Bookkeeping Information System

Question:

Write an essay on Bookkeeping Information System (AIS).

Answer:

Bookkeeping Information System (AIS) is a framework that cover all the business capacity, for example, Transition Processing System, Management Information System, Executive Information System, Decision Support System and so forth. AIS is extremely helpful for the organizations which make the bookkeeping forms more simpler by using a PC framework, so it can utilize the PC framework to keeps records or information's for an organization. In this manner, the data of the organization will go into the framework and the framework will tracks, then it will naturally sort out the bookkeeping data. The motivation behind Accounting Information System (AIS) that is to do accumulation and recording information furthermore data in regards to the occasions of financial effect on the organizations, and the preparing, support and correspondence of data to outer and inward partners. In this manner, AIS is in charge of giving auspicious and precise nitty gritty data of the organization for inner and outside partners to do assessment of the monetary position of the association furthermore for basic leadership purposes (Bhimani, 2012). 

The significant ramifications for AIS when organization actualize a full capacity of ERP framework, for example, ERPS data for basic leadership and control of the association is superior to anything AIS, so ERPS will influence the reason for AIS. As indicated by Xavier GABRI, the AIS is seen as the procurement of data for basic leadership furthermore procurement of data to help with the development of desires and convictions, in any case, the ERP framework will likewise give data in basic leadership process. Both ERP framework and AIS likewise give data to association in basic leadership process, along these lines, which data is better for the association will be consider, is the AIS data more precise or ERP framework data for choice taken all the more rapidly and all the more effectively?. Concurring Foster and Ward, who expresses that the ERP framework is most appropriate to top administration for choice control, yet it won't not be ideal to others supervisor for choices administration. Furthermore, the compelling utilization of the ERPS data or AIS data is still relies on upon the adaptability of the director. Along these lines, the basic leadership procedure will be influenced the AIS when organization execute full capacity of ERPS (Blommaert, 1995).

BUSINESS PROCESSES:

1. a) In general sense, a baker prepares baked food items like croissants, bread, cakes, and pudding, basically everything that can be baked. These food items are then sold by either the bakers themselves in a bakery shop or are sold to super markets , wholesalers etc. Typically, big commercial bakers get special manufacturing units for these food items in high volumes by not only employing good bakers but because of the bulk requirements have to get heavy machinery installed. This includes getting automated temperature ovens, large kneading equipment, mixers, big refrigerators and packaging facilities to meet the requirement of mass production of these baked goods in standard requirements (Boland, 1979).

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS:

2. b, c) The below given process is supposed to be based on below points in order to achieve outcomes:

a) Process in line to the given business requirement

b) Timely execution 

c) Focus on customer 

d) Benchmarks and the importance of standardization

Major business activities and processes involve the through and through analysis and listing down to below points according to requirement. This also includes process which is indispensable to be performed and the outcomes of such processes (Butterworth, 1972). Each department involved lists down their requirement:

Raw material: All the raw material required according to the baking requirements is noted and then a bulk order is forwarded to the concerned department.

Machinery maintenance: Heavy machinery maintenance and repair should be done on regular basis in order to prevent any mishap or non working of the machinery as it can impact the production.

New machinery installment: For each type of bakery item, a new type of machinery is generally required. Installation of new machinery is another important aspect. 

Vendor selection: Vendor selection for various things like machinery, raw material, wholesale seller, retail sellers, departmental stores owners etc has to be done looking at the target audience, their expansion and customer reach-out, good customer reviews in case of restaurants and it has a direct impact on the profit of the mother company. So, vendor evaluation and timely monitoring of their sales is very important on regular basis.

Hiring labor and baker: There are two type of workforce in the bakery plant/unit who plays an important role. Hiring labor is an intensive process as it involves workers unions, boards and various licenses and hiring a lot of people in a big number who can work as loaders, heavy weight carriers and also to work under bakers, does not require any specific skill.

Whereas, a baker needs to have specific skill of baking and an experience in baking and should know the ingredient and recipes. Various bakers might work under a head baker who gets to decide the recipes or products after discussion with the various stakeholders/board members etc.

Nutritionist: Nowadays when health and safety is foremost concern amongst customers, manufacturers need to be utmost cautious while making any product. The nutrition value has to be taken care of and any bio-hazard or any chemical compounds added in order to preserve the product should be well tested for any unwanted substances or compounds which can harm in long run.

Workforce shifts, permissions: Night shifts and all labor act permissions should be well in place. 

Taxes & Audits: All government taxes should be paid with all the due requirements completion. This will prevent pilling of penalties and help in growing the business geographically. Various audits like safety audit, workforce legal doc audits, expiry of contracts etc should be closely monitored. 

Rent: Property rent if applicable and lease agreements should be renewed whenever required. It’s very important for a firm to have rental agreement in line and up-to-date a for a big setup of the machinery changing locations is not a feasible option. 

Utilities: Other utilities like electricity, water, cleaning utilities should be maintained by administration (Chapman and Kihn, 2009).

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

3. a) Possible features in software that a bakery firm needs to have in IT software:

1) Provision of capturing detailed requirement

2) Human resource management system to automate attendance, payroll, shifts 

3) Streamlining process of reporting and documentation

4) Market analysis and graphical representation f market competitors with customer coverage

5) Accounting Information System for financial reporting and also to keep a track of inflow and outflow to keep the finance books up-to-date.

6) Risk Mitigation, Compliance & management

7) ERP for integrated resource for procurement, production etc

8) A system to track and generate reports on assets, expenses, income, loans , taxes , insurance etc

9) Website designing/implementation of changes for marketing and consumer online reach program for complaints/suggestions/marketing through web ads etc (Fisher, 2007).

IT software: It’s very important rather very critical nowadays for a firm to put IT software’s for accounts and ERP tools to be in place. The outcome is systematic usage of resources and completes end to end tracking of the complete project life cycle. 

Advertising & Marketing: Marketing and advertising is most important aspect of all the processes. As it’s the consumers who get attracted to the advertising tricks and impactful advertising and correct marketing skills can shoot the sales.

Packaging & Brand Building: Attractive packaging is very necessary for the product to be sold off the shelf. Along with this some companies also use bio-degradable packaging materials which although can be costlier than the normal ones but can tremendously attract health conscious consumers and build a new brand altogether.

Insurance: Insurance of the units/machinery etc is very necessary in order to prevent complete crackdown. Although the premiums are expensive but the coverage it provides is helpful in preventing complete shutdown.

Finance & Accounting: Finance and accounting keeps record of turnovers and all balance sheets. This process should be well in place.

Payroll: Payroll management is another aspect which is critical in maintains the workforce.

Target Audience, Business Analysis, and Market research & Competitors: Most important aspect is to research the market and competitors and target the consumer according to the market deficit.

Customer Care: Setting up an up- to date and good customer care unit is the backbone for improvement and resolution to the complaints.

The major outcome expected from any software is ease of handling and very simple flow along with attractive GUI. As the employees have to spend most of their working hours focusing on the logics, the logic implementation should also be very simple and the execution should be clear stating all the breakups of the amounts, taxes etc (Funnell, 2012). 

 SYSTEM SELECTION:

4. a) Some of the accounting software available:

Intuit: Intuit is available for entrepreneurs of a small proprietor business to mid-size businesses. This has a very famous module offering called as Quickbooks which has been recommended by many. The account management system is very robust and is also available to meet the necessity for wide range of business and online support for the customer service.

Aplicore:  Aplicor is based for midsize to global firms or enterprises which provides customer support, partnership relationship management, and human resource management apart from accounting information system. 

Epicore: Epicore is basically designed to meet the requirement of global businesses. This package provides international business transaction support and deal with various currency denominations connecting many companies/firms/partners etc.

Software for accounting supporting various kinds of business helps in tracking and monitoring of the financial relations and various transactions outside and within an organization. For software it is required to technically have a core package that includes amount in various accounts receivable, amount received, amount payable, workforce payroll and other reimbursements, general ledger and financial/business reporting modules. This can be enhanced or modified according to the business requirement (Gaston, 2006).

4 (b)

For this specific business, a high end AIS like SAP is not justified at all since the business operation is fairly simple and does not warrant that kind of expenditure. A high- end AIS software is mostly reserved for industries were several different processes are required to be performed and the revenue is several millions of dollars. On the other hand, a low- end AIS does not provide much more than what a normal accountant would provide, and since they have already exhausted that option and are not satisfied with the results, a mid- sized AIS would be the best fit since most mid- range AIS are designed keeping in mind specific businesses, like bakeries for instance (Lilley, 1998).

This business in specific will be requiring a mid- range AIS like MYOB or Xero. There are a multitude of reasons for this. 

1) A mid- sized AIS is capable of calculating the Pay, long service leaves and the annual leaves taken by an employee, 

2) It is capable of tracking works in progress, pending orders, jobs and several other task requirements seen in a day to day business.

3) Any mid- sized AIS can handle multiple bank accounts.

4) It is capable of keeping track of the financial records of different departments in a business like purchase, HR, Retail, Transport etc.

5) They also mostly allow for current technologies like online payments.

6) They can offer detailed records as to what people buy, in what quantities and at what intervals.

7) The above points clearly cover all the requirements of this particular business (Lin and Smith, 2006).

VENDOR SELECTION:

5.(a)

Among mid- sized Accounting Information Systems, two of the top most systems are Xero and MYOB (Mind Your Own Business). The following segment deals with what features these two options offer to their customers, or business owners, to make running their businesses easier than before (Marshall, 1972).

Let us have a comparative analysis of these two behemoths of the AIS industry to see which one suits the requirements of the bakery business better.

Online Systems:

Both MYOB and Xero are cloud- based accounting systems which is an extremely desirable characteristic today, here the business data is supposed to accessible. It also results in savings and improved security due to not having to maintain hard drives and other data storage systems on site.

Cost:

When it comes to cost, MYOB Essentials Accounting costs about $29 per month. This amount provides the customer with facilities of  unlimited users, bank feeds, unlimited transactions etc.

Xero’s similarly comparable standard version costs $50 per month and provides similar features.

User Interface:

MYOB’s interface is quite easy to use and has a simple format which shows all relevant statistics like Money In, Money Out and bank balance.ero has a very attractive looking dashboard which can be customized to include specific accounts. Clicking on the menu bar of the graphs provided gives detailed information regarding that aspect. There are also separate tabs to keep track of different tasks.

Bank Feeds:

MYOB has a Bank Link service, which was acquired by them and integrated into their AIS, which ensures secure feeds. It has a dedicated team of specialists which review feeds utilizing internal processes. After checking, they are then uploaded to the file.

Xero basically uses 2 types of feeds. One is by its relationships with major banks, which helps it to import bank feeds directly. For others with which this service is not available, a third party service called Yodlee acts as a mediator by utilizing bank credentials given by the user. It then logs into the account and provides the transactions through Xero.

Rules with respect to banking:

MYOB provides very basic and very easy bank rules to follow. This results in some errors occurring and lack of sufficient information in some cases.

Xero has an extremely comprehensive set of rules and allow 7 conditions in case of matching transactions. This results in increased accuracy in presenting similar transactions in the bank feed. It might take some time to understand, but is very efficient once it is understood.

Contacts:

MYOB provides business owners with a basic contact listing service wherein details of suppliers, customers etc. can be saved.

Xero, on the other hand has a much more detailed listing service which allows storage of default templates for invoices, terms of payment and tax codes.

Managing the Payroll:

While MYOB allows accounting for unlimited employees currently, it is soon to be converted to a paid optional. The service by itself, however, is easy to use and manage.

Xero also has this service as a paid optional service where you can add up to 50 employees. In Xero, an added option is an human resource’s employee portal which includes leave applications to be processed online, time sheets and online generated pay slip apart from other options.

Enlisting Accountants:

Both these systems allow for this feature, but Xero scores ahead of MYOB since it is possible for accountants to publish reports directly from within the software in the required file formats.

Apart from the above aspects, Xero has other added benefits which include allowing the attachment of documents and photos to invoices and transactions to a limit of 5GB.

Additionally, Xero based files are very easy to deal with when it comes to inter- company transactions which Is a huge added benefit.

Also, Xero has a huge list of third party agreements which provide several products which provide an added value when integrated with the system. Some of the add- ons are Vend, Unleashed, ReLeased etc (Mihalache, n.d.).  

Selecting the right ERP for any business is a very important process. Just because an ERP supports a different business successfully, or even a similar business as yours successfully, it does not mean that it is a good fit for you. Care has to be taken to ensure that your requirements with regard to the business are fulfilled from an ERP you choose to buy. When we look at the above comparison across a breadth of services and requirements from both Xero’s Standard Edition Software and MYOB (Mind Your Own Business),it is quite obvious right from the beginning that Xero’s Standard Edition has an edge over MYOB’s package. The cost in price notwithstanding ( a difference of $21 per month), Xero has a definite advantage with regards to the amount of money which can be save due to the ease of generation and processed transaction which have less errors making banking services better than before and a highly efficient employee portal which is completely lacking in MYOB’s Software. Added to this, the user interface of Xero provides a lot more than just basic information which is a definite benefit for a business of this size. This business requires additional information which will help it to grow, and not just consolidate its position. The transactions are also safer in Xero and   this is a very important aspect for accompany of this size which performs several transactions in a day.

When we consider the other benefits wherein an account can directly provide annual reports through the software, attachment of photographs to documents and invoices, and the extensive list of third party products associated with Xero, it is a no- brainer to decide that Xer is the more supreme of the two software packages (Nikitkov and Sainty, 2008).

The only drawback is the cost involved, which adds up to about an extra $21 per month, which is about $252 per year. But this price gives the added benefit of the above features. For the features provided, a business with revenue of$13.5 million can easily afford this miniscule amount.

CONCLUSION:

A major advantage from modernize bookkeeping data framework is that they mechanize and make money related reporting more productive. Precise and compressed, auspicious data is a noteworthy device for associations basic leadership and money related reporting. The bookkeeping data framework pull imports information from the framework database, handle and change it and in the long run produces data and reports which can be effortlessly devoured and broke down by the clients, administrators and leaders. These frameworks are required to guarantee that the reports are convenient and important so that chiefs can rapidly and proficiently base on the data gave in the reports. Union is one of the best normal for reporting as client does not need to experience a monstrous number of exchanges (Uecker, 1978). For instance, toward the end of the bookkeeping time frame a bookkeeper combines all installments by running a report on the framework. The framework application layer recovers the information put away in the framework database and produces a report with the aggregate installments made to the sellers for that specific period. With extensive enterprises which have enormous volume of value-based information, creating a report without AIS can take day or even weeks.

References

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