Q

In this assignment, there is a brief discussion about the various kinds of software packages and its implementation

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Introduction

In this assignment, there is a brief discussion about the various kinds of software packages and its implementation in an organisation which helps to enhance the productivity and also it’s effectively and effectiveness (Aduamoah, et. Al., 2017). There is a brief discussion on various accounting packages such as SAP and oracle and its requirements, the merits and the demerits of the accounting software is detailed in this assignment (Bodnar and Hopwood, 2012). SAP is appropriate for large business enterprises and freelancers it is also a very frequent and well-liked accounting software which is basically designed in a manner in order fulfil the needs of the big business organisations while Zero is mainly suitable for middle and small organisations, its features, comparison and its implementation is reflected in the assignment.

Question 1

1.Explain whether Johnny Wright’s statement is correct: ‘Once the system is acquired then the business can get back to normal and do what it does best – take photos – without having to spend money on IT’.

According to my point of view the statement is correct as there is a requirement of system in the organisation which needs to be acquired in order to continue the working without any further issues and hastle and issues. With the help of new system or updation in the existing system, the organisation do its normal working without any difficulty and can do its best without spending much money on the IT.

2. One option for HurstTrails Co. is to purchase and implement an SAP ERP system. SAP-ERP system is one of the world’s largest and most expensive and sophisticated software systems, which integrates all business processes, including the accounting processes. Considering from a strategic viewpoint, do you recommend HurstTrails Co. to replace MYBP with SAP-ERP?  Justify your answer.

As per the case study, HurstTrails Co is small family photography business. According to the features of the SAP accounting software, it is suited for the large organisations as the software involves high cost in its implementation which is not affordable by HurstTrails and not as much effective as compared MYBP. In consideration from the strategic viewpoint, i don’t recommend HurstTrails Co. to replace MYBP with SAP-ERP.

3. Consider an Application Service Provider (ASP) and other outsourcing methods. Which of these methods would be the best choice for HurstTrails Co. to limit the cost of maintaining the system once it is in place within the organisation?  Why? 

Considering ASP (Application Service Provider) and some other outsourcing methods helps the organisation to outsource the work which are non-core competencies, it also helps to get the work done when there is no skilled employees in the organisation, it also o gives the facility to reduce the cost involved in all the operations as once the work is outsource all the handling part is segregated. Among the ASP and other outsourcing method, for HurstTrails Co. Should use Asp due to its advantages (Birt, et. al., 2017).

With the help of ASP, the organisation can ale to shift the burden for administration d also able to reduce the cost involved in the operations, it also helps to administer the software to a qualified provider of server and also enables the resources of IT into some other meaningful tasks (Aduamoah, et. al., 2017).

ASPs also give benefits to the small scale organisations to utilize the facility of various applications such as ERP, MRP and CRM (Enterprise Resource Planning, Materials Resource Planning and Customer Relationship Management) without incurring of the eavy expenses. In short, The ASPs provides various facility and act as the field of playing among the rich and the poor to reduce the gap and to make effective decisions and working for the client.

 4. Would you recommend that HurstTrails Co. develop or buy the new system? Why? 

The organisation HurstTrails Co. is using software named MYBP which is not updated by the organisation from the last seen seven years and therefore, it becomes slow and due to this the business organisation is also facing digital imaging requirements and other issues, they are not the major issues which cannot be sorted out (Bodnar and Hopwood, 2012). With the help of updating of the software, these things can be sorted out and it also helps the organisation to save the cost without spending much money on new software and its implementation further training also requires working with the new software and involves cost. 

5. Describe the process that HurstTrails Co. could use for selecting a vendor for the new system. 

The process can use for the selection of the vendor of a new system involves various points which are determined as under:

? Evaluation of the requirements of the business: In this step, the organisation is required to set up a evaluation team and determine the issues in the existing software and also the workings, determine the technical requirements and also the requirements of the vendor (Flaherty, 2017).

? Searching of the vendor: In this step, the organisation needs to prepare a list or all the possible vendors and select vendors from the list to determine more information, after getting the information can evaluate the response and the information given by the vendors.

? Request for the proposal and other quotations: In this step, the  vendors which needs to be evaluated are shortlisted and request for the quotations are made considering various features such as background, specifications, criteria for selection, terms and conditions and the assumptions (Erbe, et. al., 2017). 

? Selection of the vendor: In this step, the organisation needs to review all the proposals of the vendors and match the proposals with the requirements of the vendor, assign value for the requirements and determine a total score for the performance, after that to select a winning vendor from the options available based on the performance score (Bodnar and Hopwood, 2012).

? Negotiation strategies of the contract: In this step, the organisation needs to mark the priorities and also require marking them with other alternatives, to determine and access the potential risks and the liabilities associated with the selection of the vendor and all-risks and issues associated with the vendor (Aduamoah, et. Al., 2017).

? Negotiate issues of the contract: In this step, the organisation needs to take care that there is no mistake in the negotiation process and avoid any error for the best selection of the vendor for a new system.

6. Identify three possible consequences for HurstTrails Co. of relying on a single vendor for the system? 

There are various pros and cons for relying on a single vendor for the system for HurstTrails Co. As it is very easy to trust on a single vendor, it also involves less raining for the personnel as the people and the experts can focus on a single line of the product (Flaherty, 2017). There are also some cons which are associated with the single vendor such as loss of the flexibility, dependence on the decision made by the vendors, fewer negotiations which can be made by the organisation. The possible consequences will be loss of flexibility as there are multiple vendors which are associated with the organizations to handle the work, and there is a complexity which can be created due to more than one vendor. In addition, the organisation will also not get desired output due to high cost, loss of flexibility and complexity. 

Question 2

Prepare a report comparing two accounting software packages 

1. Xero

2. SAP 

Overview of the SAP accounting software:

SAP is suitable for large business enterprises and freelancers it is also very common and popular accounting software which is basically designed in a manner in order fulfil the needs of the large business organisations. It is used by approximately 50,000 customers, 45 localizations and 37 languages (Gebhart, et. al., 2014). The price of this software is based on quote. SAP does not provide ease to its users in order to use and also in relation to set up. It also provides less ease to its users to carry on the business as compared to Zero accounting software (Flaherty, 2017).

Overview of the Xero accounting software:

Xero is suitable for small business enterprises and it is also very common and popular accounting software which is basically designed in a manner in order fulfils the needs of the small business organisations. XERO provides ease to its users in order to use and also in relation to set up (Karakaya and Kaynak, 2018). It also provides ease to its users to carry on the business as compared to SAP accounting software.

Key features of SAP accounting software:

? Powerful applications: The accounting software involves various applications which help in the operations and the working of the organisation.

? Simplified evaluation and reporting: The evaluation made by the software by considering the data is effective and on the basis, experts can make effective decisions and can make effective reports which are required to be submitted to the top-level management (Flaherty, 2017).

? Tracks employee performance and the project performance: The accounting software manages the time spend by the expert on a particular project and helps to manage the multiple projects easily (Hilton and Platt, 2013). Due to this, the organisation can manage time and helps to determine the time spend by the employee on the project and by this the performance and the working of the employee can also be evaluated.

Key features of Xero accounting software:

? Facility of dashboard: The accounting software provides the facility of the dashboard as soon as the customer login the account he will be get his own dashboard and it helps the users to manages and maintains all the bank balances, invoices, expenses and other bills (Karakaya and Kaynak, 2018). It also provides the facility to add some new transactions or made new entries or graphs to evaluate the workings and can prepare a watch list.

? Payments of bill in bulk: It is a great feature of the accounting software as it gives benefits to its users in determining the undue bills and the bills generated by the suppliers will be shown in the accounts payable which provides ease to its users in determining the payment made to its suppliers. 

? Bank feeds automatically: The accounting software directly takes data from the bank statement and then sorts them into various categories (Aduamoah, et. Al., 2017). It eliminates all the manual work of making each and every entry and then reconcile. It automatically takes data and made entries in its records.

Costing requirements for SAP: The costing of the SAP basically depends upon the needs and the requirements of the business organisation. The approximately cost of SAP ERP is 80lakhs and above and it is very costly package which is not affordable by small scale businesses generally.

Costing requirements for XERO: The pricing of the software is also varies. It is seggregated in three tiers i.e. starter, Standard and Premium. The users can choose the tiers as per their needs (Schorr, et. al., 2013). 

Implementation Time-frame and Maintenance of SAP: SAP accounting software has the capability to do the integration of the data with various other databases which helps to enhance the working of the organisation. The accounting software focuses on employees, project and provides effective solutions to its users which helps in effective decision making

Implementation Time-frame and Maintenance of Xero: It eliminates all the manual work of making each and every entry and then reconcile. It by design takes data and made entries in its minutes (Karakaya and Kaynak, 2018). The software also provides the facility to add some new transactions or made new entries or graphs to evaluate the workings and can prepare a watch list which helps in effective deciosn making with less time consumed.

Advantages of SAP:

? Flexibility: SAP accounting software allows the organisation to create their own regulations with the same structure (Horodyskyi and Hrabchuk, 2018). The regulations depict various transactions where some are acceptable and some are not. 

? Features: It has various features such as performance evaluation, decision making, reporting and evaluation of the data. 

? Accessibility: The SAP accounting software is suitable for large business organisations as it is proved to be a wonderful helping tool for large business organisations as various large groups are connected with SAP such as Trigon LLC and Mc Laren Group. 

Disadvantages of SAP:        

? High cost: In relation to the small organisation, the cost is too high for them

? Requirement of experts: There is a requirement of experts in order to maintain the software and handle the work. Proper training is also required to be given to the experts.

? Complexity: The software involves various features for the business use and the features results in creation of complexity in the software.                                                                                                        

Advantages of Xero:

? Accessibility: It is very user friendly software and is most suited for the experts who don’t have proper accounting knowledge. The terms which are used in the software are comparatively easy from other softwares (Karakaya and Kaynak, 2018).

? Integration: This is one of the most important merits as he accounting software has the capacity to integrate with some other software programs and other software system in order to give desired output.

? Conversion of currency: It is also a basic merit as the accounting software has the capacity to convert the entries which are made in different currencies into one uniform or the basic currency.

Disadvantages of Xero:  

? Customer support services: Zero does not have an active customer support services and there are lot of customers’ queries, support to the customer and issues related with the software (Lee and Ivancevich, 2018).

? No Flexibility: As in comparison to the SAP accounting software, XERO does not allow the organisation to create own regulations with the same structure and requires following the rules f the accounting software. 

Question 3

William Pitt is preparing the income tax return of a client who has earned more income than expected. On 2 July, the client pays for advertising and asks William to backdate the expense to the preceding financial year, which ends on 30 June. Backdating the deduction would lower the client’s immediate tax payments. After all, there is a difference of only two days between 2 July and 30 June. This client is important to William. What should he do? 

As per As 5: Net Profit and Loss for the year: Accounting to AS 5, all income related to a particular year and all the expenses which are also related to a particular year are included in the determination and the calculation of the net profit or net loss for that particular period. The income related to a particular financial year is belonged to that financial year. William cannot do so in order to reduce the tax payment as he is a  person who is filing the income-tax return of a client so its work is to calculate the expenses, determine the income and file the tax return and he should not adjust the advertisement expenses belonging to the current financial year in  the preceding financials year.

As per Accounting Standard:9 Recognition of Revenue is applicable in this case. The accounting standard states that there are various basis for the recognition of revenue in terms of profit and the loss of an organisation (Nasir and Talib, 2018). The accounting standard is basically concerned with the arising of the revenue in relation to the ordinary activities of an organisation such as selling of the goods, the services which are rendered by the company, realising of the gain from the company. therefore as per both the As 5 and 9, the expenses related to the advertisement of the organisation is belonging to the current financials year and cannot be treated as expenses for the preceding financial year in order to lower immediate tax payment f the client. As the client is very important to William, William should make him understand the Rules and the provisions of As: 5 and 9 and advice him not to anything beyond the standards.

Conclusion

From the above, it has been concluded that there are various accounting software packages which can be used in a business organisation in order to enhance the workings and the operations of the organisation. In the assignment, there is a brief discussion on the two accounting software packages such as SAP and XERO, the features, implementation, cost and comparison is made in the assignment. In addition, there is a reflection on the ASP ad other outsourcing methods which can be used y an organisation in order to enhance the productivity and can attain the desired objectives. There are various consequences which can be faced by the organisation if the organisation relies on a single vendor and is depicted in detail in the assignment. There is a also a brief discussion on accounting standard 5 and 9 as on the basis of which tax payer cannot adjust expenses incurred on financial year in its previous financial year and is depicted in detail in the assignment. 

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