A Field Research Report Submitted to Mzumbe University in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of the Bachelor Degree of
Accounting and Finance in Business Sector (Baf-Bs) of Mzumbe University
The project aimed at assessing the effectiveness of computerized accounting systems
on financial reporting, using Tanganyika Wattle Company Ltd (TANWAT) as a case
study. The specific objectives of the study focused on assessing the extent to which
TANWAT has adopted computerized accounting system in their financial reporting,
assessing the effect of CAS on the quality of the financial reports, assessing the time
used by TANWAT in financial reporting with CAS as well as assessing the
challenges faced by TANWAT on using CAS in financial reporting.
A case study design with both primary and secondary data collection methods was
used to make sure the intended objective is achieved. The targeted population was
the TANWAT organization’s employees whereby the sample of 16 people was
selected while focusing on those with accounting and finance knowledge.
The study findings show that the use of computerized accounting systems enhances
the quality of financial reports in terms of accuracy, understandability, reliability,
and materiality. It also show that with CAS, financial reporting is said to be done
quickly hence reducing time consumption to the organization as well as enhancing
timely decision making by the information users.
Though there are some challenges facing accountants when using this CAS in
recording and processing transactions. For example, the issue of system failure may
cause delays and loss of work, also the lack of enough experience on CAS usage is a
challenge. Therefore, the organizations have the responsibility of training their
accountants to make them aware of the use of CAS effectively. Also they should be
practicing frequently backups to avoid too much loss of data when there is system
failure caused by power breakdown. This work is organized into six chapters such as; an introductory chapter, Literaturereview, Research methodology, Presentation of findings, discussion of findings, andthe last one being the conclusion and recommendations as well as area for furtherstudy, followed by references and appendices.