The fundamental role of technology in accounting: Researching reality

Behavioral accounting research has flourished over the past 40 years and vastly improved our understanding of accounting judgment and decision-making, human behavior as it is affected by accounting information and processes, and influences on organizational and social structures. However, to increase the validity and reliability of the work, researchers have generally narrowed the area of study to exclude many of the environmental factors that can influence the resulting behaviors that are observed. One environmental factor that has largely been ignored by the broader accounting research community is the rapidly increasing impact of information technology (IT) on all aspects of accounting. The purpose of this chapter is to elaborate on the predominance of IT in all areas of accounting and to urge behavioral accounting researchers to integrate IT aspects into their research to enhance the value and relevance of our research. Each of the major areas of accounting disciplinary research is considered (i.e., financial accounting, managerial accounting, auditing, and tax). This disciplinary focus is not intended to exclude the area of accounting information systems as is often the case in commentaries on behavioral accounting research but rather to focus on how accounting information systems are fundamentally integrated across the decision environments of every aspect of the accounting discipline.