Accounting Information Systems, 12e (Romney/Steinbart)
Chapter 1 Accounting Information Systems: An Overview
1) Which of the following statements below shows the contrast between data and information?
A) Data is the output of an AIS.
B) Information is the primary output of an AIS.
C) Data is more useful in decision-making than information.
D) Data and information are the same.
2) Information is
A) basically the same as data.
B) raw facts about transactions.
C) potentially useful facts when processed in a timely manner.
D) data that has been organized and processed so that it’s meaningful.
3) The value of information can best be defined as
A) how useful it is to decision makers.
B) the benefits produced by possessing and using the information minus the cost of producing it.
C) how relevant it is.
D) the extent to which it maximizes the value chain.
4) An accounting information system (AIS) processes ________ to provide users with ________.
A) data; information
B) data; transactions
C) information; data
D) data; benefits
5) Information that reduces uncertainty, improves decision makers’ ability to make predictions, or
confirms or corrects their prior expectations, is said to be
A) complete.
B) relevant.
C) reliable.
D) timely.
6) Information that is free from error or bias and accurately represents the events or activities of the
organization is
A) relevant.
B) reliable.
C) verifiable.
D) timely.
7) Information that does not omit important aspects of the underlying events or activities that it measures
is
A) complete.
B) accessible.
C) relevant.
D) timely.
8) When two knowledgeable people acting independently each produce the same information, this
information is said to be
A) complete.
B) relevant.
C) reliable.
D) verifiable.
9) Data must be converted into information to be considered useful and meaningful for decision-making.
There are six characteristics that make information both useful and meaningful. If information is free
from error or bias and accurately represents the events or activities of the organization, it is
representative of the characteristic of
A) relevancy.
B) timeliness.
C) understandability.
D) reliability.
10) An accounting information system must be able to perform which of the following tasks?
A) collect transaction data
B) process transaction data
C) provide adequate controls
D) all of the above
11) Which of the following is not an example of a common activity in an AIS?
A) buy and pay for goods and services
B) sell goods and services and collect cash
C) summarize and report results to interested parties
D) recording of sales calls for marketing purposes
12) Which of the following is not one of the components of an AIS?
A) Internal controls and security measures
B) People
C) Procedures and instructions
D) Hardware
13) One group that relies on both the adequate collection and transformation of data for decision-making
purposes for an organization is
A) management.
B) interested outsiders.
C) competitors.
D) the government.
14) The primary objective of accounting is to
A) implement strong internal controls.
B) provide useful information to decision makers.
C) prepare financial statements.
D) ensure the profitability of an organization.
15) The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has recognized the importance of
AIS and the major impact information technology has on the area of accounting. To recognize individual
CPAs who have met educational and experiential requirements in this area, the group formally created
the designation known as
A) the Certified Management Accountant.
B) the Certified Information Technology Professional.
C) the Certified Internal Auditor.
D) the Certified Data Processing Professional.
16) The AIS must include controls to ensure
A) safety and availability of data.
B) marketing initiatives match corporate goals.
C) information produced from data is accurate.
D) both A and C
17) A change in the AIS that makes information more easily accessible and widely available within an
organization is most likely to first influence the
A) organizational culture.
B) customer base.
C) external financial statement users.
D) production activity.
18) The process of creating value for customers is the result of nine activities that form a
A) value chain.
B) profitable operation.
C) successful business.
D) support system.
19) The value chain concept is composed of two types of activities known as
A) primary and support.
B) primary and secondary.
C) support and value.
D) technology and support.
20) Which of the following is a primary activity in the value chain?
A) infrastructure
B) technology
C) purchasing
D) marketing and sales
21) In value chain analysis, what is the activity of arranging the delivery of products to customers
called?
A) outbound logistics
B) inbound logistics
C) shipping
D) delivery
22) An AIS provides value by
A) improving products or services through information that increases quality and reduces costs.
B) providing timely and reliable information to decision makers.
C) creating new products.
D) both A and B
23) In Chapter 1, Figure 1-4 shows the factors that influence the design of AIS. The diagram shows a bi-
directional arrow between the organizational culture and the AIS. The reason for this two-way
interchange between organizational culture and AIS is
A) that the AIS should not influence the values of the organizational culture.
B) because the organization’s culture influences the AIS, and likewise the AIS influences the
organization’s culture by controlling the flow of information within the organization.
C) due to the transfer of managers between the two corporate elements.
D) the AIS impacts the organization’s key strategies.
24) An example of inbound logistics would consist of
A) the activities that transform inputs into final products or services.
B) the activities that help customers to buy the organization’s products or services.
C) the activities that provide post-sale support to customers.
D) the activities that consist of receiving, storing, and distributing the materials used as inputs by the
organization to create goods and/or services it sells.
25) A good example of how an AIS is used to share knowledge within an organization is
A) the use of a corporate database to help staff identify the relevant experts who can help with a
particular client.
B) the use of laptop computers to access a network for messaging worldwide.
C) the monitoring of production equipment to watch for defects.
D) the use of point-of-sale data to determine hot-selling items.
26) One activity within the value chain is research and development. This activity can be identified as a
A) firm infrastructure activity.
B) human resources activity.
C) technology activity.
D) purchasing activity.
27) When the AIS provides information in a timely and accurate manner, it stands as an example of
A) improved decision making.
B) improving the quality and reducing the costs of products or services.
C) improving efficiency.
D) all of the above
28) Accounting information plays major roles in managerial decision making by
A) identifying situations requiring management action.
B) reducing uncertainty.
C) providing a basis for choosing among alternative actions.
D) all of the above
29) A well-designed AIS can improve the decision-making function within the organization. Which
statement below would describe a limitation, rather than a benefit, of an efficient AIS?
A) An AIS reduces uncertainty, and therefore accounting information can provide a basis for choosing
among alternative courses of action.
B) An AIS identifies situations requiring management action.
C) An AIS provides to its users an abundance of information without any filtering or condensing of such
information.
D) An AIS provides information about the results of previous decisions which provides decision makers
with feedback that can be used in future decision making.
30) Jill Fredson is in charge of the mail room at Gammon University. Every Friday morning she receives
a report via email that summarizes the number of outgoing and incoming pieces of mail by source and
destination department. Every Friday afternoon, Jill deletes the report without reading it because it has
no bearing on mail room operations. Which of the following characteristics of useful information is
absent in the situation described above?
A) Relevant
B) Reliable
C) Complete
D) Timely
E) Understandable
F) Verifiable
G) Accessible
31) Inventory information is provided in real time by a firm’s accounting information system. The
accuracy of this information is questionable, however, since the production manager often reports stock
outs of components that the system indicates are in stock. Which of the following characteristics of
useful information is absent in the situation described above?
A) Relevant
B) Reliable
C) Complete
D) Timely
E) Understandable
F) Verifiable
G) Accessible
32) Joe Marzetti has been the controller of Fairview Tires for 25 years. Ownership of the firm recently
changed hands and the new owners are conducting an audit of the financial records. The audit has been
unable to reproduce financial reports that were prepared by Marzetti. While there is no evidence of
wrongdoing, the auditors are concerned that the discrepancies might contribute to poor decisions. Which
of the following characteristics of useful information is absent in the situation described above?
A) Relevant
B) Reliable
C) Complete
D) Timely
E) Understandable
F) Verifiable
G) Accessible
33) In 2003, Custer Manufacturing implemented a Web-based information system that allows all
employees to access mission-critical information. The intention was to increase production efficiency.
Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect, as deliveries fell behind schedule and costs increased. Jeff
Akspen, the director of information technology services, asked Joyce Jenkins to come in and talk with
him about the system. Joyce is a long-time employee of Custer, and her opinion is valued by her peers
and by her supervisor. “So Joyce, how’s it going down there in the shop?“”Not so good, Jeff. Used to be
we got a weekly pick list so we knew how to plan production. Now, we got that computer system. Most
of us can’t figure out how to use it to do our jobs. Is there some way to print out a pick list?”Jeff thought
for a while before responding. “Well, Joyce, to tell you the truth, I‘m not so sure how to do it myself, but
there must be a way. We’ll bring in the consultants that helped us build the system. Maybe they can
help.” Which of the following characteristics of useful information is absent in the situation described
above?
A) Relevant
B) Reliable
C) Complete
D) Timely
E) Understandable
F) Verifiable
G) Accessible
34) Razzmataz, Wisconsin, is a popular tourist destination. During the winter months, the population
dwindles to a meager few, but when summer comes, the size of the town surges. Chuck Hewitt is the
town sanitation engineer. When the size of the town surges, so do his responsibilities. Among them is
management of the sewage processing volume.In an interview with the local paper, Chuck complained
that a report on tourist population that he uses to adjust processing volume refers to data that was
collected five days ago and it takes him a week to make adjustments.Which of the following
characteristics of useful information is absent in the situation described above?
A) Relevant
B) Reliable
C) Complete
D) Timely
E) Understandable
F) Verifiable
G) Accessible
35) A frantic Stro Frinzel called the home office from Des Moines.”You have got to help me. I am about
to close a great sale, but I have to be able to guarantee delivery by the fourteenth. I can’t get through to
the company Web site to verify delivery!””Thank you for calling. Your call is very important to us.
However, all of our lines are currently in use. Please try again later.”Which of the following
characteristics of useful information is absent in the situation described above?
A) Relevant
B) Reliable
C) Complete
D) Timely
E) Understandable
F) Verifiable
G) Accessible
36) Message left on an answering machine: “Hi Bob! Just got into town. How about dinner this evening
if you’re available. Call me!”Which of the following characteristics of useful information is absent in the
situation described above?
A) Relevant
B) Reliable
C) Complete
D) Timely
E) Understandable
F) Verifiable
G) Accessible
37) Robinson Crusoe has formed a business that sells carved gourmet coconuts. He has hired five
employees. The most senior is Friday, who manages the carving process. Monday is the newest
employee. She collects the coconuts. Tuesday, as you might expect, takes calls from curstomers, oops, I
mean customers, who are unhappy with their coconuts. Wednesday tosses finished coconuts into the sea,
whereupon they drift to the wholesaler. Thursday sends smoke signals to the wholesaler extolling the
virtues of the latest production run of nuts that are drifting across the bay.Which of the following
functions in the value chain is Monday performing?
A) Inbound logistics
B) Operations
C) Outbound logistics
D) Marketing and sales
E) Service
38) Robinson Crusoe has formed a business that sells carved gourmet coconuts. He has hired five
employees. The most senior is Friday, who manages the carving process. Monday is the newest
employee. She collects the coconuts. Tuesday, as you might expect, takes calls from curstomers, oops, I
mean customers, who are unhappy with their coconuts. Wednesday tosses finished coconuts into the sea,
whereupon they drift to the wholesaler. Thursday sends smoke signals to the wholesaler extolling the
virtues of the latest production run of nuts that are drifting across the bay.Which of the following
functions in the value chain is Friday performing?
A) Inbound logistics
B) Operations
C) Outbound logistics
D) Marketing and sales
E) Service
39) Robinson Crusoe has formed a business that sells carved gourmet coconuts. He has hired five
employees. The most senior is Friday, who manages the carving process. Monday is the newest
employee. She collects the coconuts. Tuesday, as you might expect, takes calls from curstomers, oops, I
mean customers, who are unhappy with their coconuts. Wednesday tosses finished coconuts into the sea,
whereupon they drift to the wholesaler. Thursday sends smoke signals to the wholesaler extolling the
virtues of the latest production run of nuts that are drifting across the bay.Which of the following
functions in the value chain is Wednesday performing?
A) Inbound logistics
B) Operations
C) Outbound logistics
D) Marketing and sales
E) Service