Q.What is an Accounting Information System (AIS)? How is it different from a Computerised Accounting System?

An Accounting Information System is the entire combination of people, procedures, hardware, software, data and controls a business uses to produce financial information, of which a computerised accounting system is one practical form.

An Accounting Information System (AIS) is the entire combination of people, procedures, hardware, software, data and internal controls that a business uses to collect, record, store and process financial data, and to communicate the resulting information to the people who need it — owners, managers, creditors, tax authorities and investors.

Data moves through an AIS in four stages:

1. Input — source documents (invoices, bills, vouchers) are collected and the data captured.
2. Processing — the data is classified, calculated and posted according to accounting rules.
3. Storage — the processed data is retained so it can be retrieved for any later date.
4. Output — the stored data is turned into the reports users actually need: a trial balance, financial statements, a GST return. …

Students sometimes treat AIS and CAS as identical terms — the syllabus expects the student to see AIS as the broader concept (which can, in prin …