USAGE OF ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE ON COST CONTROL OF LISTED DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The ability to implement and maximize the use of accounting software to ensure reliable and efficient cost control among firms have become one of the complex challenges faced by many firms in contemporary business operations. The impact of accounting software on cost control among firms in the service sectors of Nigerian economy using listed deposit money banks was examined in this study. The study employed field survey design, via structured questionnaire administered to 120 respondents in Nigeria’s financial services sector. A total of 107 representing 89.7% were retrieved usable copies. Cronbach’s alpha test showed that the instrument had a value of 0.967 which is greater than 0.70, which implied that the research instrument was reliable. Purposive sampling technique was used for sampling size estimation of the descriptive and inferential statistics while regression analysis was used for the data analysis. The results of the study revealed that accounting software proxied by (software efficiency, software reliability, software easiness, software accuracy and data quality) significantly affected responsibility accounting (R2 = 0.600; F(5, 114) = 32.758; p-value =0.000. as well as activity based costing (R2 = 0.810; F(5, 114) = 91.489; p-value = 0.000). The study therefore concluded that accounting software deployment and implementation has a significant positive impact on cost control in listed deposit money banks. In particular, the study found that software operational easiness and its associated accuracy are the two principal elements that drive cost control effectiveness of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. Consequently, the study recommended that when considering selection of accounting software for organization-wide deployment and implementation, owners and management of deposit money banks should ensure that software operational easiness and accuracy are used as the primary selection criterion to facilitate cost control effectiveness and by extension optimal revenue returns.