The Present Role of Accounting Information Systems in Meeting the Development Needs: the Case of Libya
Bubaker Shareia

Abstract
This paper examines the present role of AIS in assisting Libya’s development needs. A unified accounting system which is responsive to global influences can have a positive effect on economic development. The provision of accurate and timely Information is considered one of the main factors that assists economic development in general and industrial development in particular. With its direct relationship with technology, industry is believed to be the biggest producer and consumer of information, as well as the essential stimulator for comprehensive development. The information sector in Libya, as well as in other developing countries, faces significant problems. Decision makers complain that they are not obtaining required and needed information. They argue, as shown later in this paper, that neither the quality nor the quantity of information that is provided to them is satisfactory. Producers of information are complaining too. They argue that numerous agencies and governmental bodies ask repeatedly for information, some of which they have already been given. In addition to the problem of asking for the same information again and again, managers of industrial companies are complaining that neither the type of information nor the users of such information are well defined. The main objective of this paper is to examine the present and potential role of accounting in meeting the development needs of Libya and to examine the influence of culture on accounting needs. Specifically, the users of information about Libyan industrial companies are to be determined. The aim of this paper is to discuss the meaning of information and to identify the objectives of accounting systems in Liberal Market Economies (LMEs).

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