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• 1 The information system: an accountant's perspective

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• What is a system?

  • A system is a group of two or more interrelated components or subsystems that serve a common purpose 

  • A system can be natural (nature made) and artificial (manmade).

• Which four elements of a system have to be kept in mind?

  • A system exists of multiple components

  • The multiple parts have to show relatedness so a common objective can be reached.

  • A system is called a subsystem when it is viewed in relation to the larger system of which it is a part. The authors use the trms interchangeably.

  • A system must serve at least one purpose.

• What is a transaction?

  A transaction is an event that affects or is of interest to the organization and is processed by its information system as a unit of work.

• What is data collection?

  The objective of data collection is to ensure that event data entering the system are valid, complete and free from material bias. It is very important for data collection procedures to be relevant (depends on needs of user) and efficient (data should be collected only once).

• What is a database?

  A database is a physical repository for financial and non-financial data and its contents can be represented in a logical hierarchy  attribute, record, file.

• What is the data attribute?

  The data attribute is the most elemental piece of potentially useful data in the database. An attribute is a logical and relevant characteristic of an entity about which the firm captures data.

• What is a file?

  A file is a complete set of records of an identical class.

• What are the three fundamental tasks of database management?

  Database management involves three fundamental tasks: storage, retrieval, deletion. The storage task assigns keys to new records and stores them in their proper location in the database. Retrieval is the task of locating and extracting an existing record from the database for processing. Deletion is the task of permanently removing obsolete or redundant records from the database.

• What is information generation?

  Information generation is the process of compiling arranging, formatting, and presenting information to users.

• Which two options are there for the acquisition of information systems?

  Buying a commercial IS or developing it in-house