Accounting in the future (Part b)

One of the biggest problems facing the accounting profession is the necessity of rapid adaptation to the changes taking place in organisational structure and information processing throughout the world. Under modern conditions production and new manufacturing methods are developing very rapidly. And very often these new developments make some accounting methods out of date. That is why in many countries of the world present accounting methods are sometimes criticised. And that is quite justified. The most common criticised point is that traditional accounting methods cannot be applied to production systems which change to adapt to the environment. The reason for that is that production runs have become shorter, because machine tools have to change very rapidly to meet the demands of the time.

Another deficiency for which accounting is often criticised, lies in the fact that management accounting cannot very often measure any costs accurately. Suffice it to say that the present cost accounting systems do not show the cost of particular products. No wonder that production managers find that accountants cannot sometimes give them reliable information to make proper decisions. Some accounting experts think that without rapid changes in their profession, management accountants will not be needed by management in the future. Under the conditions of rapidly developing production, emphasis should be placed on the necessity to make accounting systems consistent with the forms of organisational structure and patterns of responsibility which can cope with the inherent uncertainty and provide necessary elements of adaptability.

Another important trend to play a significant role in accounting throughout the world is certainly connected with computerising accounting work.

There is no doubt that information technology will be more extensively used in accounting practices of the future than it is now. So, accountants of the 21^st century will view themselves in the new role, because they will entirely leave their accounting chores – book-keeping to electronic equipment. Accountants will be exclusively concerned with the valuation techniques that are used in assessing financial condition and results of operations as well as evaluating through analytical review techniques the relevance, reliability and consistency of financial data. As a preparer and user of accounting information, the accountant of the future will be much more involved in system design activities. So, he will have to consider and analyse the organisation's structure and the flow of information through various organisational units, and the implication of internal control.

Exercise 6.7

Match the English words with their definitions:

1.	demand	a)	existing or located on the inside of something
2.	deficiency	b)	a company, business, club, etc., that is formed for a particular purpose
3.	reliable	c)	factual information (as measurements or statistics) used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation
4.	decision	d)	giving the same result on successive trials
5.	control	e)	a careful study of something to learn about its parts, what they do, and how they are related to each other
6.	organization	f)	the quantity of a commodity or service wanted at a specified price and time
7.	equipment	g)	an amount that is lacking or inadequate
8.	data	h)	giving the same result on successive trials
9.	analysis	i)	the implements used in an operation or activity
10.	internal	j)	power or authority to guide or manage

Exercise 6.8

Make up sentences using the jumbled words:

1. Modern, manufacturing, developing, are, under, conditions, new, production, and, methods, very, rapidly.

2. The, criticized, that, cannot be, systems, accounting, common, traditional, applied to, to adopt, production, is, point, change, most, the, to, methods, which, environment.

3. that, managers, sometimes, information, to make, that, wonder, No, production, give, reliable, proper, decisions, them, cannot, accountants, find.

4. no, doubt, technology, is, There, accounting, than, in, more, will be, information, extensively, of, it, now, is, the, future, used, that, practices.

5. preparer, and, user, a, information, accountant, of, will be, the, future, accounting, of, as, more, in, system, much, the, involved, design, activities, of.