Effect of Computerized Accounting System on Organisational Performance of Oil and Gas Firms in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the effect of a computerized accounting system (CAS) on the organisational performance of oil and gas firms in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. The study adopts the survey research design. The survey enabled the researcher to obtain information from respondents about practices, situations or views via questionnaires. The population comprised of hundred staff of five randomly selected Oil and Gas firms in Port Harcourt, Rivers State with a capital base of above 500 million. The unit of focus was personnel in the Accounting/Finance and the IT/ICT Department of the respective companies. The study is based on primary data obtained from a structured questionnaire administered to respondents. The reliability of the instrument was measured using Cronbach’s alpha. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The hypotheses were tested using simple linear regression. The results showed a positive significant effect of accounting software usage on accountability, productivity, and cost control in oil and gas firms. Based on this the study recommends the use of electronic mediums and other alternative channels (such as cloud computing frameworks) for storing financial information to ensure the safeguarding of such information and prevent data loss. The deployment of CAS in functional departments to boost the efficiency of service delivery in addition to linkage to the overall organisational ICT framework can enable the speedy generation of internal and external financial reports.