DIGITAL ACCOUNTING AND INFORMATION PROTECTION

Abstract

Digitalization and digital transformation bring significant changes in all spheres, regardless of their size and the economic area in which they operate, as well as in society. In this regard, speaking of business digitalization, we must first consider the possibilities for digitalization of accounting, as an object for verification during control and audit, and from there also of control, i.e. the digitalization of accounting must precede this process in control in time. We accept that digitalization is the process of processing information in the digital world, and we have already found ways to apply it to a huge part of our everyday life, and in turn, digitalization builds on digitalization. The main difference between digitization and digitalization is that the former creates information accessible to modern machines, while the latter leads us to the real use of all this information. In digitalization, we collect digital information about the real world and business operations, process it quickly and efficiently using digital technologies, and apply it to our daily lives in a useful and understandable way. The challenge is how exactly to apply the available technologies to tangibly improve business, society, and in general, our daily lives. This is where we start talking about digital transformation – the process of discovering, understanding, and properly implementing the relevant methods and strategies to improve our daily experience and performance. As a result of the development of new technologies, digitalization, and digital transformation in business, the specific digitalization in accounting is imperative as part of it and cannot lag behind these changes. But all the changes and possible facilitations in the field of digital accounting also imply quite a few problems related to the protection of information - cybersecurity, from hacker attacks or its unregulated leakage for unscrupulous purposes, as well as the need for preparation and acquisition of new knowledge and competencies for accountants.