Generally,digitalizationsimplyisabouttransforminganalogueknowledgeandinformationtodigitalstorageform,withtheaimofeasingaccess,usageand exchanges.AccordingtoKane etal. (2015),maturedcompaniesmakeusedofsophisticateddigitaltoolscloud,while lessmaturedcompaniesarealwaysstrugglingwiththe problemsofnonstandardizeddigitaltechnologies,hence experiencinghighchallengesrelatingtoeffectiveness.It thereforeimpliesthattheextentofdigitalizationandthe typeoftoolsadoptedshouldbebasedonthelevelofmaturityoftheenterprise.
AsperWeber(2011),accountingactivityfallsin twogroupings–manualaccountingandcomputerized accountingsystems.Ashighlightedby(Osmond,2011), recentdevelopmentsinaccountingwithsoftwarewhich involvetheuseofcomputershavebeendesignedbuilding fromthetraditionalaccountingsystemwhichwasmanual, makinguseofcalculatorsandbooks.Forsure,theconcept ofaccountinghasevolvedfromtheartofbookkeepingto involveawholeconceptconcerningcommunicatingfinancialinformationaboutabusiness(Boundless,2015;Borhan andNafees,2018).Duetothis,theadoptionofdigitalizationtoolsforaccountingpurposesisgettingmoreand moreimportantasthereportingneedsforfinancialinformationbothinternallyandexternallyisincreasing.There isnodoubtthateveninsoleproprietorships,properrecord keepingisatthecenterofbusinesssuccess,forasexplained byMcbride(2000),computerbasedsystemscangenerate atshortnoticeasneededalltypesofreportsrelatingto thefunctioningoftheaccountingandfinanceservicesof anorganization.
InCameroon,theperiodbefore2010maybeassumed thetimewhenthedigitalizationoftheSMEsectorsnotably thesmallenterprisesthataremostlysoleproprietorships wasstilllowkeyed.Withtheannouncementoftheemergence2035vision,itmaybeassumedthattheperiod commencingintheyear2010canbeviewedasthedigitalizationembracementperiodbyallsectorsintheeconomy includingSMEs.Withthesetwofundamentalassumptions,thisstudyattemptstoestablishifthereareanyeffects onSMEsassociatedwithadoptionofdigitalizationtools foraccountingpurposes,drawingevidencefromTubah SubDivision.
ThereisnothoughtthatinTubahSubDivisionarea asiscommoninotherareasinCameroon,SMEsseemto belackingbehindasconcernsdigitalization.Thisforsure hashadsignificantnegativeconsequencesnotablypoor inventoryandfinancialmanagementresultinginpoorperformanceoftheenterprises.UnderstandingthatinTubah SubDivision,SMEsintermsofsizeandfinancialworth arestillbasicallysmallenterprises,majorityofwhichfall onsoleproprietorshipformofbusiness,thisstudyseeks toexamineeffectbasicaccountingsoftware,invoicing softwareandbusinessbankaccountonaccountingpurposesofSMEs.Asamotivation,thisstudyarguesthat,
ifSMEsadoptdigitalization,itsmanagementofinventory andfinanceswillbebetter-offandthusthestudyfocuses oninvestigatingthesituationatSMESthathavealready adoptedsomeidentifieddigitaltoolstoeaseaccounting purposes.
Onthebasisoftheliteraturereviewed,thestudy guessesthatthoughadoptionofdigitalizationtoolsfor accountingpurposesmighthavebeennotedtohavea positiveeffectonbusinessperformanceinotherareas, thesituationalcharacteristicsandspecificitiesofTubah maymakeownership/useofBasicAccountingSoftware, InvoicingSoftwareandBusinessBankAccounttohaveno significanteffectonaccountingpurposesandhenceperformanceofSMEs.Thisstudythusseekstoexaminethis guessinthecontextofTubahSubDivision.
METHODOLOGY
Inthisstudy,thesurveyresearchdesignmethodologicalapproachwasemployed.Giventhecharacteristicsof Tubah,multi-stagingwasused,withstageoneconcerned withstratificationwhichresultedin4stratanamelyBambili,Bambui,KedjomKekuandKedjomKetingoh.These werethemainbusinessoperationalhubsinTubahSub Division.ThesecondstageinvolveddeterminingthenumberofSMEtobestudiedineachcommunity.Usingobservationaltechniquesandresidentbasedinformants,60 SMEsthathadoperatedforatleast5yearswereidentified andtheseformedthestudysample.Thus,30SMEswere sampledinBambili,20inBambui,5inKedjomKekuand 5inKedjomKetingoh.Usingquestionnaires,observations andinterviews,primarydatawascollectedrelatingtothe operationaluseofBasicAccountingSoftware,Invoicing SoftwareandBusinessBankAccountfororganizational accountingpurposesatthesampledSMEs.Qualitative datacollectedwasanalyzedusingchartswhileregressionanalysiswasemployedforquantitativedata.The modelspecificationemployedforanalysisofquantitative datautilizedAccountingPurposesasadependentvariableagainstindependentvariablesuseofBasicAccounting Software,InvoicingSoftwareandBusinessBankAccount. Themodelspecificationinitslinearformwasexpressed thus:
Y
Where: β0 = istheintercept, βi = parameterestimators;
Y = AccountingPurposesobservedintermsofinformationprovisionforvariedusesbystakeholders;
X1 = BasicAccountingSoftwarecapturedintermsofthe factthatithelpssimplifytheestablishmentofchartsof accounts,reconciliationaswellfollowingupofissuesas providedforbythefinancelaw;
X2 = InvoicingSoftwarecapturedintermsofitscontributiontoreducinglatenessinpayments,monitoring commitmentsrelatingtobilling,easingbillingandpaymentaswellasinvoicecustomization;
X3 = BusinessBankAccountviewedintermsofitscontributiontoeasingbusinessaccounting,bankreconciliation aswellaspossibilityofmakingtheapprovalofbusiness loanspossible.
RESULTS
Datawascollectedonthekeydemographicvariables assumedtobelikelyinfluentialasregardsadoptionofdigitalizationtoolsbySMEsinTubah.Thesevariableswere levelofeducationofthebusinessowner/andormanager andthedurationviewedintermsofnumberofyearsthe businesshasexisted.ThecollecteddatacanbeseenaspresentedinTable 1:
Table1. KeyDemographicdataofthestudiedunits. S/N Variables Attributes Count percent%
1 Levelof Education
O/L 10 17% A/L 34 57%
BSc 13 22% Masters 3 5%
Total 60 100%
4 Longevity (Duration ofbusiness) 5years 17 28% 6–10years 29 48% above10years 14 23%
Total 60 100%
Source:Author
AsobservedfromTable 1,(10)17%oftherespondents wereholdersofO/L,(34)57%A/Lholders,(13)22%BSc holdersand(3)5%MastersDegreeholders.Byimplication, theeducationalleveloftherespondentswassufficientfor themtoknowtheimportanceofthedigitalizationadoptionnotablyoperatingabusinesswithBasicAccounting Software,InvoicingSoftwareandBusinessBankAccount. Further,relatingthenumberofyearsthebusinesshadbeen operational,(17)28%ofthebusinesseshadbeenoperationalfor5years,(29)48%6to10yearsand(14)23% hadbeenoperationalforover10years.Evidently,theages ofthebusinessesstudiedprovidesajustifiableground forthesubjectmatterstudiedasthesebusinesseswith theirexperienceandchallengesfacedmighthaveseenthe importanceofdigitalaccountingtools.
Totestthestatedhypothesisthatownership/useof BasicAccountingSoftware,InvoicingSoftwareandBusinessBankAccounthavenosignificanteffectonAccountingPurposesandhenceperformanceofSMEsinTubahSub Division,thegoodnessoffitstatisticswasdone.
Basedonthegoodnessoffitresultsgotten,theanalysis ofvariancewasdoneandresultscanbeseenbelow.
Table2. Goodnessoffitstatistics. SumofAdjusted ObservationsweightsDFRR2 R2 MSERMSEDW 60.00060.000536.000536.0000.9740.9490.1230.3512.462
Source:Author
Table3. Analysisofvariance. SumofMeanProb SourceDFsquaressquaresF > F Model357.26319.088348.1340.0001 Error563.070.055 CorrectedTotal5960.333 ComputedagainstmodelY = Mean(Y)
Source:Author
Table4. Modelparameters. LowerUpper Standardboundbound SourceValueBetaErrortP > |t| (95.0%)(95.0%) (Constant)0.1220.0721.6860.0970.0230.266 X1 0.4670.4920.0964.8780.0000.2750.659 X2 0.2610.2570.1032.5240.0140.0540.467 X3 0.2270.2470.0733.10.0030.080.373
Source:Author
DependentVariable:AccountingPurposes
Predictors:BasicAccountingSoftware;InvoicingSoftwareand BusinessBankAccount
Thelevelatwhichtheindependentvariables(Basic AccountingSoftware;InvoicingSoftwareandBusiness BankAccount)variationsexplainAccountingPurposes (thedependentvariable)isbasedontheRsquarevalue ofindicateshowthevariationoftheindependentvaries onthedependentvariable.Thiscoefficientshowsarelative moderatedegreeofexplanationofthedependentvariable bytheindependentvariables.Thus,accountingsoftware, invoicingsoftware,businessbankaccounthasapositive effectonaccountingpurposesthusthenullhypothesisis rejected.
Further,adjustedR2 showsthedegreeofvariationin accountingpurposesthatcanbeexplainedbyvariationsin digitalizationtools.AssumingfromtheadjustedR2,94.6% ofvariationsintheaccountingpurposesisaccountedforor explainedbyvariationsdigitalizationtoolsimplyingthat othernondigitalizationrelatedvariablesaccountfor6.4% ofvariations.
BuildingontheFvalue,itwouldsuggesta0.01%risk ofrejectingthenullhypothesisthatdigitalizationtoolsdo nothaveasignificanteffectontheaccountingpurposesat SMEsinTubahSubDivision.Thusitmaybeconcluded thattheownership/useofaccountingsoftware;invoicing softwareandbusinessbankaccountresultsinsufficient informationthathelpinpredictingpurposesasconcerns accountingissuesinthestudiedenterprises.Hencethe hypothesisisretained.
Again,asignificantpositiveeffectisobservedat 95%confidenceinterval,withtheindependentvariable accountingsoftwareeffectingonaccountingpurposes holdingothervariablesconstant.Inferringthetstatisticof 4.87willimplya0.001%riskinassumingthataccounting softwarehaveasignificanteffectonaccountingpurposes whichislowerthanthelevelofsignificanceof5%.Thusit maybeconcludedthataccountingsoftwarehasasignificantpositiveeffectontheaccountingpurposesinSMEsin TubahSubDivision.Similarly,invoicingsoftwareandbusinessbankaccountalsohavesignificantpositiveeffectson accountingpurposesatSMEsinTubahSubDivision.From theaforementioned,thegeneralequationoftheregression modelcanthusbewrittenas
• Foreachunitincreaseininvoicingsoftware,accountingpurposesincreasesby26.1%.Inferringfromthe significanceofthetstatisticof2.52wewillbetaking a1.4%riskinassumingthatinvoicingsoftwarehave asignificanteffectontheaccountingpurposeswhich islowerthanthelevelofsignificanceof5%.Wethereforeconcludethatinvoicingsoftwarehasapositive andSignificanteffectontheaccountingpurposes
• Foreachunitincreaseinbusinessbankaccount, accountingpurposesincreasesby22.7%.Inferring fromthesignificanceofthetstatisticof3.1wewill betakinga0.3%riskinassumingthatbusinessbank accounthasasignificanteffectontheaccountingpurposeswhichislowerthanthelevelofsignificance of5%.Wethereforeconcludethatbusinessbank accounthasapositiveandSignificanteffectonthe accountingpurposes
CONCLUSIONANDRECOMMENDATIONS
SummaryofMajorFindings
Themainobjectiveofthisstudywastoexaminehowthe adoptionofdigitalisationtoolsinfluenceaccountingpurposesofSMEsinTubahSubDivision,thestudysetoutTo examineeffectofbasicaccountingsoftwareonaccounting purposesbySMEsinTubahSubDivision.Toinvestigate theeffectofinvoicingsoftwareonaccountingpurposes bySMEsinTubahSubDivision.Toexploretheeffectof businessbankaccountonaccountingpurposesofSMEs inTubahSubDivision.TheresearcheradministeredquestionnaireswhichweredistributedtoSMEsinTubahSub Division.Threedigitalisationtoolswerestudiedsuchas basicaccountingsoftware,invoicingsoftwareandbusiness bankaccount.Fromthequestionnairesadministered,the respondentshadfouroptions.Theabovementionobjective wasachievedwiththeuseofclusterbarcharts,percentages,andregressionanalysis.
UsingdatafromselectedSMEsandapplyingthe regressionmethodofanalysis,thefollowingresultswere obtained:
• Therelationshipbetweendigitalisationtoolsand accountingpurposesisverystrongasindicatedby thetestofhypothesiswhichgivesaP-Valueof0.0001.
• Fromtheresultsshownonthemodelparameters tablesforeachunitincreaseinsoftwareonaccounting,accountingpurposeswillincreaseby46.7%.
Inferringfromthesignificanceofthetstatisticof 4.87wewillbetakinga0.001%riskinassumingthat softwareonaccountinghaveasignificanteffecton accountingpurposeswhichislowerthanthelevelof significanceof5%.Wethereforeconcludethatsoftwareonaccountinghasapositiveandsignificant effectontheaccountingpurposes
Conclusion
Itisobviousthatdigitalizationofaccountinginformationhascometostaytosolveaccountingproblemsand improveperformanceofbusinesses.However,fromthe resultsofthisstudyshowsthatbothdigitalizationhasa significanteffectontheaccountingsystemofSMEs.Soit canpositivelycontributetotheimprovementofaccountingsystem.
Recommendations
Onthebasisofthefindingsofthisstudy,theresearcher recommendsthat;
SMEEsshouldtrytoimproveontheirinformation technologysinceitiscapableofcontributingpositivelytotheaccountinginformationsystem.
Thelevelofusageofdigitalizationtoolscanreduce tosomeextentsoastocutcostofoperation
Humanresourcestilldateremainthemostvital resourceinSMEs,replacingthemwithroboticscould havedevastatingeffectontheSMEs.SMEsshould thereforeavoidusingartificialintelligencetoperform allitsaccountingactivities.
SuggestedAreaforFurtherStudy
Thisstudyadoptedasurveyresearchdesigntoonlystudy someselectedSMEsinTubahSubDivisionofwhichonly thedatacollectedfromtheseSMEswereusedtomake generalization.Thiscouldaffecttheoutcomeofthestudy.
Itisthereforesuggestedthatfuturestudiesofthisnature shouldadoptadifferentresearchdesignapproachtohave awiderscopestudytoreduceorcancelpossibilityofbias intheresearchoutcome.
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