Importance of Accounting Software-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp

Question: Discussa about the Accounting Software Packages. Answer: Literature review In general sense, accounting means giving an explanation or reporting about something. In the context of business financial accounting can be defines as process of identifying, classifying, measuring, recording and communicating the economic transactions (Collis, Holt and Hussey, 2017). Accounting is not only important for businesses it is required in every sphere of life. Accounting provides the critical numbers that helps in decision making and proceeding in right direction to achieve financial objectives (Barrow and Tracy, 2010). In recent times, accounting software packages have begun to be used in various business organisations. These computerised systems not only ease the accounting task, it links various other information with the accounting information which provides better insights for decision making. The most likely system acquisition method depends on the size and needs of the enterprises. In Australia small and medium size companies generally use software packages like MYOP, whereas large companies usually invest on ERPs (Horngren and Harrison, 2015). Using accounting software packages can have various advantages. It simplifies the data entry procedure. The major advantage of using software package is speed. Using accounting software increases the speed of accounting processes. It is so because machine has the capacity to perform faster than humans. Another major advantage of the using accounting software it minimises risk of error. If the entered data in the software is correct there are negligible chances that results will include errors. Machines have more accuracy then humans and therefore accounting software promises the error free results. Better organisation of data. There is a possibility that data prepared manually can be misplaced but when data is stored in electronic form there are very less chances of misplacing the data. Accounting software can easily store the data and also it provides easy access to it when required. Other benefit of using accounting software is reporting. The software also generates various reports automatically based on the results. These reports help in decision making and communicating the financial results to different interesting parties. Along with these basic accounting functions the software also provides various additional functions such as online banking and e- filling. It reduces overall cost as it reduces the need to employ accountants. Although it is required to pay certain price for the software but its benefits reduce the overall cost. These softwares can be basically classified into three different categories. These categories are commercial software, custom software and ERP. Commercial softwares are those softwares which are available for general use. This software performs some general functions and can be used by any firm. Customised softwares are special software that is designed to cater the needs of a specific organisation. This type of software is not available for general use they are designed only on demand of specific firms. An ERP is much more than accounting software. It contains features of accounting software as well as some other features. Enterprise resource planning is software that is designed for integration and optimisation of various transactions of business. It allows business to automate various functions related to back office (Moon, 2007).To gain maximum from the accounting industry it is very essential for the business organisation to choose its accounting software very carefully. Accounting software packages are required in almost the business settings but they are most important for banks and other organisation which deal in providing financial products or services. This literature review is in context of business organisation National Australia Bank that uses Xero accounting software package. The firm has 200,000 customers in Australia and 400,000 around the globe. It has opted to use this package to provide better and efficient services to the organisations. The company entered in partnership with Xero in 2015 (nab, 2015). Organisation structure can be defined as an organisation setting that determines how people and their jobs are classified and coordinated. It is concerned with assigning responsibilities, allocating the task and defining authority relationships in an organisation (Maduenyi, Oke, Fadeyi and Ajagbe, 2015). The organisation structure adopted by bank is formal in nature. Although in the recent years it has done some changes to the executive team ad organisation structure to make the organisation more customers oriented (corporate governance at NAB , 2016) .Formal organisational structure is characterised by hierarchal relationships among various jobs and organisational units. The structure relies on formal rules and policies. This structure establishes effective reporting relationships that controls, coordinates and motivates employees to achieve organisational goals (Tran, and Tian, 2013). A poor organisational structure may give rise to various operational problems. Some of the operational problems that may arise in formal structure are slow decision making, lack of innovation, lack of team work and low productivity. Slow decision making can sometimes lead to loss of an attractive opportunity or delay in some operation. It is because the process of decision making has to pass through various layers before arriving at a solution. Lack of innovation can be a result of less freedom to employees. The employees are not en couraged and paid attention when they come up with a new idea. In formal organisation setting politics increases, this can hamper the coordination and cooperation among the employees. This leads to creating a culture where workers do not like to assist each other they are just focus on their own work. This hampers the team work in the organisation. The next major operational problem that may result because of formal structure is low productivity. Low productivity can result because of the inefficiency in operations. Employee empowerment constraints and rigid rules can lead to creation of an environment where employees are not able to accomplish their task effectively (Elsaid, Okasha and Abdelghaly, 2013). The type of organisation chosen for study is a Bank. Banks do not have any fixed sales procedure. Actually they are not involved in selling any physical product they are engaged in providing financial services. The most important process at bank is the process of bank teller. That is the main point of customer contact. The flowchart of bank teller process is given below: Source: Rohitha Perera, 2017. The software package used by the company is very popular in Australian markets. It is bit costlier than some of its competitors but provides the user with various advantages. Xeros products are influenced by design and user experience and therefore have a tagline beautiful accounting software (Macpherson, 2015). The few control related problems cat occur at 4 stages in the system. These four stages are input stage, processing stage, storage stage and output stage. The problems at input stage include data not visible, unauthorised access, input of wrong data by unfamiliar use. The problems at processing stage involve lack of judgement ability in computer systems, centralisation of data and separation of duties. The problems that can occur at storage phase are data stealing is easy, information can be altered without physical traces and invisibility of audit trail. The problems at output stage is different reality can be created (Ramadhan, Joshi and Hameed, 2017). The Xero accounting software system protects against all kinds of potential frauds. It is not easy to commit any kind of fraud in these accounting systems. The Xero also provides guidelines to small and medium enterprise to protect against any kinds of frauds. The software package also provides extra features that can quickly catch up any kind of crooked behaviour (Hooper, 2017). The accounting software came into use in early 1950s and 1960s. The various changes in the accounting software are given in the diagram. Source: Ashutosh Deshmukh , 2006 In the 2000 era two more concepts named SaaS and integration came to existence this resulted bringing out more powerful systems that could handle more complex accounting operations. These systems also provided concurrent access to files and programmes. In the year 2010 mobile accounting came into existence. This was the beginning of period of real time accounting. This resulted in mobile applications for the financial operations. Based on these developments presently accounting services can be classified into three different categories that are on premises accounting, hosted solutions and cloud completion. Premises accounting stands for a software programme that is purchased by a company and it is installed in its own system. In the hosted solution software can be accessed by companys system but the centre of data is at a physically different place. It is located with the service provider. Hardware is managed through service providers end. In cloud computing the data is managed throu gh the virtual platforms. The continuous evolutions in the accounting software have made this task easy and efficient (Bendovschi, 2015). In Australia the current market is for very wide and attractive. The two major players in the Australian market of accounting software are MYOP and Xero. Previously MYOP was a dominant market player but in May 2017 Xero was ahead of MYOB. The revenue growth of MYOB was 13 per cent and revenue growth of Xero was above 40 per cent. It is expected that revenues of zero will pass MYOP in the next 12 months (growthpath, 2017). The other market players are Quickbook, Intuit and Reckon. Xero is becoming the dominant market player because of the competitive advantage. The company has advantage because of various reasons. Xero is a cloud based accounting; it is built from the cloud based accounting from the ground level. Cloud based accounting is the recent trend in the market. It has a structure that is suited to both accounting professionals and users wh o are not into accounting. This provides a platform which provides both beauty and fun. This software package has an ability to accept the unlimited users in one account. Xero tops up the accounting software market with its rich features. Setting up this software package does not have bulky requirements. Setting up this software package is quick and easy it just requires a good internet connection. The firm has adopted differential pricing strategy to remain ahead in the competition. The prices of software vary according to the regions. Company also offers 180 days free access to new users but with the limited access (BPO connect, 2014). The current trends that prevail in the Australian accounting industry are continuous growth in the digital economy. Digital economy has contributed 5.1 per cent in the GDP. Association of accounting technicians is now encouraging the firms to use small and medium enterprises to adopt clouding technologies in its accounting processes. Increase in out sourcing and offshoring. The firms have now started to outsource their business activities. Accounting is one of them. Accounting software also eases the outsourcing task (theoutsourcedaccountant, 2016). Recent market trends, demonstrates that market conditions for accounting firms are favourable. It is expected that demand for advanced accounting software package will rise in coming time. There are various gaps or problems that are faced by users in current software packages. One of the basic issues is lack of security. The users are worried about the data security. Using the accounting software opens them to potential risk of confidential data used by foreign parties. Some companies have come up with better security options but still not able to create trust in the minds of user. Some of the software packages do not provide user friendly platform, users are not able to perform any kind of customisation. The other areas in which gap have been experienced by users in terms of expectations and reality include compatibility, flexibility, internal control, training and reporting capability. The users expect software that provides almost all the general features such as easy to use, after sale assistance, beta versions, time to time up gradations, guaranties and warranties (Ramazani, Zanjani, and Vali, 2012). It is recommended for the firms to introduce new features and ma ke alterations in the existing products features to cater the needs of users. A software package should cater needs such as increased speed, efficiency, accuracy in results, compatible with the firms requirements, flexible enough to accommodate changes and up gradation, reliability and trustworthiness. To overcome the gaps it is also important for the accounting software companies to always explore new technologies and test it with the selected segment after implementing it in their product. References Barrow, C. and Tracy, J.A., 2010. Understanding Business Accounting for Dummies. John Wiley Sons. Bendovschi, A.C., 2015. THE EVOLUTION OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS. SEA: Practical Application of Science, 3(1). BPO connect, 2014. Top 7 Reasons Xero Accounting Wins Over Competitors, viewed on 27 August 2017 from https://bpoconnect.com.au/top-7-reasons-xero-accounting-wins-competitors/ Collis, J., Holt, A. and Hussey, R., 2017. Business accounting. Springer. Deshmukh, A., 2006. The Evolution of Accounting Software. In Digital Accounting: The Effects of the Internet and ERP on Accounting (pp. 15-41). IGI Global. Elsaid, N.M., Okasha, A.E. and Abdelghaly, A.A., 2013. 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