Features of a Computerised Accounting System

A Computerised Accounting System is built around a set of defining features that together distinguish it from a manual system. These features are commonly examined as a standalone essay/short-answer question in the TS Inter II year Accountancy paper.

1. Simple and integrated. The whole accounting process — recording of vouchers, posting to ledgers, preparation of the trial balance and final accounts — is one single, integrated activity. A transaction is keyed in only once; the software automatically carries it through every stage.
2. Accuracy. Because the posting, totalling and carrying-forward of balances is done by the software rather than by hand, the scope for clerical/arithmetical error is drastically reduced, provided the original data entered is correct.
3. Speed. Reports that would take a manual bookkeeper hours or days to compile — a trial balance, a stock statement, an outstanding-debtors list — can be generated by the software in a matter of seconds.
4. Reliability. The output of the system (ledgers, trial balance, final accounts) can be relied upon because it flows from a consistent, rule-based process rather than from a series of independent manual calculations that each carry their own risk of error.
5. Real-time information (up-to-date reporting). As soon as a voucher is entered, every related account and report reflects the new position — a manager can check the cash balance or a customer's outstanding balance at any moment, not only at the end of an accounting period.
6. Storage and retrieval of data. Years of accounting data can be stored compactly on a computer's storage media and retrieved instantly by date, voucher number, account name, or any other search criterion, unlike bulky manual registers that must be physically searched.
7. Automation of repetitive tasks. Once account groups and voucher types are set up, subsequent postings, calculation of totals and balances, and preparation of standard reports are automated and require no repeated manual effort. …