Data is unprocessed information, the fact that is still raw. It has no meaning by itself. Data can be in any form, for examples numbers, words, and pictures. However, some data can be useable or not at all.
Information is data that has been processed and given meaning. This information can be very useful in some case, but can also be useless for others. Usually information provides answers to “who, what, where, when, and how” questions. Information is also easier to remember than data which is still very wide and irregular. Most of the people are using information to make a decision and plan what to do next. So we must make sure that the information we provide meet the requirements and have the desirable qualities in it. The desirable qualities are the minimum standard to be included in the process of producing good information. The information should be relevant, accurate, complete, up to date, well presented, and adapted to user requirements.
By implementing those qualities, hopefully the information provided will be easy to understand and satisfied the users.
A system is a group of elements that are formed to achieve some specific objectives. All people living in a system, a system in family, home, work system, the system at school, and a system in our community. Even we ourselves are a system, a living system, for example a respiratory system. An organization is a system in which people work together to achieve some specific objectives. The point is, we need a system to reach our goals, and achieve what we want to achieve. Accounting system is a system which process both qualitative and quantitative data, but this system focuses mostly on the process of quantitative data. The accounting system is part of the organization’s information system. This system keeps records of the business activities, specifically all the business transactions including purchasing, production, sales, and other financial activities. A good accounting system makes it possible for manager to make a right and accurate decisions, also planning the next step.
For example, a manager who has a sufficient information about their accounts payable and receivable, will be able to decides when the credit from the suppliers should be paid, which suppliers will be paid first, how much they must collect from customers, which customers are potentially being bad debts, and so on. Input is any entry of the data. The data entry could be things going in and out of the organization. This imputation can be things like the price of materials, quantity of purchase, when the materials were received, payment to suppliers, cash collected from customers, paid other expenses (rent, wages, etc) and so on. Anything that can be quantified coming into or going out from the organization and recorded, are considered as an input for the system. Processing is an activity of using the data that has been input to the system, and then reconstruct the data so it become meaningful and can be understand by users. The data should also be organized properly to provide a well - presented information. Been through two procedures, the final result is the output. The output is the result of the data which has been processed. Usually this is the well presented report, and all the information given is clear. This report will then be use by whether internal or external users. The decision making is usually based on the information provided in the report.