Artificial Intelligence, Accounting Information Systems, and ERP Integration: Improving Financial Decision-Making and Organizational Performance in Emerging-Market Financial Institutions

This research examined the integration of artificial intelligence, accounting information systems, and enterprise resource planning systems, and its impact on enhancing financial decision-making and organisational performance in financial institutions in the United States. The research design for this study is positivist, quantitative, and cross-sectional, using an explanatory approach. The data were gathered using a structured questionnaire sent to accounting managers, auditors, risk officers, data analysts, enterprise system specialists, and senior executives at commercial banks, community banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and other regulated financial institutions. 421 valid responses remained after screening; descriptive statistics and partial least-squares structural equation modelling were used to analyse them. The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity (Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.869 to 0.921, the average variance extracted ranged from 0.706 to 0.791, and the composite reliability ranged from 0.911 to 0.941). These results showed that the quality of an accounting information system had the greatest impact on the quality of the financial decision-making process (β value: 0.354), followed by the capability of artificial intelligence (β value: 0.286) and the integration of enterprise resource planning (ERP) (β value: 0.247), and that the model explained 71.4% of the variance of financial decision-making process quality. Organisational performance was greatly impacted by the quality of financial decision-making (β = 0.417), and the final model accounted for 76.8% of the variance in performance. The mediation of the relationship between integrated technological capabilities and performance was partially explained by financial decision-making. The identified relationships were greatly enhanced by data quality, technological preparedness, cybersecurity and regulatory compliance. In the end, the study notes that technology alone cannot ensure better performance; it also requires the incorporation of intelligent analytics, trustworthy accounting information, enterprise processes, and human oversight and responsibility. The findings offer practical steps to create new, resilient, and efficient financial institutions, increase visibility, and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8, 9, 12, and 16.