Q.State the advantages of a Computerised Accounting System over a manual accounting system.

The practical benefits of computerised accounting follow directly from its core features of speed, accuracy, and automatic integration of reports.

A computerised accounting system saves considerable time and labour compared to manual posting and balancing, produces more reliable figures free of manual calculation errors, generates a wide range of reports (including statutory reports like GST returns) almost instantly, reduces the paperwork and physical storage a manual system needs, and gives management real-time information to support prompt, informed decisions.

A computerised accounting system offers several practical advantages over a manual system:

1. Saves time and labour — entering a transaction once, rather than journalising, posting, and separately balancing it by hand, is dramatically faster, especially as the volume of transactions grows.
2. Greater accuracy and reliability — the software eliminates the arithmetic, posting, and casting errors that are common in manual bookkeeping, so the resulting figures can be trusted with greater confidence.
3. Instant generation of a wide range of reports — the Trial Balance, Profit and Loss Account, Balance Sheet, and other reports are available at any time, not only after a lengthy period-end closing exercise, and reports needed for statutory compliance (such as GST returns) can also be generated directly from the same data.
4. Reduced paperwork and storage needs — records are stored digitally and compactly, instead of requiring large amounts of physical space for registers and vouchers.
5. Real-time information supporting decision-making — because reports are always current, management can make prompt, well-informed decisions rather than waiting for a periodic manual closing.
6. Easy retrieval and analysis — past transactions can be searched, filtered, and analysed far more easily than flipping through physical ledgers page by page.

Students sometimes present computerised accounting as having NO drawbacks at all — a balanced answer (if the question asks for it) should also acknowledge the higher initial setup cost (software, hardware, staff training) and the need for reliable power/data backup, even while correctly stating that these are usually outweighed by the advantages once transaction volume is significant.