Abstract:
Mobile telecommunication companies have emerged as an important economic sector in present time,
and it is adding a lot in boosting up the economy of Rwanda. The mobile telecommunication companies
in Rwanda are aiming at providing cost effective and quality services to the customer as customer
satisfaction is most important for the survival and success of any company. For this purpose, the mobile
telecommunication companies need an efficient AIS for providing necessary information to its various
users. The user group includes creditors, investors, lenders, regulators, trade union and management and
many others who take their necessary decisions based on the information by the annual reports of the
companies. Appropriate and efficient AIS is needed by the companies to provide relevant and reliable
information to the interested users in time. The appropriate AIS depends on the relevant accounting
policies, principles and most importantly the standards set by both national and international bodies.
Legal framework of a country gives clues to framing appropriate AIS for an organization. The objectives
of the study are to know the major characteristics of AIS, analyze the opinions of the respondents
regarding the application of legal framework and compliance with accounting standards, judge the
efficiency of AIS through selected indicators, identify the factors influencing the efficiency of AIS and
analyze the opinions of the respondents regarding the qualitative characteristics of accounting
information produced by AIS. There are three mobile telecommunication companies in Rwanda and I
have selected one mobile telecommunication company MTN Rwandacell PLC. The AIS of the selected
company is fully computerized and accounting software are used for recording transactions, processing of
transactions and preparing the financial statements to the interested users. The financial statements are
prepared on going concern basis under the historical cost convention using Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles (GAAP) in accordance with accounting standards.
The accountants who are responsible for performing the various activities of AIS should be trained
properly so that AIS can deliver relevant information for all concerned. Accounting information should
be timelier, and well-structured for various interested users so that they can make effective, dynamic
decisions. Internal control activities, functions of audit committee, management control activities and
corporate governance etc. should be coordinated. ICPAR may try to organize more seminars for
developing AIS, MIS, Decision Support System softwares, Executive Information System software and
Expert
System
software
