JOURNAL OF CURRENT RESEARCH IN SCIENCE

ISSN 2322-5009
CODEN (USA): JCRSDJ
Available at www.jcrs010.com

JCRS
S (1), 2016: 623-626

Analyzing The Result Of The Effect Of Information Technology On Qualitative Features Of

Information In Accounting
Sabriye Taheri* AliReza Momeni, Hadi Hashemi
Department of Accounting, Abu Musa Branch, Payame Noor University, Abu Musa, Iran
*Corresponding Author Email:taheri2030@gmail.com

K E Y W O R D S: information technology, accounting information systems, qualitative features of accounting

information, transparency
ABSTRACT: the purpose of this research was to analyze the result of the effect of information technology on
qualitative features of accounting information. The research method was descriptive-survey. The statistical
population of the research was employees in auditing profession in private auditing institutions in Iran. After
presenting the primary and secondary hypotheses and collecting the questionnaires, data analysis was carried out
through SPSS software and it was determined that using information systems would enhance the qualitative
features of accounting information and as a result, would enhance information transparency. In order to analyze
data, independent t-test, Duncan test, and Tukey test were used. The findings showed that there was a significant
relationship between the amount of using information technology and relevance of accounting information. Also,
there was no significant relationship between the amount of using information technology and trustworthy of
accounting information. There was no significant relationship between the amount of using information
technology and Comparability of accounting information. Other findings showed that the amount of the effect of
information technology on three qualitative features of relevance, reliability, and comparability of accounting
information was different. Also, the amount of the effect of information technology on each of the Subsidiary
features of accounting information also was different.
Introduction
The world is watching fundamental change in the way business is done. The growth of information and
communication technology happened so fast in recent decades that in many fields, has surprised active people in scientific
and practical fields. Along with the advent of the internet and information and communication technologies in the field of
business, electronic business (e-business) has become an inevitable and important minority for many business agencies
and companies. Acceptance and entrance to the world of electronic business is no longer a relative advantage, but in the
contemporary age, in order to survive and develop in modern economy, any business company in any level of activity has
no choice but to accept it (Elahi and Azar, 1999). Rapid developments in the field of information technology on the one
hand and frequent changes in economic and business fields and high dependence of these parts on information technology
on the other hand has caused accounting to experience a lot of changes and evolutions and enter new fields (Elahi and
Rajabzade, 2003). In such an environment and with increase in volume and speed of information, which is available for
individuals, the need to process the information is felt increasingly with the same speed and this is the task of information
systems (IS), to process and analyze the gathered information for making their use more effective (Moshir Fatemi, 1999).
In fact, with the increase in informational needs, the role of information systems is highlighted every day. Accounting and
information technology have a high correlation with each other. In fact, the term accounting system has been used before
the invention of computer (Arab Maziar Yazdi, 2001). In 1950s, which is known as the age of mechanical accounting,
information technology became a tool by which office operations such as salary records and calculations, receivable
accounts, etc., became facilitated. In that time, accountants were ones who only had the knowledge and advantage of using
the current technology. In 1966, accounting was introduced as an information system by accountants of America, and
converting the informational data to useful financial reports and presenting it to inter-organizational management and
references in order to make decisions have been defined among the duties of this information system. So, accounting is
defined as an information system, which has two domains of external financial reporting and management reporting. The
first one is based on accepted accounting principles and the second one is based on managements preferences (Mohamad
Rezaei, 2003). Meantime, one of the most important goals of accounting information systems is providing qualitative
information for a large range of inter- and extra-organizational users in order to help them in evaluating and making
decisions about rare resources. The usefulness of this information depends on its quality or in other words, the definition of
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information quality arises from the amount of its usefulness in users decision-making. Different factors such as
established standards for financial for financial reporting, supervisory processes on presenting financial information such
as auditing and supervisor organizations such as stock exchange and other factors can affect the quality of this information
(Babakhani, 1999). Regarding their important role in preparing the presented information, information systems should also
affect its quality and increase the quality of information. Hence, the purpose of this research was to analyze the result of
the effect of information technology on qualitative features of information in accounting.
Materials And Methods
The research method was descriptive-survey. Statistical population in this research included financial managers,
auditing managers, auditing supervisors, book authors, and members of the university faculty, PhD students, and
researchers that at least has a master degree in accounting and had enough familiarity with research topic (the effect of IT
on the qualitative features of accounting information). In this study consider four questions to examine the effect of
information technology on the quality characteristics of accounting information. The first question: whether There is a
significant relationship between the use of information technology and accounting information relevance? Second question
: is a significant relationship between the use of information technology and accounting reliability information ? third
question : There is a significant relationship between the use of information technology and comparability of accounting
information? And the fourth question: whether the impact of information technology on any of the qualitative
characteristics of accounting information is different? To analyze the data in the first three questions used t-test and for
fourth question carry out Tukey and Duncan. the significance level In all analyzes was considered as P <0/05. Given that
it was possible that some questionnaires would not be returnable or useful, 130 questionnaires were distributed, that 100
questionnaires were analyzed among them. A questionnaire was used in order to gather the data. The questionnaire had
two parts, which in its first part, the amount of respondents familiarity with information technology, their level of
education, and their resume were measured. In the second part, questions about research variables were included. The
validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by professors and experts. In order to determine the reliability, Cronbachs
alpha was used in a way that at first, 130 questionnaires were distributed among respondents and gathered after being
answered. Then, Cronbachs alpha was calculated using SPSS software which equaled 80%. The obtained alpha (alpha=
0.8073) showed that the questions had overlap and alignment and respondents had high accuracy and patience in
answering questions. In other words, the questionnaires had a high validity and reliability.
Table 1. Test results of the relationship between the amount of using information technology and relevance of accounting
information
The number of Mean
Standard error
Calculated
t Degree
of P-value
observations
statistics
freedom
100
3.66
402%
16.42
99
007%
Souce: Research findings
The results of table 2 showed that there was no significant relationship between the amount of using information
technology and reliability of accounting information, which means that the reliability of accounting information is not
affected by information technology.
Table 2. Test results of the relationship between the amount of using information technology and reliability of accounting
information
The number of Mean
Standard error
Calculated
t Degree
of P-value
observations
statistics
freedom
100
89%
432%
99
25%
Souce: Research findings
The results of table 3 showed that there was no significant relationship between the amount of using information
technology and comparability of accounting information, which means that the comparability of accounting information is
not increased by using information technology.

Table 3. Test results of the relationship between the amount of using information technology and comparability of
accounting information
The number of Mean
Standard error
Calculated
t Degree
of P-value
observations
statistics
freedom
100
2.66
572%
-5.29
99
41%
Souce: Research findings

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J. Curr. Res. Sci. Vol., S (1), 623-626, 2016

For a comparative study of the amount of the effect of information technology on three qualitative features of
relevance, reliability, and comparibility of accounting information, two tests were carried out. First, a test was carried out
that whether the effect of information technology on each of the qualitative features of accounting information was
different or not? Then, in second test, which its results are shown in table 5, the different effect of information technology
on each of the qualitative features of accounting information was tested, in a way that in this test it was tested that whether
the amount of the effect of information technology on components of each of Trace elements features was different or not?
The results of table 4 stated that the amount of the effect of information technology on three qualitative features of
relevance, reliability and comparability of accounting information was different.
Table 4. Test results of the amount of the effect of information technology on each of the qualitative features of accounting
information
Changes source
Sum of squares
Degree of freedom
The mean of sum of squares
Statistics of F test
Arised
from 394.702
2
197.351
864.86
behavior
Arised by chance
67.771
297
0.228
Total
462.474
299
Source: research findings
Table 5 shows that the amount of the effect of information technology on each of the Trace elements features of
accounting information is different, which means that information technology affects on each of the qualitative features of
accounting information differently.
Table 5. Test results of the effect of information technology on each of Trace elements features of accounting information
Changes source
Sum of squares
Degree of freedom
The mean of sum of squares Statistics of F test
Arised
from 2405.19
10
240.52
393.4
Behavior
Arised by Chance
665.80
1089
0.661
3070.99
1099
Source: research findings
Now that we arrived at the conclusion that information technology affects each of the features of accounting information
differently, we investigated the amount of the effect of information technology on each of the qualitative features using
Duncan and Tukey tests. the effect of information technology on each of the primary and secondary accounting
information rated With this test. Their results are shown in table 6 and table 7. In table 6, the first, second, and third
priorities are dedicated to relevance, comparability, and reliability, respectively.

Priority
First
Second
Third

Table 6. Prioritizing (determining the amount of effect) based on Duncan andTukey test
The amount of effect
Qualitative features of accounting information
Mean of homogenous collections
High
Relevance
3.66
Average
Comparability
2.69
Negative effect
Reliability
89%
Source: research findings

Table 7. Prioritizing (determining the amount of effect) secondary features (elements of main features)
Priority
The amount of effect
Qualitative features of Mean of homogenous
accounting information
collections
First
Very high
Timeliness
4.82
Second
High
Consistency
4.17
Third
High
Usefulness in assessing
3.14
Enough disclosure
3.05
Usefulness in anticipation 3.02
Fourth
Effectless
The priority of content 1.58
over form
Fifth
Negative effect
Completeness
90%
Comparisons
among 86%
companies
Impartiality
85%
Correctness
69%
Sixth
Negative effect
Confirmability
44%
Source: research findings
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J. Curr. Res. Sci. Vol., S (1), 623-626, 2016

Results
The results, related to the relationship between the amount of using information technology and relevance of
accounting information, are shown in table 1. Regarding the level of significance it can be said that there was a significant
relationship between the amount of using information technology and relevance of accounting information. According to
the test statistics, confirmation of this hypothesis means that information technology increases the relevance of accounting
information.
Conclusion
The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of information technology on qualitative features of
information in accounting. The findings showed that there was a significant relationship between the amount of using
information technology and relevance of accounting information. Also, there was no significant relationship between the
amount of using information technology and trustworthy of accounting information. There was no significant relationship
between the amount of using information technology and Comparability of accounting information. Other findings showed
that the amount of the effect of information technology on three qualitative features of relevance, reliability, and
comparability of accounting information was different. Also, the amount of the effect of information technology on each
of the Subsidiary features(Elements of the original features) of accounting information was different. In explaining the
findings it can be said that there is no doubt that information technology has changed the flow of information from
information providers and information users companies. From years ago, all of the accounting phases were done
electronically, except reporting. The increasing growth of information technology, including the emergence of internet and
its tools and their use in reporting, has created a new mechanism since 1997 and led the financial reporting toward on line
financial reporting, in a way that using XBRL reporting language on recording transactions, its results will be available for
all users all around the world via internet (Rezaeian, 2001). The results of this research showed using information
technology has made significant changes in the quality of financial reporting, especially, in the quality of the relevance of
accounting information, which generally is arisen from the timeliness of information. Its reason can be stated in a way that
using information technology (especially internet, its tools, protocols, and software formats based on it) leads to on line
financial reporting, that in this type of reporting, the information would be available all the time via internet or its
substitute. So, decision makers can increasingly use timely and diverse information for decision making and also, search
information they need for a specific goal (using powerful search tools). So, related financial information is presented with
on line financial reporting. Also, research findings showed that despite the benefits of information technology for financial
reporting, he information reliability would decrease, which can have two reasons. The main reason is the impossibility of
continuous auditing at the moment, which is expected that the possibility of continuous auditing would be provided with
development of information technology and their using (including intelligent agents, digital signatures, and digital
confirmations). Another reason for lack of reliability is information security. Finally, the comparability of information of
company process would increase (for the reason of more disclosures and consistency). Its reason can be stated in this way
that, as it was said, using information technology the companies financial reporting would lead to on line financial
reporting, that in on line financial reporting, the company uses a specified format and also, defines uniform procedures for
reporting. So, consistency would increase in that company. On the other hand, in this type of reporting, more financial
disclosure would be done through releasing additional and separated information. So, the comparability of financial
information of the company (in order to analyze the change process in financial status and the results of its operations)
would increase, while the information comparability among different companies would decrease, which its reason is the
large differences in content and distribution method of financial reports of different companies. The research findings
showed that IT would affect the qualitative features of accounting information, which this effect is applied by the reporter.
In fact, IT would lead the reporter toward on line financial reporting and this type of reporting should be improve day to
day by preparation reports based on qualitative characteristics of accounting information. Since, as it was discussed in
conclusion, by using future technologies, it is not only expected that other part is determined, with regard to the users
informational needs and the disadvantages of the current (traditional) reporting model, that the financial reporting model
should finally lead to on line financial reporting. So, it is expected that the accounting system of the country would change
the accounting profession along with the developments of information technology and take steps in this path and
synchronize the comprehensive financial and accounting reports and disclosure with the rapid change which have been
created in commercial world.
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