Computer Applications for Financial Management

Aim and purpose

The aim of this unit is to enable learners to understand the importance of using computerised software to provide up-to-date and accurate financial information.

Unit introduction

Computerised accounting provides instant, up-to-date and accurate financial information to managers and users within organisations to allow them to monitor and control business operations. A growing number of business organisations routinely use computer accounting software to record transactions rather than relying on a manual bookkeeping system. The original double-entry system of bookkeeping provides all the information needed to prepare final accounts. Final accounts can be designed to suit the business and then previewed on screen before being printed. The ease of producing reports allows organisations to calculate net profit on a monthly basis or as often as the owner requires.

Far more popular than computerised accounting software, is the computerised spreadsheet, which has

become an all-purpose computer package for many organisations. With its grid of columns and rows, and facility to use formulae and functions to carry out calculations, the spreadsheet appears to be an ideal medium for storing and presenting accounting information digitally. Data stored on a spreadsheet can easily be changed, and the immediate updating of totals makes the spreadsheet ideal for carrying out ‘what-if’ analysis.

Database software is far more powerful than the database facility on a spreadsheet. Databases have many uses in an organisation, and despite the presence of computerised accounting software and spreadsheets, they can be invaluable in the accounting environment. The use of appropriate software is the key factor and accounting staff need an appreciation of the functions and uses of each package. Stakeholders and managers of organisations need to see relevant accounting information which is clearly presented. Organisations can make effective use of presentation software to communicate facts and figures in an interesting, dynamic and even exciting manner.

Computerised presentations can incorporate pictures, sounds and moving images to convey information or a message. This presentation is not the essence of financial management but it is a growing part of the move to inform and motivate the workforce. The value of expertise in using of computer applications in a financial environment cannot be overstated and this unit will help learners to gain a high level of competency and a desire to develop their ICT skills further.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this unit a learner should:

1. Be able to use software to record accounting information
2. Be able to produce information abstracted from computerised accounting software
3. Be able to analyse information from software applications
4. Be able to use computer software to present and communicate financial information.