Why Join the Accounting Information Systems Section?

Innovations in information technology are everywhere around us - and are central to the value adding processes of most organizations, large and small. And the world of accounting and auditing depends totally on information technology. If you have an interest in understanding the implications of technology for accounting and auditing, you owe it to yourself to join the AIS section of the American Accounting Association. The mission of the AIS section is to create and disseminate knowledge of accounting information systems and all aspects of information technologies as they relate to accounting and auditing by promoting excellence in research, teaching, and practice. We achieve this mission through meetings, outreach, member support, encouragement of teaching in AIS, and the publication of the key journal in the field, the Journal of Information Systems.Importantly for the future of our discipline, the section encourages and supports new scholars and educators in the field. The section is also widely recognized for having an intensive connection with practitioners in the field.

Section Membership Benefits

Membership in the AIS Section facilitates access to thought leadership, conferences, and growth opportunities. The following are notable examples:

• The AIS Section publishes the premier journal dedicated to accounting information systems research: Journal of Information Systems.
• The annual AIS mid-year meeting includes a New Scholar Consortium, cutting-edge CPE sessions, research and teaching sessions, panels, and opportunities to volunteer and network.
• We recognize member contributions through awards such as the Outstanding Dissertation Award and Notable Contribution to the AIS Literature Award.
• We acknowledge the importance of our discipline's relationship with practice. As a recent example, our Environmental Scanning Committee recently issued a comment letter regarding the AICPA Exposure Draft: Trust Services Principles and Criteria.
• We value collegiality and have a long history of welcoming and supporting the development of new section members.
• Members from around the world: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Fiji, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

If you have interests in information systems and technologies and their implications for accounting, then we invite you to join the Accounting Information Systems section and our more than 500 members from around the world.

Accounting Information Systems (AIS) is a discipline that informs theory and practice in accounting and auditing, in a way that draws upon information systems, broadly defined. In so doing, AIS employs theory and practice from the cognate disciplines of MIS and computer science as well as from accounting, auditing, other business disciplines including management and marketing, and the disciplines of economics, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and history.

The importance of AIS is vital, given the essentially total reliance of accounting and auditing on computerized information systems. The accounting function within organizations was among the first consumer of business computing. Accounting systems are a primary application in organizations large and small. These accounting systems do not operate in isolation because information technology plays a ubiquitous role in all aspects of the lives of individuals and organizations. Indeed, decision makers increasingly access accounting information systems directly, bypassing accounting and MIS functions, for purposes of their own analyses and reporting. Within these organizations, information systems and technologies arekey for value adding and risk management. We also see enhanced innovation in the building of solutions for accounting and auditing, as well as data repositories for all organizational users.Information technology, of course, also brings its own risk to the organizational risk landscape and that risk must be identified, understood, and managed.

AIS researchers, and members of the AIS section of the AAA, work in the following areas of inquiry, among many others:

• Continuous auditing
• Continuous monitoring
• Data analytics for areas such as:
  • Audit planning
  • Forensics
  • Fraud detection
  • Management accounting
• Decision support systems for:
  • Accounting
  • Auditing
  • Management decision making
  • Taxation
• Design of accounting information systems
• Enterprise systems
• Forensic audit and IT
• Fraud detection
• Group systems
• Intelligent systems
• Interaction with accounting information systems
• Internet financial reporting
• IT audit
• IT controls
• IT governance
• Ontological representation of accounting information systems
• Privacy and ethics
• Return on investment in IT
• Risk management and IT
• Security
• Social media and accounting
• Social networks and accounting
• Visualization of accounting information
• XBRL

AIS researchers use a wide variety of innovative research techniques to address these questions. These include design science approaches to construct new artifacts, case studies, field studies, surveys, experiments, and archival research as well as fundamental theoretical analysis.

The AIS discipline also plays a significant role in educating future accountants and auditors about the implications of information technology for the practice of accounting and auditing.