CHAPTER 4: RELATIONAL

DATABASES

C
Learning outcomes
• Understand the database systems and relational
database

• Describe the database design process

• Understand the concept of the REA data model

• State the effect of database systems and future of

accounting
 Database Systems

• First Let’s examine some basic principles about how data are
stored in computer systems.
– An entity is anything about which the organization wishes to store
data.
– Assume you have a company, one entity would be the customer.

Customers

Phone Registration
Customer ID Last Name First Name Number Date

333-33-3333 Gutema Tola 333-3333 10/11/84

111-11-1111 Girma W/mariam 444-4444 11/24/86

123-45-6789 Petros Samuel 555-5555 04/20/85

 – Information about the attributes of an entity (e.g., the
student’s, customer number and registration date) are
stored in fields.

Customers

Customer ID Phone Registartion

Last Name First Name Number Date

333-33-3333 Gutema Tola 333-3333 10/11/84

111-11-1111 Girma W/mariam 444-4444 11/24/86

123-45-6789 Petros Samuel 555-5555 04/20/85

 – All the fields containing data about one entity (e.g., one
student) form a record.

Customers

Phone Registartion
Customer ID Last Name First Name Number Date

333-33-3333 Gutema Tola 333-3333 10/11/84

111-11-1111 Girma W/mariam 444-4444 11/24/86

123-45-6789 Petros Samuel 555-5555 04/20/85

 – A set of all related records forms a file (e.g., the Customer
file).
– If your company had three Customers and five fields for
each customer, then the entire file would be depicted
below.

Customers

Phone Registration
Customer ID Last Name First Name Number Date

333-33-3333 Gutema Tola 333-3333 10/11/84

111-11-1111 Girma W/mariam 444-4444 11/24/86

123-45-6789 Petros Samuel 555-5555 04/20/85

– A set of interrelated, centrally coordinated files forms a
database.

Student Store
File File

Advisor
File
 • A database is an organized collection of data
stored and accessed electronically.
• Small databases can be stored on a file system,
– while large databases are hosted on computer
clusters or cloud storage. Multiple location

• Cloud storage is a model of computer data storage in which

the digital data is stored in logical pools,

IN JU; SRS
GOOGLE Database = data + base
APPLE It is a collection of any data.
Written
Video
Image
Graphics….
© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Data management
– Is a resource
– approach to data management
• legacy systems (flat-file) approach
• Database approach

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 FILE VS. DATABASES
• Database systems were developed to address
the problems associated with the proliferation
of master files.
– For years, each time a new information need arose,
companies created new files and programs.
– The result: a significant increase in the number of
master files.

Example: Bank of America once had 36 million customer

accounts in 23 separate systems.
 FILE VS. DATABASES

• This proliferation of master files

(Flat File) created problems:
Master File 1 Sales
– Often the same information was
Fact A Department stored in multiple master files.
Fact B
Fact C
– Made it more difficult to effectively
integrate data and obtain an
organization-wide view of the data.
Master File 2
Shipping
Fact A
Department – Also, the same information may not
Fact D
Fact F have been consistent between files.
• If a student changed his phone
number, it may have been
updated in one master file but
Master File 1 Billing not another.
Fact A Department
Fact B
Fact F
 FILE VS. DATABASES
• A database is a set of
Database
Fact A Fact B
Fact C Fact D
inter-related, centrally
Fact E Fact F coordinated files.

Database
Management
System

Sales Shipping Billing

Department Department Department

Digital ID, passport

 FILE VS. DATABASES
• The database approach
treats data as an
Database
organizational resource that
Fact A Fact B should be used by and
Fact C Fact D managed for the entire
Fact E Fact F organization, not just a
particular department.

Database • A database management

Management system (DBMS) serves as the
System interface between the
database and the various
application programs.
Sales Shipping Billing • Software that protect and
Department Department Department
allow access to database
 FILE VS. DATABASES
Database
• The combination of
Fact A Fact B
Fact C Fact D the database, the
DBMS, and the
Fact E Fact F

application
Database
Management
programs that access
System the database is
referred to as the
Sales
Department
Shipping
Department
Billing
Department database
system.
 FILE VS. DATABASES
• The person responsible
Database
Fact A Fact B for the database is the
Fact C Fact D
Fact E Fact F database administrator.
• As technology improves,
many large companies
Database are developing very
Management
System large databases called
data warehouses.
Sales Shipping Billing
Department Department Department
 ADVANTAGES OF DATABASE SYSTEMS

• Database technology provides the following benefits

to organizations:
– Data integration
– Data sharing
– Reporting flexibility
– Minimal data redundancy and inconsistencies
– Data independence
– Central management of data
– Cross-functional analysis
 DATABASE SYSTEMS
• Logical and Physical Views of Data
– In file-oriented systems, programmers must know the
physical location and layout of records used by a
program.
a programmer wants a report showing
customer number, credit limit, and
current balance.
• They must refer the location, length, and format of every
field they utilize.
• When data is used from several files, this process becomes
more complex.

How do you find file in your

phone?
 DATABASE SYSTEMS
• Database systems overcome this problem by
separating the storage and use of data elements.
– Two separate views of the data are provided:
• Logical view:- How the user or programmer
conceptually organizes and understands the
data.
• Physical view:-How and where the data are physically
arranged and stored.
– Separating these views facilitates application
development,
• because programmers can focus on coding the logic
and not be concerned with storage details.

Search something in Google you nothing

about location of file
Logical View—User A Logical View—User B
Enrollment by Class Scholarship Distribution
Fr.
5%
Sr. Soph.
33% 24%

Jr.
38%

The DBMS translates

DBMS users’ logical views
into instructions as to
which data should be
Operating retrieved from the
System database.

Database
Logical View—User A Logical View—User B
Enrollment by Class Scholarship Distribution
Fr.
5%
Sr. Soph.
33% 24%

Jr.
38%

DBMS
The operating system
Operating translates DBMS
System requests into
instructions to
physically retrieve
data from various
Database disks.
• The DBMS handles the link between the physical and
logical views of the data.
– Allows the user to access, query, and update data
without reference to how or where it is physically
stored.
– The user only needs to define the logical data
requirements.
• Separating the logical and physical views of data also
means users can change their conceptualizations of the
data relationships without making changes in the
physical storage.
• The database administrator can also change the physical
storage of the data without affecting users or application
programs.
 Database
Fact A Fact B
Fact C Fact D
Fact E Fact F

Database
Management
System

Sales Shipping Billing

Department Department Department
• Schemas
– A schema describes the logical structure of a
database.
– There are three levels of schema.
• Conceptual level:-The organization-wide view of the entire
database—i.e., the big picture.
• Lists all data elements and the relationships between them.
• External level:-A set of individual user views of portions of
the database, i.e., how each user sees the portion of
the system with which it interacts.
• These individual views are referred to as subschema.
• Internal level:-A low-level view of the database.
• It describes how the data are actually stored and accessed
including: Record layouts, Definitions, Addresses and
Indexes
 Figures of conceptual, external & internal level schemas

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
• Accountants are frequently involved in developing
conceptual- and external-level schema.

• An employee’s access to data should be limited to the

subschema of data that is relevant to the performance
of his job.
• The Data Dictionary
• A key component of a DBMS is the data dictionary.
• Contains information about the structure of the database.
• For each data element, there is a corresponding record in
the data dictionary describing that element.
• Information provided for each element includes:
• A description or explanation of the element.
• The records in which it is contained.
• Its source.
• The length and type of the field in which it is stored.
• The programs in which it is used.
• The outputs in which it is contained.
• The authorized users of the element.
• Other names for the element.
© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 Accountants should participate in the development of
data dictionary
 because they have a good understanding of the data elements
in a business organization
 as well as where those elements originate and how they are
used.
• DBMS Languages
– Every DBMS must provide a means of
performing the three basic functions of:
• Creating a database (DDL).
• Changing a database (DML).
• Querying a database (DQL).
• Creating a database:
– The set of commands used to create the database is
known as data definition language (DDL).
– DDL is used to:
• Build the data dictionary
• Initialize or create the database
• Describe the logical views for each individual user or
programmer
• Specify any limitations or constraints on security imposed
on database records or fields
• Changing a database
– The set of commands used to change the database is
known as data manipulation language (DML).
– DML is used for maintaining the data including:
• Updating data
• Inserting data
• Deleting portions of the database
• Querying a database:
– The set of commands used to query the database is known as
data query language (DQL).
– DQL is used to interrogate the database, including:
• Retrieving records

• Sorting records Use ID to access student name

• Ordering records

• Presenting subsets of the database

– The DQL usually contains easy-to-use, powerful commands

that enable users to satisfy their own information needs.
• Report Writer
– Many DBMS packages also include a report writer, a language
that simplifies the creation of reports.
– Users typically specify:
• What elements they want printed?
• How the report should be formatted
– The report writer then:
Feedback: result
• Searches the database
• Extracts specified data
• Prints them out according to specified format
• Users typically have access to both DQL and report
writer.
• Access to DDL and DML are typically restricted to employees with
administrative and programming responsibilities.

Changing the name of student

 Relational Databases
• A DBMS is characterized by the type of logical data
model on which it is based.

– A data model is an abstract representation of the contents of

a database.
– Most new DBMSs are called relational databases because they
use the relational model developed by E.F. Codd in 1970.

• The relational data model represents everything in the

database as being stored in the forms of tables (aka,
relations).
 STUDENTS
Last First Phone
Student ID Name Name No.
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333
Relation
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555

COURSES
Course ID Course Section Day Time
1234 ACCT-3603 1 MWF 8:30
1235 ACCT-3603 2 TR 9:30
1236 MGMT-2103 1 MW 8:30

STUDENT x COURSE
SCID Stude nt ID Course
333333333-1234 333-33-3333 1234
333333333-1236 333-33-3333 1236
111111111-1235 111-11-1111 1235
111111111-1236 111-11-1111 1235
 STUDENTS Each row is
Last First Phone called a tuple,
Student ID Name Name No. which rhymes
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 with “couple.”
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555

COURSES
Course ID Course Section Day Time
1234 ACCT-3603 1 MWF 8:30
1235 ACCT-3603 2 TR 9:30
1236 MGMT-2103 1 MW 8:30
STUDENT x COURSE
SCID
333333333-1234
333333333-1236
111111111-1235
111111111-1236
 Each row
STUDENTS
contains data
Last First Phone
about a specific
Student ID Name Name No.
occurrence of
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333
the type of entity
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444
in the table.
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555

COURSES
Course ID Course Section Day Time
1234 ACCT-3603 1 MWF 8:30
1235 ACCT-3603 2 TR 9:30
1236 MGMT-2103 1 MW 8:30
STUDENT x COURSE
SCID
333333333-1234
333333333-1236
111111111-1235
111111111-1236
 STUDENTS Each column in
Last First Phone a table contains
Student ID Name Name No. information
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 about a specific
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 attribute of the
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 entity.

COURSES
Course ID Course Section Day Time
1234 ACCT-3603 1 MWF 8:30
1235 ACCT-3603 2 TR 9:30
1236 MGMT-2103 1 MW 8:30
STUDENT x COURSE
SCID
333333333-1234
333333333-1236
111111111-1235
111111111-1236
 TYPES OF ATTRIBUTES
• A primary key is the database attribute, or
combination of attributes, that uniquely
identifies a specific row in a table.
– Example: Item Number in inventory table
• A foreign key is an attribute in a table that is also
a primary key in another table and is used to link
the two tables.
• Other non-key attributes in a table store
important information about that entity.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 STUDENTS
Last First Phone
Student ID Name Name No.
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555

COURSES
Course ID Course Section Day Time
1234 ACCT-3603 1 MWF 8:30
1235 ACCT-3603 2 TR 9:30
1236 MGMT-2103 1 MW 8:30
STUDENT x COURSE
A primary key is the attribute or
SCID
combination of attributes that
333333333-1234 uniquely identifies a specific
333333333-1236 row in a table.
111111111-1235
111111111-1236
 STUDENTS
Last First Phone
Student ID Name Name No.
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555

COURSES
Course ID Course Section Day Time
1234 ACCT-3603 1 MWF 8:30
1235 ACCT-3603 2 TR 9:30
1236 MGMT-2103 1 MW 8:30
STUDENT x COURSE
SCID
333333333-1234 In some tables, two or more attributes
333333333-1236 may be joined to form the primary key.
111111111-1235
111111111-1236
 Students
First Advisor
Student ID Last Name Name Phone No. No.
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 1418
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 1418
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 1503

ADVISORS
Advisor No. Last Name First Name Office No.
1418 Howard Glen 420
1419 Melton Amy 316
1503 Zhang Xi 202
1506 Radowski J.D. 203

A foreign key is an attribute in one table that is a primary key in

another table.
 Students
First Advisor
Student ID Last Name Name Phone No. No.
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 1418
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 1418
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 1503

ADVISORS
Advisor No. Last Name First Name Office No.
1418 Howard Glen 420
1419 Melton Amy 316
1503 Zhang Xi 202
1506 Radowski J.D. 203

Foreign keys are used to link tables together.

 Students
First Advisor
Student ID Last Name Name Phone No. No.
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 1418
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 1418
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 1503

ADVISORS
Advisor No. Last Name First Name Office No.
1418 How ard Glen 420
1419 Melton Amy 316
1503 Zhang Xi 202
1506 Radowski J.D. 203

Other non-key attributes in each table store important

information about the entity.
 RELATIONAL DATABASES
• Alternatives for Storing Data
– One possible alternate approach would be to store
all data in one uniform table.
– For example, instead of separate tables for student
and classes, we could store all data in one table and
have a separate line for each student x class
combination.
• Three specific types of problems can occur.
– update anomaly
– insert anomaly
– delete anomaly
 Last First Sectio
Student ID Name Name Phone No. Course No. n Day Time
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 ACCT-3603 1 M 9:00 AM
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 FIN-3213 3 Th 11:00 AM
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 MGMT-3021 11 TH 12:00 PM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 ACCT-3433 2 T 10:00 AM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 MGMT-3021 5 W 8:00 AM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 ANSI-1422 7 F 9:00 AM
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 ACCT-3433 2 T 10:00 AM
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 FIN-3213 3 Th 11:00 AM

• Using the suggested approach, a student taking three classes

would need three rows in the table.
• In the above, simplified example, a number of problems arise.
 Last First
Student ID Name Name Phone No. Course No. Sect. Day Time
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 ACCT-3603 1 M 9:00 AM
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 FIN-3213 3 Th 11:00 AM
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 MGMT-3021 11 TH 12:00 PM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 ACCT-3433 2 T 10:00 AM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 MGMT-3021 5 W 8:00 AM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 ANSI-1422 7 F 9:00 AM
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 ACCT-3433 2 T 10:00 AM
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 FIN-3213 3 Th 11:00 AM

• Suppose Alice Simpson changes her phone number. You need

to make the change in three places.
• If you fail to change it in all three places or change it incorrectly in
one place, then the records for Alice will be inconsistent.
• This problem is referred to as an update anomaly.
 Last First
Student ID Name Name Phone No. Course No. Sect. Day Time
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 ACCT-3603 1 M 9:00 AM
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 FIN-3213 3 Th 11:00 AM
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 MGMT-3021 11 TH 12:00 PM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 ACCT-3433 2 T 10:00 AM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 MGMT-3021 5 W 8:00 AM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 ANSI-1422 7 F 9:00 AM
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 ACCT-3433 2 T 10:00 AM
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 FIN-3213 3 Th 11:00 AM

• What happens if you have a new student to add, but he hasn’t

signed up for any courses yet?
• Or what if there is a new class to add, but there are no Customers
enrolled in it yet? In either case, the record will be partially blank.
• This problem is referred to as an insert anomaly.
 Last First
Student ID Name Name Phone No. Course No. Sect. Day Time
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 ACCT-3603 1 M 9:00 AM
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 FIN-3213 3 Th 11:00 AM
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 MGMT-3021 11 TH 12:00 PM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 ACCT-3433 2 T 10:00 AM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 MGMT-3021 5 W 8:00 AM
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 ANSI-1422 7 F 9:00 AM
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 ACCT-3433 2 T 10:00 AM
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 FIN-3213 3 Th 11:00 AM

• If Ned withdraws from all his classes and you eliminate all three of
his rows from the table, then you will no longer have a record of
Ned.
• If Ned is planning to take classes next semester, then you
probably didn’t really want to delete all records of him.
• This problem is referred to as a delete anomaly.
• Alternatives for Storing Data
– Another possible approach would be to store each
student in one row of the table and
• create multiple columns to accommodate each class
that he is taking.
 Last First Phone
Student ID0 Name Name No. Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4

333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 ACCT-3603 FIN-3213 MGMT-3021

111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 ACCT-3433 MGMT-3021 ANSI-1422

123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 ACCT-3433 FIN-3213

• This approach is also burdened with problems:

– How many classes should you allow for in building the table?
– The above table is quite simplified. In reality, you might need
to allow for 20 or more classes (assuming a student could take
many 1-hour classes).
– Also, more information than just the course number would be
stored for each class.
– There would be a great deal of wasted space for all the
Customers taking fewer than the maximum possible number of
classes.
– Also, if you wanted a list of every student taking MGMT-3021,
notice that you would have to search multiple attributes.
• So what is the solution?
Relational
database
 STUDENTS
Last First Phone
Student ID Name Name No.
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555

COURSES
Course ID Course Section Day Time
1234 ACCT-3603 1 MWF 8:30
1235 ACCT-3603 2 TR 9:30
1236 MGMT-2103 1 MW 8:30

STUDENT x COURSE • The solution to the preceding problems

SCID is to use a set of tables in a relational
333333333-1234 database.
333333333-1236 • Each entity is stored in a separate table,
111111111-1235 and separate tables or foreign keys can
111111111-1236 be used to link the entities together.
• Basic Requirements of a Relational Database
• 1. Every column in a row must be single valued.
• In other words, every cell can have one and only one value.
• 2. Primary keys cannot be null.
– A primary key cannot uniquely identify a row in a
table if it is null (blank).

– A non null primary key ensures that every row in a table

represents something and that it can be identified.

– This is referred to as the entity integrity rule.

 • 3. Foreign keys, if not null, must have values that correspond to
the value of a primary key in another table.
– Foreign keys link rows in one table to rows in another table.
• 4. All non key attributes in a table must describe a characteristic of
the object identified by the primary key.
– Most tables contain other attributes in addition to the primary
and foreign keys.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 STUDENTS
Last First Phone
Student ID Name Name No.
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555

COURSES
Course ID Course Section Day Time
1234 ACCT-3603 1 MWF 8:30
1235 ACCT-3603 2 TR 9:30
1236 MGMT-2103 1 MW 8:30
STUDENT x COURSE
SCID • Note that within each table, there are no
333333333-1234 duplicate primary keys and no null
333333333-1236 primary keys.
111111111-1235 • Consistent with the entity integrity rule.
111111111-1236
 Student
First Advisor
Student ID Last Name Name Phone No. No.
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 1418
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 1418
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 1503

ADVISORS
Advisor No. Last Name First Name Office No.
1418 Howard Glen 420
1419 Melton Amy 316
1503 Zhang Xi 202
1506 Radowski J.D. 203

Advisor No. is a foreign key in the Student table. Every incident

of Advisor No. in the Student table either matches an instance of
the primary key in the ADVISORS table or is null.
• The preceding four constraints produce a well-structured
(normalized) database in which:
– Data are consistent.
– Redundancy is minimized and controlled.
• In a normalized database, attributes appear multiple
times only when they function as foreign keys.
• The referential integrity rule ensures there will be no
update anomaly problem with foreign keys.
• An important feature is that data about various things of
interest (entities) are stored in separate tables.
– Makes it easier to add new data to the system.
• You add a new student by adding a row to the student
table.
• You add a new course by adding a row to the course
table.
• Means you can add a student even if he hasn’t signed up
for any courses.
• And you can add a class even if no Customers are yet
enrolled in it.
– Makes it easy to avoid the insert anomaly.
• Space is also used more efficiently than in the other
schemes. There should be no blank rows or attributes.
 • Add a
STUDENTS
student
Last First Phone
here.
Student ID Name Name No.
• Leaves no
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 blank
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 spaces.

COURSES
Course ID Course Section Day Time
1234 ACCT-3603 1 MWF 8:30
1235 ACCT-3603 2 TR 9:30
1236 MGMT-2103 1 MW 8:30
STUDENT x COURSE
• Add a course here.
SCID
• Leaves no blank spaces.
333333333-1234
333333333-1236
111111111-1235 • When a particular student enrolls for a
111111111-1236 particular course, add that info here.
• Deletion of a class for a student would cause the
elimination of one record in the student x class table.
– The student still exists in the student table.
– The class still exists in the class table.
– Avoids the delete anomaly.
 STUDENTS
Last First Phone • Ned still
Student ID Name Name No. exists in
333-33-3333 Simpson Alice 333-3333 the
111-11-1111 Sanders Ned 444-4444 student
123-45-6789 Moore Artie 555-5555 table.

COURSES
Course ID Course Section Day Time
1234 ACCT-3603 1 MWF 8:30
1235 ACCT-3603 2 TR 9:30
1236 MGMT-2103 1 MW 8:30
STUDENT x COURSE
• Even if Ned was the only student in
SCID
the class, ACCT-3603 still exists in
333333333-1234
the course table.
333333333-1236
111111111-1235 • If Ned Sanders drops ACCT-3603,
111111111-1236 remove Ned’s class from this table.
 Database Design Process

• Design of database is much more than simply

learning the syntax of how to use a particular
DBMS.

• Building accurate databases requires a great

deal
– of careful planning and
– design before even sitting down at the computer.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Steps in database design include the following:
– Planning

• Initial planning to determine the need for and

feasibility of developing a new system.
• Includes preliminary judgments about
technological and economic feasibility.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Steps in database design include the following:
– Planning
– Requirements analysis

• Identifying user information needs

• Defining scope of proposed system.
• Using information about the expected
• number of users and
• transaction volume to make preliminary
decisions on hardware and software
requirements.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Steps in database design include the following:
– Planning
– Requirements analysis
– Design

• Developing different schemas for the new

system at the
• conceptual,
• external, and
• internal levels.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Steps in database design include the following:
– Planning
– Requirements analysis
– Design
– Coding

• Translating the internal-level schema into the

actual database structures that will be
implemented in the new system.
• Developing new applications.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Steps in database design include the following:
– Planning
– Requirements analysis
– Design
– Coding
– Implementation

• Transferring data from existing systems to the

new database.
• Testing the new system.
• Training employees.
© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Steps in database design include the following:
– Planning
– Requirements analysis
– Design
– Coding
– Implementation
– Operation and maintenance

• Using and maintaining the new system.

• Monitoring system performance and user
satisfaction to determine need for enhancements
and modifications.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 Planning Stage

Requirement Analysis Stage

Data
modeling
Design Stage
occurs
here Implementation Stage

Coding Stage

Operation and Maintenance

Data Modeling In The Data Base Modeling Process

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Accountants can and should participate in all stages
of the database design process, although
participation varies between stages.
– Planning stage
• Accountants provide information to help
evaluate feasibility
• Participate in the feasibility decision

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Accountants can and should participate in all stages
of the database design process, although
participation varies between stages.
– Planning stage
– Requirements analysis and design stages
• Accountants participate in:
– Identifying user needs
– Developing logical schemas
– Designing data dictionary
– Specifying controls

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Accountants can and should participate in all stages
of the database design process, although
participation varies between stages.
– Planning stage
– Requirements analysis and design stages
– Coding stage
• Accountants with good AIS skills may
participate in coding.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Accountants can and should participate in all stages
of the database design process, although
participation varies between stages.
– Planning stage
– Requirements analysis and design stages
– Coding stage
– Implementation stage
 Accountants help test accuracy of database and
application programs

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Accountants can and should participate in all stages
of the database design process, although
participation varies between stages.
– Planning stage
– Requirements analysis and design stages
– Coding stage
– Implementation stage
– Operation and maintenance stage

• Accountants use the database system to

process transactions
• Sometimes help manage it

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 The Resource, Event and Agent (REA) Data
Model
• The REA data model was developed specifically for
use in designing accounting information systems.

– Focuses on business semantics underlying an

organization’s value chain activities.

– Provides guidance for:

• Identifying the entities to be included in a database.
• Structuring the relationships among the entities.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Three Basic Types of Entities
– The REA data model is so named because it
classifies entities into three distinct categories:
• Resources that the organization acquires and uses.

• Resources are things that have

economic value to the organization.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Three Basic Types of Entities
– The REA data model is so named because it
classifies entities into three distinct categories:
• Resources that the organization acquires and uses.
• Events in which the organization engages

• These are the various business activities

about which management wants to
collect information for planning or
control purposes.
© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 • Three Basic Types of Entities
– The REA data model is so named because it
classifies entities into three distinct categories:
• Resources that the organization acquires and uses.
• Events in which the organization engages
• Agents participating in these events

• Includes people and organizations who

participate in events and about whom
information is desired for planning,
control, and evaluation purposes.

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 Sales man
Inventory Sales
Customers

Customers
Cash Cash receiving
Cashiers

Resource, Event And Agents

© 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart
 DATABASE SYSTEMS AND THE FUTURE OF ACCOUNTING
• Database systems may profoundly affect the fundamental
nature of accounting:
– May lead to abandonment of double-entry accounting,
• because the redundancy of the double entry is not
necessary in computer data processing.
• The use of accounting information in decision making will
be enhanced by:
– Powerful querying capabilities that accompany database
packages.
– The ability to accommodate multiple views of the same
underlying phenomenon.
– The ability to integrate financial and operational data.
• Accountants must become knowledgeable about
databases so they can participate in developing the
AIS of the future.

• They must help ensure that adequate controls are

included to safeguard the data and assure its
reliability.
The end of chapter Four

Any question?

Thank you!
85 01/01/2025