encountered in practice: (1) enhancement and (2) replacement. In an enhancement scenario the AIS user hires the AIS designer to enhance the value of the current AIS by incorporating additional features into the original system. Systems replacement, on the other hand, implies that the designer produces a new system that makes the original system obsolete. Under a replacement system, a simple limited warranty implements the user's optimal decision rule so that no losses occur due to unobservability of the user's decision. For the enhanced AIS design however, the user's action may depend upon the signal from the user's preexisting AIS. Therefore, when the user's decision is not observable, the designer does not know if the user's decision is a result of the systems enhancement or a result of the original system. Due to incomplete contracts, a more complex and costly warranty arrangement is required. Hence, losses occur under enhancement AIS although quality can be maintained with a limited warranty. Since it is difficult to assess the quality of the information system prior to purchase, the potential for a market failure exists where high-quality systems are driven from the market by low quality systems. These findings show that a market failure can be prevented in the design of information systems through contractual warranty arrangements. These warranty arrangements, however, must be tailored to the specific design task.     

Firm performance and AIS alignment in Malaysian SMEs

This study focused on measuring the alignment of accounting information systems (AIS) requirements with AIS capacity and then investigating whether this AIS alignment is linked to firm performance. The study was conducted using Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Using a mail questionnaire, data from 310 firms was collected on nineteen accounting information characteristics. The results indicated that a significant proportion of Malaysian SMEs had achieved high AIS alignment. Furthermore, the group of SMEs with high AIS alignment had achieved better organisational performance than firms with low AIS alignment. The findings provided evidence of the importance of AIS alignment and deepened current understanding of the requirements for accounting information and the use of IT as an important information processing mechanism. More importantly, it opens up possibilities for further study of AIS alignment in SMEs, both in Malaysia and on a global basis.     

Towards a meta-theory of accounting information systems

The purpose of this paper is to articulate a model for accounting information systems (AIS) research that synthesizes the primary theoretical perspectives of the extant literature. Building on the three orientations used in prior research (technological, organizational and cognitive approaches) and adopting an explicit systems perspective, we develop a model that links system design alternatives to the three orientations and to task performance. The model places a central focus on the accounting task and suggests a matching process between requirements of the task and system design alternatives at multiple levels of analysis. We also demonstrate how the application of the model suggests future research opportunities, organized around four research propositions.     

论信息需求与会计信息系统的发展

本文通过回顾信息需求在会计信息系统发展历程中的重要作用,认为信息需求是推动会计信息系统发展的直接动力,但信息需求的扩张受到信息技术和管理认知水平的制约。在此基础上,针对日益增多的信息需求群体和复杂多变的信息需求内容与现行会计信息系统之间的矛盾,提出了建立“需求决定型”会计信息系统的设想。