CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Every organization private or public, profit making or non-profit making, large scale or small scale, uses accounting information to make decisions, and the information needs vary according to information each user requires [17]. Initially the appropriate information was prepared manually by the accountant, and this has a number of drawbacks. With the advent of information technology, the accountant now has at his disposal a number of accounting information tools that help him in simplifying issues and providing quality information for the organization he renders services to. The sector that has been most radically affected by this development is the financial sector [9].

In the information age, companies are finding success or failure as increasingly dependent on their management and use of information. Therefore, banks need a good information system that enables an efficient and effective use of information to give them more competitive advantage [16]. An information system is a set of interrelated subsystems that work together to collect, process, and store, transform, and distribute information for planning, decisions making and control. The use of computer in information systems can improve the efficiency of information collection, processing, storing, transformation and distribution.

1.1 Theoretical Background

The technology adopted is database management. Microsoft Access 2003 database was used as the back end while Visual BASIC 6.0 was used as the front end or interface. The application connects to the database using a database control component known as Adodc1. The Visual BASIC code below for instance shows how customer record is saved to the database:

Private Sub Command1_Click()

Adodc1.Recordset.AddNew

End Sub

Private Sub Command2_Click()

On Error GoTo xy

Adodc1.Recordset.Update

MsgBox “SAVED”

Exit Sub

xy:

MsgBox “Error Saving”

End Sub

Private Sub Command3_Click()

Unload Me

End Sub

Fig 1.1: Customer Account registration form

The usage of information technology, broadly referring to computers and peripheral equipment has been a tremendous growth in service industries in the recent past. The most obvious example is perhaps the banking industry, where through the introduction of information technology related products in internet banking, electronic payments, security investments and information exchange, banks now provide more diverse services to customers with less manpower [2]. Seeing this pattern of growth, it seems obvious that accounting information technology can bring about equivalent contribution to profits, but mismanagement of the accounting information technology due to technical problems, communication problems, training and maintenance are becoming issues in the banking sector [1]. Accordingly, the said failure may result into low productivity, loss of the accounting information technology inventory as well as loss of important and confidential data. In spite of these drawbacks, most of the banking sector players in Nigeria are planning to implement again the said accounting information technology.

1.2 Statement of Problem

The following problems were identified:

There is no alternative software application to manage savings account records. It is difficult to query customer information based on different criteria. There is no backup record system for savings account record management

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the System

The aim of the study is to develop a computer based savings account system with the following objectives:

To easily maintain a database of savings account records. To aid easy retrieval of savings account records by querying the database. To provide a system that will serve as a backup alternative for managing savings account records. To implement a system that will be used to easily update savings account records.

1.4 Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is that it will provide an alternative system to manage savings account record. It will aid easy updating of savings account records. The study will also serve as a useful reference material for other researchers seeking similar information.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study covers computer based savings account system a case study of First bank of Nigeria, Ikot Ekpene.

1.6 Organization of the Research

This research work is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the preliminaries, theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

Chapter two focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It presents the research methodology used in the development of the system, it analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation, the choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.

Chapter five focuses on the constraints of the study, summary, conclusion and recommendations.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Bank: This is a financial institution where money and other valuable items are kept.

Withdrawal: the act of taking amount of money out of your bank account.

Deposit: To pay in some amount of money in a bank account.

Money: Anything generally accepted for exchange of goods and services.