Information Processing and Accounting Standards

The soundness and implied public trust in the financial system and the economy are built on notions of fair dealings, responsibility, and transparency among dealers and institutions. Arguably, existing gaps between the information currently reported by corporations and information investors need can be bridged by embracing integrated reporting. This chapter descriptively analyses the influence of integrated reporting as a mechanism for imbedding corporate transparency, accountability, fairness, and responsibility and hence sustainable financial services. Hence, adopting a realist research perspective, this chapter employs documentary data to explore the influence of integrated reporting on sustainable financial service delivery for emerging economies. Through a number of mechanisms, including improving transparency, enhancing risk management, aligning investment strategies, incentivising sustainability performance, and facilitating stakeholder engagement, integrated reporting contributes to sustainable financial services.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has altered the status quo of every aspect of life globally. Its most impactful effect was the drastic acceleration of the adoption of emerging technologies by most economic sectors globally, with businesses moving online. This drastic shift also affected the accountancy profession globally. However, accounting firms in the majority of African economies have always lagged behind in terms of adopting digital technologies for various reasons. The pandemic introduced a new normal that saw a transformation of the way accountants conducted their work after adopting technology. The new status quo was a unique global experience that warranted new research to be conducted to identify lessons from the accelerated infusion of technology in accounting practices during the pandemic crisis. Therefore, this chapter sought to present key lessons drawn from the infusion of accounting technology during the COVID-19 pandemic from the African context. This study contributes to the scarce literature on the impact of technology adoption by accountants during a pandemic crisis. A critical review complemented with content analysis was employed to achieve the study goal. The study identified three categories of lessons, namely, tactics that worked for accountants in coping with the pandemic, opportunities arising from technology infusion in accounting, and wider ramifications for the future of accounting. The study concluded that the accountancy profession in Africa benefited more from the COVID-19 global crisis, as it always lagged behind the profession in developed economies in terms of adopting technology for practice. Furthermore, the silver lining of the accelerated adoption of technology in the accountancy profession in Africa not only provided opportunities but also underscored wider ramifications for the future of the accountancy profession on the African continent. This would speed up the changing of roles of accountants from mere generators of passive information only to having an additional aspect of the control function of management, as repetitive accounting tasks would be automated, thereby freeing more time to accountants for management tasks.

Emerging economies are gradually drifting towards reliance on small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for their growth and competitiveness. In their bid to attain excellence, they need to adopt sound financial information processing systems in a rapidly changing business financial reporting environment. The sudden emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed SMEs to a new form of pure risk in their business processes and financial reporting systems. The survival of these SMEs depended on their ability to develop and implement risk management models most suitable for the pandemic’s cyclical nature and the irregularities it caused to the traditional time series of business process operations. This chapter presents a case study of the business process modelling, continuous auditing and reporting approaches adopted by SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter explores the challenges posed to SMEs by the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it considers the business process models adopted for auditing and financial reporting from the perspective of their contribution to averting threats to the survival and effective growth of SMEs in volatile and pandemic-based business environments. This chapter briefly explains continuous auditing (CA) and financial reporting, as well as assessing the extent and effectiveness of its use among SMEs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of new technologies and business processes. By modelling business processes in the presence of continuous auditing and financial reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic, this chapter provides businesses, policymakers and future researchers with a contingent time series analysis model to predict the behaviour of financial reporting and information management systems in the case of future pandemics.

This study analyses the factors influencing the application of accounting information systems in South African manufacturing companies post-COVID-19. Accounting information quality is quantified by a multidimensional scale that includes system quality, information quality and usefulness. A survey of 412 accountants and auditors was selected to collect data to test the study’s hypotheses. The study tested hypotheses using SPSS version 24. The main results indicate that both management commitments and company resources significantly influence the implementation of accounting information systems. In addition, user training and data quality also significantly impact the implementation of accounting information systems. COVID-19 offered no drive for companies to implement accounting information systems. This study provides empirical evidence on how poor management commitment, limited company resources and user training influence management decision-making from the viewpoint of accounting information quality. Therefore, this provides evidence-based information for managers to improve their commitment to and perceptions of accounting information systems. Based on the findings, the study recommends wide-ranging training programmes to attain adequate knowledge of the implementation of accounting information systems and the significance of data quality. This paper contributes theoretically to nonfinancial metrics for quantifying variables hindering accounting information system implementation in South Africa.

This chapter discusses the significance of data security in accounting and information management during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the widespread adoption of remote work and information management, maintaining data security has become increasingly critical. The Information Security Management Framework (ISMF) is the theoretical framework adopted for the study. It provides a structured approach to comprehensively manage, protect, and secure information assets, aligning seamlessly with the evolving landscape of technology, remote work, and increased cyber threats. A systematic literature review was the methodology adopted for the study, while an inclusion and exclusion research design was adopted for the chapter. Furthermore, six databases were utilized for the chapter, namely, Google Scholar, EBSCOhost, Oracle Financials, Springer Link, QuickBooks, and Web of Science. While there is literature on data security in general, there is a notable absence of research explicitly reviewing the contributions of accounting and information management interventions in addressing data security concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research will focus on the effectiveness of various cybersecurity measures, protocols, and frameworks implemented by information professionals to protect sensitive financial data during the pandemic.

This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of the influence of crises and adverse events on firm financial reporting. The operations of corporations were disrupted globally by adverse events such as COVID-19, with accounting departments experiencing shock waves. An adverse event is defined as the emergence or escalation of any incident that has a negative impact on companies, alters how firms function, or weakens the entire economy. A COVID-19 pandemic flare-up from 2019 to the middle of 2022 was considered a negative event since it resulted in a worldwide economic slowdown and significantly impacted enterprises’ day-to-day operations. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on businesses, education, the economy, transportation, and public health, prompting companies to change the way they typically present their financial data. Through corroboration of various literature sources, this chapter will reveal the influence of crises and external events on financial reporting. These actions helped companies take crucial steps in addressing the negative impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic. This chapter discusses how external events such as COVID-19 affected financial reporting. The first section of the chapter examines the COVID-19 epidemic and corporate financial reporting in general.

The accounting information system (AIS) serves as a vital tool for performance evaluation, financial reporting, and decision-making within organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unexpected challenges, underscoring the importance of responsive strategies for maintaining business operations. This chapter investigates the impact of business strategy on the development of AIS, focusing on the dynamic context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study delves into the interplay between business strategy and AIS, exploring how organizations’ strategic decisions influence the design, adoption, and effectiveness of AIS. This research draws insights from the literature, highlighting the paucity of studies exploring the connection between business strategy and AIS. By synthesizing findings from prior research, this chapter establishes a framework for understanding how different business strategies interact with AIS development, especially in the face of crisis situations such as the pandemic. This study contributes to the understanding of the strategic role of AIS in uncertain times and provides practical implications for organizations seeking to enhance their AIS capabilities to align with their business strategies.

This paper conducts a systematic review aimed at examining the practices of library information technology and financial management during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the literature extensively covers library-related topics, there is a notable gap in understanding the technological challenges and financial management practices during the pandemic. This study emphasizes the urgent need for resilience strategies against pandemics such as COVID-19, highlighting the limited research on coping strategies and their effectiveness. By utilizing conceptual model theory as a framework, this study systematically reviews the relevant literature from reputable databases to comprehensively address the complexities of the topic. The research involved searching five databases: Library and Information Science (Ebscohost), Library and Information Science Technology (LISTA), Sabinet, Web of Science (WoS), and Google Scholar. The results highlight the significant impacts of the pandemic on risk factors and suggest innovative approaches to sustain libraries and financial management practices. This study emphasizes the need for further research to develop novel methods of pandemic risk education to effectively address emerging challenges.

Corporate cash holdings decisions represent a key strategic decision for corporate managers, with consequences for the performance of both the corporate and economic growth of a nation. However, empirical studies have found evidence of persistently rising corporate cash holdings. Coincidentally, cash buildup in firms around the world has led to a reduction in dividend payouts over time. Modern-day corporations seem to have adopted a form of mercantilism by stockpiling cash that should otherwise be used for investment. Questions have been asked as to why corporate giants such as Apple have been sitting on large cash piles instead of spending them for growth, product development, and employment creation. The purpose of this chapter is to shed light on the drivers of corporate cash holdings and help readers acquire a better understanding of why firms hold so much cash. This chapter explains the motives behind corporate cash holdings, which include transaction, precautionary, agency, speculative, predation and tax motives. The theories that predict corporate cash holding decisions and how these decisions may be influenced by institutional and macroeconomic conditions are also discussed. The dominant theories of cash holdings are the trade-off, pecking order and agency theories. This chapter also discusses how the COVID-19 outbreak impacted the cash hoarding trend.

Diverse definitions exist for the concept of “strategy.” Essentially, strategy encompasses the delineation of “how,” “where” “when,” and “why.” It serves as a structural foundation within business, aiding in the formulation of plans, encompassing the actions, rationale, methodologies, and timing. Accounting information systems, the tools and processes for collecting, storing, retrieving, and purging accounting data, play a crucial role. While previous studies have delved into corporate strategy, a deeper exploration of its interplay with operational frameworks such as accounting information systems is warranted. Notably, the capabilities of accounting information systems are at times overlooked when devising organizational strategies. This negligence can contribute to the failure of strategy implementation, attributing the misalignment between strategy and operational potential, including the accounting information system. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic accentuated the necessity of harmonizing strategies with operational proficiencies. For instance, as the pandemic unfolded, numerous companies smoothly transitioned to remote access to their accounting systems. Conversely, many micro, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) encounter challenges in this respect, consequently undermining effective strategy execution within these entities. The present study explores the influence of corporate strategy on the development of accounting information systems against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. This exploration is facilitated through a comprehensive review and critical assessment of the literature and questionnaires administered on LinkedIn.