CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1       BACKGROUND OF STUDY In this present world, individual, business men, firms and government have seen  the  effects  of  computer  in  the  area  of  recording  and  safe  keeping  of   information,.   However,  this  computer  cannot function  unless  the  day-to-day  business   activities are well documented and fed into it properly. Every business set up has different levels of management and each of these levels of management needs information to enable them make decision on how the  objective  of  the  organization  can  be  achieved  likewise,  the   government. In Nigeria before the advent of computer, nearly all clerical works are, done by paper and pen. This gives rise to     ® Mismanagement of stationeries.     ® Errors and omissions in accounting enterprises                                                                                          ® Monotonous  work  and  tiredness  and  other,  associated  clerical         problems.  But  since  the introduction  of  computer, problems  are         minimized.  Therefore,  the  use  of  computer  in  recording  accounting         information in this modern world cannot be over sighted. In the past,         recording,  filing  and  safekeeping  of  information  was  known  as         “routine  clerical  work”  but  with  the  advent  of  sophisticated,         electronic business machines it is now known as “data processing”.   Today, no business can survive without the use of computer especially, in   recording accounting information.     1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS The problems of computerized accounting and computer are as follows:     a. DATA/INFORMATION INPUT:                   “Garbage  in  garbage  out”  is  a  general  phenomenon  in             computer.  Electronic computer  has  no  self-judgment  and as  such             devoid  of  human  errors  becauseit’s what  you  feed  into  the             computer  (input)  that  it  gives  out  (output).  For  example,  if  one                                                                                                         feeds in wrong data into the computer, no matter how efficient the             programming may be, wrong output will be the outcome because             the computer has been misled.     b. COMPUTER LANGUAGE:                   Computer has its own language and all data are programmed             and written in this special language. Therefore, it required a lot of             training without which computer will not make any meaning to the             users.     c. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:                     Computer does not function effectively in a hot environment,             for this reason it requires huge amount in installing air-conditions             to enhance efficiency.     d. COST:                   Small businesses cannot afford computer because it is costly             to  buy  and  maintain  which  constitutes  a  bottleneck  in  getting             correct  information  and  as  such,  the  small  businesses  cannot             thrive in the present of the big ones.                                                                                               e. AWARENESS:                   Some individuals, business men, firms, and government are             not fully aware or do not know about the importance, advantages,               disadvantages, and in-depth problems/prospects study of the use             of computer in keeping accounting records and information.     1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY    This  research  work  on  “The  use  of  computer  in  recording  accounting   information,  problems  and  prospects”  is  to  investigate  or  require  for  the   following:   a. To make  known  the brief  history  of  computer,  understand  some         important  components  of  the  computer,  advantages,  disadvantages,         and importance to users that is individuals, business men, firms, and           government as a part of awareness on computerized accounting.   b. To make known to small scale businesses affordability of computer in         that the cost of different types of computers that can help in recording                                                                                                    accounting information and transactions are made known to them so         that they could strive in the presence of the big businesses.   c. To make  known  users  of  computer  in  recording  accounting         information  to  know  how  to  keep  computer  running  in  a  perfect         condition, the environment it’s to be kept in should be conducive and         cool for effective and efficient performance of the computer system.   d. To  make  known  to  users  of  computer  in  recording  accounting         information  to  understand  that  there  are  languages  that  computers         understand  and  use,  so  therefore  they  should  go  for  training  in  this         languages to enable them communicate perfectly with the computers.   e. To  make  known  to  the  users  of  computer  in  recording  accounting         information to make sure that the data/information we want to input         into the computer is correct, valid, trustworthy, and accurate so that         when  we  need  back  those  information,  we  won’t  get  something  else         from what we are looking for.