The new management of recordkeeping

• Published date: 01 April 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.22426
• Date: 01 April 2020

BLIND PEER REVIEW

The new management of recordkeeping

Reina G. Wiatt

Southern Careers Institute College,

Austin, Texas

Correspondence

Reina G. Wiatt, Southern Careers Institute

College, 2127 Melridge Place, Austin, TX

78704.

Email: trwiatt@swbell.net

Abstract

This article focuses on the emerging applications of blockchain technology for

recordkeeping and data management requirements. Blockchain—the technol-

ogy supporting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies—is a shared ledger that

maintains transactions and documents in digital form. In a time when busi-

nesses face challenges in managing data security, there is a compelling case for

developing a digital-based recordkeeping system to address social problems on a

global scale. Improving food supply chain safety, reducing the conflict diamond

trade, and assisting refugees in preserving identity and academic credential

records are just a few of the solutions offered by blockchains. Our global econ-

omy depends on the ability to create, store, and share accurate records. While

implementation challenges remain, blockchain technology's ability to store and

distribute immutable documents has the potential to improve data management

security for industries worldwide.

KEYWORDS

blockchain technology, data security, digital-based recordkeeping, food supply chain safety

1|INTRODUCTION

The rise of globalization coupled with automation is rapidly

changing recordkeeping requirements. With the world cre-

ating gigabytes of data per day, and as companies continue

to increase the number of documents they accumulate and

retain, the siloed approach to data storage using either

paper-based records or mainframes is fraught with multiple

failure points. Lost documents, errors and omissions,

destruction from natural causes, and high retention costs

hamper efforts for businesses to efficiently maintain proper

document controls. For example, Record Nations, a docu-

ment management firm, estimates the annual paper-based

document storage and disposal costs for an average-sized

business can exceed $600,000 per year (McHugh, 2019).

2|HOW BLOCKCHAINS WORK

Blockchain—The technology created to support Bitcoin

and other cryptocurrencies—is a decentralized, shared

ledger capable of creating and storing anything of value,

from land deeds to academic records. This architecture

enables multiple participants to share information using

a public (permissionless), or private (permissioned) com-

puter network. Each entry is assigned a unique digital finger-

print (hash) created from complex algorithms, and every new

transaction requires consensus approval from all members.

Once approved, transactions are accumulated into blocks

and replicated to each computer node in the chain. Each

block has a unique, alphanumeric header that contains

several pieces of information. Part of the header includes the

hash of the previous block's header information, thereby

linking the blocks together in an unbroken chain.

The linking process makes records more resistant to

tampering because data alterations require breaking the

cryptography securing the record and changing the cur-

rent block and all other blocks linked to the record. In

permissioned chains, only members can access transac-

tions through the use of private keys, which also act as a

unique digital signature for each member. If a member

attempts to alter a record, the member's signature is

Received: 24 October 2019 Accepted: 29 October 2019

DOI: 10.1002/jcaf.22426

J Corp Acct Fin. 2020;31:13–20. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jcaf © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 13