The difference between accounting and traditional accounting in e-commerce environment

First, the accounting paperless problem

The popularization of e-commerce will certainly promote the comprehensive computer networking of enterprise information systems, which is embodied in the seamless connection between accounting system and other business computerization in enterprises. This leads to the following two problems:

(1) Accounting habits of raw data. The most effective evidence in law is the original record of business occurrence. In the manual accounting environment, the economic business of an enterprise is recorded on paper, which is divided into original vouchers, accounting vouchers, accounting books and accounting statements according to the different processes of accounting data processing. The written data on these papers form the original accounting vouchers that accountants are familiar with. If the data of these paper originals are modified, the clues and traces of modification can be easily identified, which is the basic feature of traditional paper originals. The electronic commerce (paperless trade) in the computer network information system makes the data of the original paper accounting voucher directly recorded on the disk or CD. Because the electronic data has been illegally modified, it is difficult to distinguish which is the "original" of the business record. However, under the condition of strengthening the control of the formation and storage management of electronic data and changing the traditional concept, electronic data can be used as the original accounting voucher like paper vouchers. If the law does not recognize that electronic data can be used as the "original" of data, then many data in e-commerce will imitate manual operation to form paper originals, and paperless accounting cannot be carried out, which will definitely affect the promotion and popularization of e-commerce

(2) The legal effect of electronic accounting data. Whether electronic accounting data recorded by computer can be accepted as valid legal evidence has become an international issue. In particular, whether paperless electronic accounting data can be used as effective evidence for auditing and tax inspection is an urgent problem facing accounting. As far as the current practice of computerized accounting is concerned, relevant laws and regulations require enterprises to print the original data recorded by computers on paper and sign it by the person in charge, which can be used as evidence required by laws such as auditing. But this practice is a temporary measure in the initial stage of computer network application. With the continuous popularization of e-commerce, electronic data inevitably become effective accounting evidence and legal evidence. In 1970s, the United Nations began to study this issue through its International Trade Law Commission. 1996, 16 In February, the United Nations adopted the following formal model law, the Model Law on Electronic Commerce, which clearly pointed out that electronic data can be used as valid legal evidence, but the basic conditions must be met:

(1) The generation, storage and transmission of electronic data are reliable;

(2) The relevant person in charge (including the counterparty of the trading business) has signed with an encryption number for confirmation;

(3) Implement data management by special personnel to ensure data integrity. It is an urgent task to enact such a law to promote the development of electronic commerce and computerized accounting in China.

Two. Review and confirmation of electronic raw data

In the current computerized accounting environment, most accountants still maintain the traditional paper voucher audit and manual preparation of accounting vouchers. Therefore, in the initial stage of this computerization, traditional methods can still be used to audit the original accounting data. However, with the popularity of e-commerce, faced with "paperless" accounting data, accountants are particularly concerned about how to verify and confirm that the data stored in the computer system (stored on disk or CD-ROM) is consistent with the original form when the business occurs. The data of disks and optical disks can be modified by appropriate computer tools without leaving any traces of modification. Therefore, ensuring that these electronic data are preserved in the original form is the key of paperless information system. Therefore, when accounting personnel audit the electronic raw data of enterprise transactions, they should consider the confirmation of electronic raw data generation, the control of data storage, the reliability of transmission process and mode, not simply like the traditional accounting personnel audit the paper raw documents.

(1) Confirm the generation of electronic data. According to the traditional accounting audit, the original data can be regarded as original, generally based on paper documents (such as invoices, contracts and payment transfer orders). ) when the business happens, and compare and check different kinds of original vouchers of a business, and at the same time confirm the validity of the signature of the relevant person in charge on the voucher. The signature on the paper voucher confirms the written material, which is convenient for accountants to identify. However, in the electronic data audit of transaction business in e-commerce, in addition to checking different data records of a business, special attention should be paid to the electronic signatures of business managers, approvers, contractors and other personnel to ensure that the responsible person is responsible for the integrity of the business and the corresponding records. How accountants verify the validity of this electronic signature is also a problem that cannot be ignored. If the electronic signature is filled with ordinary Chinese characters or letter codes in most accounting software, it will be prone to forgery and fraud, and accountants will not be able to identify the authenticity of these data. The solution to the validity of signature is to use encrypted signature.

(2) The storage and management of transaction business data and the reliability of electronic data transmission. Once the transaction data of an enterprise (purchase and sale and other revenue and expenditure business) is determined, it cannot be modified. It is the most basic and important data in enterprise accounting information system. Under the manual information processing system, the original vouchers are generally copied to generate several vouchers, which are distributed to different departments as the basis for business occurrence and saved separately; In the computerized environment, several copies of the same business data are formed in different doors (especially in accounting departments) at the same time, forming backup data. At the same time, several backup data and materials in the computer system should be kept by different personnel, so as to keep mutual containment and audit clues and prevent anyone from trying to modify the confirmed data. Many electronic data need to be transmitted through the computer network. Whether the transmitted data is accurate and safe is related to the reliability of computer network technology and the safety management of network system. Therefore, accountants must also find ways to solve the security problem of accounting electronic data.

In the paperless information system environment, after the electronic raw data is verified and confirmed, electronic accounting vouchers can be automatically generated by using the software module compiled by accounting vouchers. The automatically formed electronic accounting vouchers will not be modified by anyone, and account book data and accounting statements can be directly generated from these electronic accounting vouchers or electronic raw data. These electronic accounting vouchers, electronic account books and electronic statements directly generated from electronic raw data are all derived data. If the software used is correct, the correctness, authenticity and completeness of the derived data in the accounting system depend entirely on the electronic original data.

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