11 sRouE 1.4 Importance of People in Accounting Systems Vignette Angus Associates new controller, Ryan Leh mann set about replacing the firm's obsolete Within a year, one-half of the machines Lehmann had bought were out of commission. computer equipment. supervised the installation system of networked personal computers with new When executive managersasked Kagerhow the accounting system was working out, she made disparaging remarks about the choice of hardware and software and about wis- flat-panel monitors and laser printers. After sifting through 2 years' copies of weekly microcomputer magazine and reading articles in The Journal of Accountancy, Lehmann ordered a complete of dom in acquiring "such a complicated and un- highly recommended accounting software that would meet the firm's information needs. Every thing seemed to be going smoothly. Then Lehmann was seriously injured in a car accident on the way Thought questions to work and was forced to take early retirement. 1. How could this situation been avoided? His replacement, Monica Kluger, had been 2. What shouldAngus Associates do now? with the company for a long time. From the start, she had been suspicious of her predecessor's plans for a new accounting system. She liked the old minicomputer even though it was slow, particular- ly when all the terminals were in use. And she felt comfortable with the old accounting software even though significant manual processing was required to provide needed information. The new software looked good on paper, but she did not have the time to figure out how to operate it. Kuger was stuck with the new system, but she decided to ignore it as best she could. She delegat ed all the computer operations to Jack Thompson, an eager but inept young man. He set about installing the new software and made a complete messofit. Several of the packages were never installed, two because the CDs were damaged. Kluger and Thompson made no arrangements for training users to operate the network so everybody treated the PCs Also, Kluger canceled the maintenance contract on the PCs and when hardware problems-how. ever trivial-arose, the inoperable machines were simply moved to a storage room to gather dust. mation Because of the pervasive influence of an accounting system, the quality of accounting in and the performance of the accounting system are of great concern to management. The counting system is the organization's "nervous system," and most organizations would mnimf it ceased to function