Development and Adoption

Discuss about the case study Strategic Information System for Australian Accounting Association Board.

In the growth or the development of the country, the suitable accounting system plays an important role. The introduction of the Accounting software or packages is considered as the successful experiment for the existing accounting system in Australia. In the year 1983, the company In Suit launches the Accounting Software which was helpful in managing the accounts in the computerized manner. Xero, MYOB, Cash book complete, Reckon, Saasu and Intuit Quick Books are considered as some of the major accounting systems after the introduction of the new software (AdvisoryHQ Team, 2016). The aim of all these accounting system is to manage and maintain the accounts appropriately, so that the most suitable or the required output can be obtained easily. The different softwares have their different initiating process. The applications developed for the accounting system helps in providing the suitable assistance to the accountant in the professional manner (Business Management & Finance High School, 2014).

The Australian Accounting Association Board (AASB) is responsible for making the suitable accounting system for the development and growth of the country. The specific standards are prepared by the Board to manage the economy of the country and by this system; the existing management related to the accounting system also gets strengthened. Before adopting the software related to the accounting system, there are various aspects introduced in the country. The famous author Eamon Ryan also defined the past, present and future aspects of accounting system in his journal named as the “Journal of Global Accounting Alliance GAA”. According to Ryan, the bookkeeping software and database management software are also defined for managing the accounts. But, all of them fail in providing the suitable feedback to the organization (Muller, 2015). Every application possesses some drawbacks due to which the execution and the maintenance of the proper accounting system could not become possible. After this, the mobile technology related to the accounting system was introduced, through which the easy handling of the accounts can be possible. But the mobile applications are only helpful in managing the smaller sized organizations. The medium-sized and the larger sized organization possesses the big database, so to keep up that data, the system based accounting software or packages are introduced which are helpful in providing the complete assistance related to the accounting system. Most of the softwares are based on the cloud computing system and some of them also prefer SAAS.

The accounting software or the accounting packages are designed to manage the accounts related aspects in the organization in a well defined way. The organizations in Australia are continuously switching towards the accounting package to make their work more correct and rapid. To develop an existing accounting system in the country, various rules and policies are defined by the Australian securities and the investment commissions (ASIC’S). The commission helps in providing the suitable approval to the standards managed by the organization. These laws are also helpful in providing help to the customers, employees, stakeholders and the investors (Ryan, 2012). According to the article defined in the Businesswise website, the suitable comparison between the Xero, MYOB and Quickbooks online is identified. By this, the most appropriate pricing of the cloud computing can be identified. The suitable pricing system will be helpful in making the developmental aspects of the accounting system easier.

Current Market Size and Market Leaders

The current market size of the country (i.e. Australia) is very wide and financial turnover of the country is also very high. There are various types of business which are contributing in the financial aspects of the country. To manage the aspects and the database of the organization, it is essential to propose such software which can able to offer the suitable help to the organization, and which can help to manage the accounts easily. Currently, the Australian market expands in size, due to which the industry is defined in the mature phase of the life cycle. Due to the increase in business aspects and its expansion, it is essential to introduce such system by which the account management in the country can be possible. By various researches and the market research, it is defined that there are nearly 3000 small, medium and large sized business executing in Australia, in which maximum number of employees are engaged. The different type of studies defines that it is essential to introduce such accounting system by which the rapid growth of the organization may become possible.

According to the article defined in the Itwire business paper which is written by Peter Dinham, the specific identification of the market leaders in the accounting software are defined. According to the author, now Xero accounting software is considered as the most promising software which is helpful in providing the suitable assistance to the accounting system in Australia. Various organizations are adopting the policies of Xero to manage the accounting system. In comparison to MYOB and QuickBooks online, the organization is adapting the cloud system defined by the Xero. Xero is the Australian based accounting software system with its headquarters situated in New Zealand (Dinham, 2016).  Xero was founded in the year 2006 by Rod Drury and his personal accountant to eradicate the old system of the desktop accounting software. The facility of the cloud based accounting system may be provided to the small and the medium sized companies. The organization is also identified with the name defined as the “Beautiful Accounting System”. Xero is considered as the top most leaders of the accounting system due to all the features possessed by it. The other softwares are also defined in the market, but some of them possess the high price and others are not providing suitable feedback. Xero is considered as the suitable market leader in all aspects like in price, in execution, in reference to the services and many other aspects in comparison to the other accountant service providing softwares (IBISWorld, 2016).

Current Gaps or Challenges Encounter

The chances of comparison between the simple ledger keeping and the new software system increases after introducing the new accounting software in the country. There are various gaps which are observed between the latest accounting system and the manual book-keeping system. The major gap which can be identified is related to the technical gaps. The latest system is full of technical aspects in comparison to the manual system. Other than this, the other gaps relate to the sharing of the information and management of the accounting software (Maduqne, 2013).

The major challenges are defined on the different level. The employees, organizations and the accountants are facing issues on the wide level. The major challenge is related to the management of the software. The accountant of the organization generally has the practice to manage the manual accounting system. To manage the accounting system, it is essential to provide the training to the accountant, which is considered as a quite difficult task. The introduction of the accounting software in the organization needs the suitable financial aspects for the installation. Without installing the software, it is not possible to manage the accounting software. On the organizational level, the challenges are related to the management of the new software in the organization. It’s not considered as an easy task to manage the new software. On an organizational level, the specific strategy should be planned in a suitable manner. According to the employees’ point of view, managing the personal accounting and to identify the updates are considered as the tough tasks. So, the employees also want the personal training and mentorship to manage their personal accounting system (Lambert, 2015).

Conclusion and Recommendation

The complete literature review and articles defined on the particular topic will be helpful in clearing the major aspects related to the accounting software in Australia. There are various literature, journals and the articles defined in reference to the above topic, which are also helpful in evaluating the current topic in the suitable manner. After analyzing the various articles, there are various pros and cons defined for the accounting software system in Australia. The positive aspects which are defined above relate to the positive response, rapid working strategy and it also makes the calculation very easier. In fact, some of the articles also defined that the new accounting software also contributes in managing the economic aspects of the country easily. But with the pros, there are some cons too. To eradicate the cons, there are some recommendations identified.

• The suitable training should be provided to the accountants, so that they can able to manage the accounts easily.
• The process of installation should be easier. The easy process will provide the suitable assistance to the employee. By this, the employee can able to install and manage the software.
• On organizational level, the team members should be well prepared for the software accounting system. The mental stability will make the acceptance easier for the employees.

By managing all these aspects the successful accounting software can easily be introduced.

AdvisoryHQ Team, 2016. 5 Best Small Business Accounting Software in Australia. 5 Best Small Business Accounting Software in Australia.

Business Management & Finance High School, 2014. History of accounting software most typical used, Available at: https://www.coursehero.com/file/p39rj1q/History-of-accounting-software-most-typical-used-method-in-accounting-was/

Dinham, P., 2016. Xero, Comm Bank collaborate on new bank feeds facility for SMEs. Xero, Comm Bank collaborate on new bank feeds facility for SMEs, 12 July.

IBISWorld, 2016. Market Research and Statistical Services in Australia. Market Research and Statistical Services in Australia, June.

Lambert, A., 2015. What are the challenges faced by small businesses today?. What are the challenges faced by small businesses today?, Available at: https://www.xero.com/blog/2015/05/challenges-faced-by-small-businesses/

Maduqne, 2013. Problems faced by companies that are using accounting software for their businesses. Problems faced by companies that are using accounting software for their businesses, 13 September.

Muller, T., 2015. Comparison: Cloud Accounting Software. [Online]
Available at: https://www.businesswise.com.au/cloud-accounting-software-comparison/

Ryan, E., 2012. The evolution of accounting software: Past, present and future. The evolution of accounting software: Past, present and future, 08 October, Available at: https://www.gaaaccounting.com/the-evolution-of-accounting-software-past-present-and-future/