Automation Of Accounting Information Systems: Case Study Of Woolworths Limited

Organizational Background and Description

An organization functions with the integration and collaboration of a number of business related operations and activities that are associated with various departments. The transformations and innovations are a common practice in the business activities and organizational departments and accounting is one such field that has witnessed some major and significant transformations over the years. The accounting department in the previous era was based upon manual operations which has now shifted to automated information systems. Accounts related activities are associated with any organization type and therefore it is essential for the organizations to have latest set of practices and services applied in this particular area. Automation has become an integral part of accounting activities and banking is one of the strong examples of the same. There are many companies and agencies in Australia that provide automated accounting services to the customers. The packages along with the applicants of the automate packages have been covered in the report.

There are numerous accounting information systems and their respective providers in Australia. The same can be understood better by studying a case study around the same with a particular organization selected for the purpose. Woolworths Limited is an Australia based retail store that has been picked up for understanding and analyzing the application of accounting information systems.

There are many departments and resources that are associated with Woolworths. The resources have been structured in several levels such as managerial, leadership, operational and likewise. In order to rapidly achieve the goals of the company, it is essential that these resources and departments function together as a single unit (Woolworths, 2017).

The major set of problems that are associated with the organizational structure of Woolworths are in terms of the integration and collaboration. There are many departments and resources that are associated with Woolworths. The resources have been structured in several levels such as managerial, leadership, operational and likewise. In order to rapidly achieve the goals of the company, it is essential that these resources and departments function together as a single unit. The desired level of integration is currently missing from Woolworths which can only be obtained by applying and using accounting information systems (Henderson, 2004).

There are several different methods that may be applied for acquiring the system such as custom software with defined set of requirements or use of commercial software system in the organization. One of the methods for acquiring the system can be deployment of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages as well (Yang and Tamir, 2015).

In case of Woolworths, all of these options were evaluated and the one that was found to be most applicable was the use and application of ERP package. This method will prove to be very advantageous for Woolworths in terms of integrating the departments and collaboration of all the business services and activities (Mallery, 2011).

                                                                                 Woolworths: Sales Process

Problems with Organizational Structure

The above flow chart showcases the flow of sales operations and activities that run in Woolworths. There are numerous system qualities that are essential in Woolworths in terms of sales associated activities such as performance, availability, reliability and scalability of the services. These sales activities that are associated with Woolworths have further been classified in to different levels (Gulledge, 2002).

Control problems are many in association with the sales activities and operations that are executed in Woolworths. Monitoring of the activities is also a difficult process to complete that causes many of the monitoring problems. There is absence of automated services and activities at Woolworths that is the base for the emergence of a lot many problems and issues around control and monitoring. Inadequate automation demands enhanced review and evaluation processes that are also missing which ultimately lead to the issues around performance and quality of the service.

There are also many resources that work in the organization that lead to the presence of numerous insider attacks. Sales personnel that work in the sales department engage in the fraudulent activities to gain enhanced profits for themselves. Information security is hampered because of the same reason (Mohapatra and Patnaik, 2011).

The transformations and innovations are a common practice in the business activities and organizational departments and accounting is one such field that has witnessed some major and significant transformations over the years. The accounting department in the previous era was based upon manual operations which has now shifted to automated information systems. Accounts related activities are associated with any organization type and therefore it is essential for the organizations to have latest set of practices and services applied in this particular area (Seethamraju, 2012).

Customer expectations have also transformed with the advancements in the field of accounting services and innovations in technology. It has become essential for the developers to therefore come up with the packages and systems that are in-line with the changing expectations. Application of automation is also essential to maintain pace with the current demands. There are several attempts that are being made to ensure that the customer expectations are met and there is no dissatisfaction among them as well (James, 2016).

The transformations and innovations are a common practice in the business activities and organizational departments and accounting is one such field that has witnessed some major and significant transformations over the years. The accounting department in the previous era was based upon manual operations which has now shifted to automated information systems. Accounts related activities are associated with any organization type and therefore it is essential for the organizations to have latest set of practices and services applied in this particular area. The three major areas in the accounts department are auditing, bookkeeping and accounting (Afpbb, 2016). Australia is home to more than 10000 firms that make accounting services available to the users and these firms have a total workforce of over 133,000 employees. The expected revenue in the field is 5.5% in the present financial year (Bankwest, 2015).

System Acquisition Method

The demand for automated accounting systems is huge and therefore a package or a system is necessary to integrate all of the required services and activities in a single unit. Australian banking industry is one of the prime applicants of these packages and therefore many of the service providers have established their foot in the field to cater the needs of the public. One of the fine examples of the same is the MYOB accounting package with the advantages and features as listed below.  

• Provides the real-time view to the customers
• Point of Sale (PoS) integration with the rest of the transactions and services
• Independent of the network breakdown and jitters as it can be used non-step on the offline mode
• Complete maintenance of compliance with the necessary standards
• Can be customized and scaled as per the needs and specifications (Myob, 2016).

The demand for automated accounting systems is huge and therefore a package or a system is necessary to integrate all of the required services and activities in a single unit. Australian banking industry is one of the prime applicants of these packages and therefore many of the service providers have established their foot in the field to cater the needs of the public. One of the fine examples of the same is the Xero accounting package with the advantages and features as listed below.  

• Processing speed and speed of operations is fast
• Reconciliation activities can be executed with much ease
• User experience is rick
• Integration and collaboration is excellent and easy (Miller, 2016).

The demand for automated accounting systems is huge and therefore a package or a system is necessary to integrate all of the required services and activities in a single unit. Australian banking industry is one of the prime applicants of these packages and therefore many of the service providers have established their foot in the field to cater the needs of the public. One of the fine examples of the same is the Intuit QuickBooks accounting package with the advantages and features as listed below.  

• The cost that is charged for this package is very low.
• Performance of this software remains consistent all throughout.
• It offers some of the latest tools and operations in terms of data management.
• There are no charges levied for basic services such as payroll activities
• It can be used on mobile platforms along with web platforms.
• The package offers excellent security to ensure that there are no mis-happenings executed by the attackers (Advisoryhq, 2015).

The demand for automated accounting systems is huge and therefore a package or a system is necessary to integrate all of the required services and activities in a single unit. Australian banking industry is one of the prime applicants of these packages and therefore many of the service providers have established their foot in the field to cater the needs of the public. One of the fine examples of the same is the Reckon accounting package with the advantages and features as listed below.  

• Huge customer base in the market
• Can be trusted as investments remain safe and secure
• Integration and collaboration is excellent
• Advanced features and services in terms of billing and invoicing activties (Carey, 2015).

The demand for automated accounting systems is huge and therefore a package or a system is necessary to integrate all of the required services and activities in a single unit. Australian banking industry is one of the prime applicants of these packages and therefore many of the service providers have established their foot in the field to cater the needs of the public. One of the fine examples of the same is the Saasu accounting package with the advantages and features as listed below.  

• Integration and collaboration is excellent
• Good reputation in the market with strong base
• Can be easily customized and scaled up or scaled down
• Can be synced as per the language and currency requirement

Cost of the accounting software (Advisoryhq, 2015)

• Concerns associated with the security of transactions and that of the security and privacy of the information
• Involvement of too many hidden costs that are revealed in front of the customers once the purchase is made (Crowder, 2016).
• Lack of adequate system documentation leading to difficulties, inconvenience and execution of errors.
• Inadequate maintenance and post-production support

Conclusion

Accounts related activities are associated with any organization type and therefore it is essential for the organizations to have latest set of practices and services applied in this particular area. Automation has become an integral part of accounting activities and banking is one of the strong examples of the same. There are several automated accounting software packages that are available to the customers such as MYOB, Xero, Reckon, Saasu and many more. Each of the packages has its own set of features and offerings. There may also be certain challenges that may come up for the users in terms of usage and costs. These challenges can be tackled by careful analysis of the package before purchasing.

References

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Afpbb, (2016) The Australian Accounting Industry. [online] Afpbb.net.au. Available at:

https://www.afpbb.net.au/Resources/TheAustralianAccountingIndustry.aspx [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017].

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Carey, M. (2015) Cloud Accounting Overview 2015: MYOB Essentials vs Xero vs Intuit QuickBooks Online vs Reckon One – Digital First. [online] Digital First. Available at:

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James, D. (2016) 7 accounting packages for Australian small businesses compared: including MYOB, QuickBooks Online, Reckon, Xero. [online] BIT. Available at:

https://www.bit.com.au/Review/344651,7-accounting-packages-for-australian-small-businesses-compared-including-myob-quickbooks-online-reckon-xero.aspx [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017].

Mallery, M. (2011). Project Management Portal (PMP) from the University of Washington Information Technology Wiki –

https://wiki.cac.washington.edu/display/pmportal/Project+Management+Portal. Technical Services Quarterly, 28(3), pp.365-367.

Miller, K. (2016) Xero Review 2016 | Reviews, Ratings, Complaints, Comparisons. [online] Merchant Maverick. Available at:

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Mohapatra, S. and Patnaik, A. (2011). Sustainability in HRIS implementation through effective project management. International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 3(1), p.78.

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https://www.myob.com/au/accounting-software/compare [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017].

Ryan, E. (2016) The Evolution of Accounting Software: Past, Present and Future|. [online] Gaaaccounting.com. Available at:

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Seethamraju, R. (2012). Business process management: a missing link in business education. Business Process Management Journal, 18(3), pp.532-547.

Woolworths, (2017). Woolworths Supermarket – Buy Groceries Online. [online] Woolworths Online. Available at:

https://www.woolworths.com.au/ [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017].

Yang, Y. and Tamir, G. (2015). Offshore software project management: mapping project success factors. International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 7(2), p.111.

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