Use of ERP in Accounting, Business process integration, Accounting standards and Finance: A Literature Review

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a process used by companies to integrate the important parts of their businesses. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software are business management software that allows an organization to leverage a suite of integrated applications. ERP systems streamline and automate processes, creating a leaner, more accurate and efficient operation. ERP provides complete visibility into core business processes. The introduction of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in an organization brings with it changes on how users work. An ERP system cuts across the different functional units of an organization and therefore if not properly managed during its implementation may lead to resistance from the users. The different streams of research on ERP systems have mainly been on ERP adoption, success measurement, and critical success factors (CSFs). Main and only majorprocpects is the business process change management and the contribution of users towards the successful implementation of ERP systems. This paper reviews literature on ERP implementation with an aim of building a case for involving users in this implementation. ERP is important in accounting and finance as it streamlines and optimizes many repetitive accounting processes. An entity can save more time and money as ERP provides valuable insights to accounting and financial analysts and assists in analyzing large amount of data fast, generating more accurate, actionable data at lower costs. This data can then be used to deliver insights and analytics, driving strategic decision making that affects the whole entity. In recent years, with the innovations in science and technology, the application of ERP technology in accounting and finance field has become more and more extensive and in-depth. The integration of ERP and accounting is both an opportunity and a challenge. This paper combs the worldwide research literatures on use of ERP in the field of accounting, assurance & finance, and points out the limitations of existing research, and provides reference for future research. Another goal is to outline ERP technologies used in audit and accounting. We surveyed research literature between 1989-2020 and review ed more than 150 research papers. As meta-analysis results show that the majority of researches illustrate a positive impact of ERP use on the accounting and finance function. Our study is divided into six sections- Introduction; Objectives of the Study; Conceptual Issues; Research Design; Findings; Conclusion.