Using CAS: security, advantages and limits

Using accounting software has two kinds of work. One-time activities are done once, at the start: creating the organisation's details, the accounting year, and the ledgers (the master files). Recurring activities happen all the time: entering transactions from cash, bank, purchase, sales and journal vouchers, and generating reports.

Accounts are confidential, so every accounting package gives three security features:

• Password security: a password is needed to get in. The organisation sets user rights, so one person can reach some data and not other data.
• Data audit: shows who changed what in the original data. If an entry is changed and nobody owns up, the data audit fixes responsibility on the person who manipulated it, and keeps the data's integrity. It works like an audit trail.
• Data vault: extra security through encryption. Encryption scrambles the data, so even if it lands in the wrong hands it cannot be read. Your WhatsApp chats are protected in the same way.

Advantages of CAS: reports come out on time and in the format you want; records are kept efficiently; there is effective control; processing is economical, saving time and money; and data stays confidential. Statements like the Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet are prepared by the software once the data is fed in.

Limitations: hardware and software become out of date fast; data can be lost or corrupted, for example by a power cut or a virus; data is open to hacking; and the system cannot produce a report it was not programmed for. Teachers also add that trained staff are needed, training costs money, and long hours at a screen can strain health.