Decision Support Systems in Finance and Accounting

The rise of smaller microprocessor-based computers has provided new avenues for distributing computing power throughout an organizational hierarchy. It has also raised serious questions about the accessibility of specific data resources as well as about the distribution of authority and the use of certain management procedures. This book provides a broad-based approach to decision support systems (DSS) and their applications to finance and accounting. Heymann and Bloom go beyond description of DSS applications for particular system configurations to provide a technical analysis. They identify the changing roles over time of finance and accounting within organizational management and business control systems, outline the foundation of economic models within the objectives and methodology of scientific research and provide an introduction to the logical structure of theoretical models in finance and accounting. The systems approach is examined as an alternative to the traditional decision model approach and different tasks within a firm are presented in terms of complex and integrated management processes. In addition, the authors describe the role of DSS in the management of a firm, present specific applications of DSS in the areas of finance and accounting and discuss the future outlook for DSS in computerized management systems as well as their possible effects on organizational structures and management control procedures.