Introduction
The development of the new Accounting Information System (AIS) for the production cycle at Riordan Manufacturing is a long and complex process that is realized by the accounting function participants who perform in different organization’s departments. It is necessary to determine such participants as the steering committee, the initial planning and investigation or systems analysis team, the new system design team, the implementation team, and the maintenance team which performs at Riordan Manufacturing and to explains their role in contributing to the development of the AIS requirements in relation to the improvement of the production cycle.
Explanation of How the Accounting Function Participants Can Contribute to Developing the System Requirements
The steering committee plays the most important role in developing the AIS used in the production cycle at Riordan Manufacturing because the members of the committee are responsible for the development and implementation of the AIS and for provision of the necessary guidance to regulate the development of the system. From this point, the members of the steering committee are responsible for the project from the first stage of determining the goals and planning the effective strategies. The committee contributes to the development of the system requirements directly because of identifying the associated principles and working out the ways to realize the determined requirements in order to contribute to the production cycle. At this stage, the steering committee should cooperate with the initial planning and investigation or systems analysis team, the members of which work out the most efficient ways to achieve the set goals and realize requirements with the help of effective planning and schedule development. The responsibility to state the main strategic and financial decisions associated with the AIS implementation is shared by the members of the steering committee.
If the steering committee develops the theoretical and strategic basics in relation to determining the system requirements and provides the necessary guidance to follow them, the new system design team, the implementation team, and the maintenance team contribute to the practical stages of the production cycle development and implementation of the AIS. The members of the teams are the representatives of the company’s accounting departments, and they are the experts in the determined fields. Cooperating with the subject matter experts in order to achieve the set goals regarding the system’s development, the teams are expected to identify the areas and stages of the system’s development that need further improvement according to the system’s requirements. Analyzing the progress at any stage of the system’s development, the teams contribute to the AIS’s successful implementation while detecting the errors and weak points and overcoming the issues.
The next important issue to be discussed is the role of the proposed changes in the improvement of the measuring and controlling of operational performance at Riordan Manufacturing. The proposed changes include the implementation of the new AIS, data integration, and the development of regulation and control policies.
How the Proposed Changes Will Improve the Measuring and Controlling of Operational Performance
The measuring and controlling of operational performance at Riordan Manufacturing can be realized with references to the effective implementation of the new AIS aimed to provide the data integration between the departments and with references to the developed regulation and control policies aimed to protect the organization from incorrect use of the data and violation of the organization’s rules and norms.
The implementation of the new AIS is the main step to guarantee the optimization of the production cycle at Riordan Manufacturing, and as a result, to promote the improvement of the operational performance measuring because of the easy flow of the accounting data between the departments to regulate and control the financial operations and transactions. Furthermore, the improved measuring of the operational performance will become possible with references to the new system’s opportunities to analyze the current changes in the operational performance depending on the changes in the fixed transactions and operations (Bagranoff, Simkin, & Strand, 2008, p. 150-152).
Moreover, the proposed changes associated with the development of regulation and internal control policies can also improve the controlling of the operational performance with references to the use of electronic records and analytical resources in order to compare and contrast the previous, observed, and expected results. The regulation policies, along with the implemented programs to prevent the violation of the policies, can contribute to the progress of the system and its effective use. The improvement of the internal control systems should be based on the implementation of the programs and software to integrate and share the data and reports quickly. The procedures to detect the errors and potential flaws in the work of the system should also be electronically based in order to guarantee the immediate experts’ feedback and provide them with the possibilities to overcome the weaknesses in the system’s work or in the organization’s operational performance if the weaknesses are associated with the analysis and manipulation of the accounting data in the production cycle.
Thus, the measuring and controlling operations used in the production cycle should be improved with references to the modern technological resources and accounting programs in order to contribute to the effective implementation of the AIS and its further functioning.
Reference
Bagranoff, N. A., Simkin, M. G., & Strand, C. S. (2008). Core concepts of accounting information systems. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.