مزایای حسابداری و رضایت در محیط برنامه ریزی منابع سازمانی (ERP)

Over the past decade, organizations all over the world have adopted enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. There has been little research at a global scale regarding the accounting benefits of adopting enterprise systems. Moreover, there are virtually no studies that examine in detail the relation between accounting benefits and ERP user satisfaction. Sutton (2006) addressed the need for empirical research on the impact of ERP in terms of accounting advantages and disadvantages. The principal aim of our study was to investigate the accounting benefits that the adoption of an ERP system by companies may entail in relation to ERP user satisfaction. This study explored the impact that the ERP system has had on accounting information and practice. This study also examined whether or not there are differences between accountants and IT professionals concerning how each group assesses ERP accounting benefits and ERP user satisfaction. The participants of this study comprised 175 accountants and 96 IT professionals from 193 companies in Greece. The empirical evidence confirms a number of accounting benefits derived from ERP systems particularly for accounting process. No statistically significant differences were found between the perceptions of accountants and IT professionals concerning ERP accounting benefits. Furthermore, this research identifies factors related to accounting benefits and ERP cost which affect the level of ERP user satisfaction. The implications of these results for practice and research are explored. The findings of this study will be of value to any companies considering the inclusion of their accounting techniques and operations in an ERP system. Furthermore, the results of this study will provide stimulus for consequent research in the field in order to further examine and account for the accounting benefits that can occur from ERP system implementation as well as the effect of those benefits on ERP user satisfaction.

The most important and substantial information technology project that interacts with the accounting function in the last 15 years has been the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Enterprise resource planning systems integrate several business procedures, applications and departments while sharing one database and assist companies in responding to real-time information (Stefanou, 2002, Nicolaou, 2003, Rom and Rohde, 2006 and Spathis, 2006). ERP systems have significantly changed the way business data is collected, stored, disseminated and used. This change in information processing orientation affects the accounting process (Sutton, 2006). Nevertheless, the focus of the relevant literature has been on ERP systems in general and there is limited published scientific evidence on the ERP implementation processes and their effects on accounting in particular (Granlund and Malmi, 2002 and Sutton, 2006). Nicolaou and Bhattacharya (2008) pointed out that “firms which implement an ERP system must be conscious of and circumspect enough to realize that ERPs are different from other IT systems. They bring about global changes to firms’ business processes and as such their deployment presents not a finale but the start of post-implementation activities.” Overall, it seems that there is a positive relationship between ERP implementation and operational efficiencies (Matolscy et al., 2005 and Nicolaou and Bhattacharya, 2008). However, there are also studies in the recent literature which are more critical concerning ERP implementation and business performance. Davenport (1998) refers to companies (such as FoxMeyerDrug, Mobile Europe and Dell Computer) which faced problems (financial, organizational and technical) with the implementation of their ERP systems. He states that some of these problems may have occurred due to enormous technical challenges of implementing enterprise systems, but even though these challenges may be great, they are not the main reason for ERP implementation failure. He argues that the biggest problems are business problems and that companies often fail to combine their business needs with the technological imperatives of the system. Dillard et al. (2005) argue that ERP systems include significant potential for “administrative evil,” because they have the ability to change organizational climate, structures and roles. They state that once an ERP system is introduced, organizational practices are replaced with industry “best practices” which are already part of the software and that organizations can lose their unique characteristics and goals. Saatcioglu (2009) tried to identify the effects of benefits, barriers and risks on user satisfaction in ERP projects and suggested that although ERPs provide a lot of benefits, there are barriers that businesses need to overcome during ERP implementations and that if these barriers are not overcome they can become drivers of risks.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the accounting benefits derived from ERP application in the accounting department, categorize these benefits into specific factors and identify whether or not there are differences between accountants and IT professionals concerning the evaluation of accounting benefits and ERP user satisfaction. Moreover, this study tried to evaluate the effect of accounting benefits, number of modules implemented and ERP cost on ERP user satisfaction. Companies that operate in Greece and have adopted an ERP system provided the data presented here. This study explored the impact that the ERP system has had on accounting processes and practice. The studies conducted by Spathis and Constantinides (2004), Spathis (2006) and Kanellou and Spathis (2007) explored the accounting benefits of adopting enterprise systems in Greece and our study can be seen as an extension of those studies, as it also explored ERP user satisfaction and its relation to accounting benefits. Overall, this study is an explorative study which explores new directions for associations between ERP accounting benefits and user satisfaction. It draws from and builds upon the relevant studies in our field by combining models and variables developed and examined by other researchers. To this day and to our knowledge, this study is the first study that focuses exclusively on the benefits directly related to accounting process and affecting user satisfaction. Our study is currently one of the first complete sets of data available on enterprise resource planning systems in Greece in relation not only to accounting benefits but also to ERP user satisfaction. Finally, this study aimed to contribute to the field of ERP and accounting practice, trying to highlight potential and assumptions that may lie under ERP implementation and may prove useful for researchers, academics and practitioners, concerning how ITs and accountants think about the technologies that they use. Rose and Kræmmergaard (2006) suggested that when research focuses on organizational change and actors’ perceptions of evolving conditions (such as ERP adoption), then such research is likely to provide fresh and challenging insights and contribute to the field of accounting information research and may urge functionalist researchers to enhance their work and expertise.