Accounting Information System (AIS)
system that records, processes and reports on transactions to provide financial and nonfinancial information to make decisions and have appropriate levels of internal controls for those transactions
Information value chain
overall transformation from a business need and business event to the collection of data and information to an ultimate decision
Discretionary information
information generally produced for internal information purposes, not required by law, and produced if value of the information is worth more than the cost to produce it (managerial accounting information)
Mandatory information
information generally produced for external information purposes, required by law, and produced at lowest possible cost (tax and financial accounting information
Inbound Logistics, Operations, Outbound Logistics, Marketing and sales activities, Service activities
Five primary activities that directly provide value to the customer
Firm Infrastructure, Human Resource Management, Technology, Procurement
Four support activities that sustain primary activities
Enterprise System
Centralized database that collects data from throughout the firm
Supply Chain
Flow of materials, information, payments, and services from suppliers all the way through to the customer
Supply Chain Management Software
can be used to optimize processes within the supply chain
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
the software used to manage and nurture a firm's interactions with its current and potential clients; includes the use of database marketing tools to learn more about customers
Automate, Informate-Up, Informate-Down, Transform
Strategic Role
Automate
replace human labor in automating business processes
Informate-Up
provide information about business activities to senior management
Informate-Down
provide information about business activities to employees across the firm
Transform
fundamentally redefine business processes and relationships
Class
any separately identifiable collection of things about which the organization wants to collect and store information
Association
relationship between two classes
Multiplicities
describe the minimum and maximum number of times instances in one class can be associated with instances in another class
Event ? Agent
(0..*) and (1..1) ALWAYS
Resource ? Event
(1..
) and (0..
) when selling low-value or mass produced items
Cash ? Cash Receipts (Disbursements)
(1..1) and (0..*), says each receipt (disbursement) is deposited into (withdrawn from) one and only one account, and each account is associated with a minimum of zero cash receipts (disbursements) and a maximum of many, show typical business practices
Attributes
data elements that describe the instances in a class, primary and foreign keys
Constraints
minimum and maximum values
Primary Key
attribute or combination of attributes that uniquely identifies each instance in a class or row in a table
Must NOT be duplicated, CANNOT be null (blank), CANNOT change over time, Controlled by the organization that assigns it, Easier to be a sequential value, Shorter are better than long
Criteria of a Primary Key
Foreign Keys
attribute or combination of attributes that allows tables to be linked together, LINKED TO THE PRIMARY KEY OF ANOTHER TABLE, provides logical relationship or link between tables
Business Rules
succinct statement of a constraint on a business process
Database
collections of related data for various uses
Hierarchical data models
organize data into a tree-like structure that allows repeating information using defined parent/child relationships
Network data models
flexible model representing objects and their relationships (allows for many-to-many relationships)
Relational data models
stores information in the form of related two-dimensional tables
Flexibility and Scalability, Simplicity, Reduced Information Redundancy
Advantages of a Relational Data Model
Database Management System (DBMS)
a computer program that creates, modifies, and queries the database
Data Dictionary
data fields in each database record
Database administrator
responsible for the design, implementation, repair, and security of database
Attributes
characteristics, properties, or adjectives that describe each class
ENTITY INTEGRITY RULE
PRIMARY KEY MUST HAVE DATA VALUES
REFERENTIAL INTEGRITY RULE
DATA FOR FOREGIN KEY MUST EITHER BE NULL OR MATCH ONE OF THE DATA VALUES THAT ALREADY EXIST
Queries
a tool used to retrieve and display data derived from records stored within the database
Forms
utilized by users to enter data into tables and view existing records
Reports
used to integrate data from one or more queries and tables to provide useful information to decision makers
Pages
web-based forms which allow data to be entered into the database in real time from outside of the database system
Macros
automate processes
Modules
used to alter Access's code
Structured Query Language (SQL)
computer language designed to query data in a relational database, based on relational algebra and allows a user to query and update the database
SELECT
used to begin query, tells the query which columns (attributes) of a table should be included in the query result, MOST COMPLEX statement in SQL
*
used to specify that the query should return all columns of the queried tables
FROM
indicates the name of tables from which to retrieve data
WHERE
states the criteria that must be met to be shown in the query result
Text in "WHERE
must be enclosed in single quotes (such as 'Germany')
Dates in "WHERE
must be enclosed in pound signs (such as #10/19/1996#) BUT if formatted like 01-JUL-2014, must go in single quotes
GROUP BY
used with aggregate functions on the query results based on one or more columns
HAVING
similar to WHERE but may only use CALCULATED FIELDS in HAVING clause, may NOT use aliases (can't use NumEmployees, instead must be COUNT(EmployeeID))
AND & OR
OR is more inclusive, only one criteria needs to be met; AND less inclusive, both criteria must be met
ORDER BY
CANNOT use aliases in ORDER BY (must use AGGREGATE(attribute)
AS
gives an aggregate calculation an alias, used in SELECT, (COUNT(EmployeeID) AS 'NumEmployees'
Collapsed Subprocess
contains a series of steps that are hidden from view
Intermediate Error Event
something happens in the flow that ends the process
Intermediate Timer Event
indicates that time must pass for the process to continue
Type Images
Non-REA class, categorizes any resource, event, or agent in any way beyond the line-item detail that the primary key provides
Preventative Controls
deter problems before they arise, require compliance with preferred procedures and thus stop undesirable events from happening (authorizing a transaction to ensure validity)
Detective Controls
find problems when they arise, procedures and techniques designed to identify undesirable events after they have already occurred (bank reconciliations and monthly trial balances are prepared to catch mistakes)
Corrective Controls
fix problems that have been identified (using backup files to recover corrupted data), linked to Detective Controls to remediate any issues that are discovered
Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
process of creating or modifying information systems to meet the needs of its users, generally viewed as the foundation for all systems development that people use to develop such systems (PADIM)
PLANNING PHASE
Begins with a business need for a new or better information system, involves summarizing the business needs with a high-level view of the intended project, Feasibility study is often used to evaluate economic, operational, and technical practicability, In
ANALYSIS PHASE
Must answer: "What needs to be maintained about the current business process?" and "What needs to change in the new business process?", The gap between the answers to the questions is analyzed, Involves a complete detailed analysis of the systems needs of
Business Process
a defined sequence of business activities that use resources to transform specific inputs into specific outputs to achieve a business goal
Effectiveness, Efficiency, Internal Control, Compliance
Importance of Business Processes
DESIGN PHASE
Involves describing in detail the desired features of the system that it uncovered in the analysis phase; Features may be described using screen layouts, process and event diagrams, and other documentation; INCLUDES UML
System Analyst
responsible for both determining the information needs of the business and designing a system to meet those needs
Class Diagrams Uses
In system development -> draft of the database, after implementation -> facilitate use of databases
IMPLEMENTATION PHASE
Involves development, testing, and implementation of the new proposed system; Involves placing the system into production such that users can actually use the system that has been designed for them
Development
process of transforming the plan from the design phase into an actual, functioning system
Testing
involves testing for errors, bugs, and interoperability with other parts of the system, verify all of the business requirements from the analysis phase are met
MAINTENANCE PHASE
Includes making changes, corrections, additions, and upgrades to ensure the system continues to meet the business requirement; Continues INDEFINITELY because the system must continue to evolve as the underlying business evolves