Explore Internal Controls For Accounting Information System Based On COBIT

With the rapid development of computer and information technology, every aspect of our life has been changed a lot, no matter whether it is the government sector or economic sector. As a traditional subject, accounting is also involved in the so-called informationization. The accounting environment such as calculation methods, accounting tools and even the whole structure of accounting information system is being affected by the information technology. At the same time, the entities' owners, executives, government and social public are paying more and more attention to the quality and timeliness of accounting information offered by the entities. Without any doubt, the security,reliability and effectiveness of information system is becoming most critical,especially for the accounting system. Strict management and internal control can ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information. But the existing internal control system is not suitable for the IT environment. So we need reconstruct an internal control system for today's accounting system.COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology) has been developed as a generally applicable and accepted standard for good information system management and control practices. Based on the control objectives of COBIT, I try to analyze the internal control system within CIS (computer information system) and make some useful suggestions to the entities which exist in the"information age".Therefore, I firstly point out the problems within the internal control system of the IT involving accounting system and summarize the former studies on the internal controls of information system at home and abroad. By application of COBIT in development and implementation of an entity's accounting information system, I analyze the internal control system of its information system. Then based on the analysis and COBIT framework, I provide the suggestions of reconstructing its internal control of the accounting information system. Hopefully, it could help the entity to ensure the effectiveness, reliability and security of its accounting information and can be a reference to the other enterprises.