Computerized Strategic Information Systems

Question: Discuss about the Computerized Strategic Information Systems. Answer: Introduction The need for computerized accounting dates back to 1974, when it was done in the same manner as the Egyptians used to do 3000 years before. With the rise in trade between Europe and Middle East, it was seen that accountancy shifted towards the rope by the end of the crusades. Similar to other professions such as mathematics and medicine, trade operations paved the way for documenting transaction to ensure that agents were able to consider viable spending decisions. This was exactly seen to be first adopted by the Europe and later on Australia. It was further seen that computerized accounting acted as the successors of modern accounting principles, which was gaining popularity after 13th century, especially with the rise of Method of Venice, which received publicity for its use of three books for recording transactions. Similarly, Australia strived to improve continuously the future of the accounting profession and ensuring integrity, excellence and innovativeness by the formation of CPA in the year 1886. The recent advancements in the technology and the changing business scenario in Australia have come to rely on inventions such as accounting software packages in order to keep up with the modern accounting methods. Hence, the several requirements evolved from the historical background related to changing business scenario and implementation of modern accounting principles has led to the rise of accounting software packages. Therefore, in the recent times the use of accounting software has been seen in several small and large businesses of Australia. Some of the highly ranked accounting software used in small and medium business includes Intuit QuickBooks, MYOB, Reckon, Saasu and Xero. In cases of the large organizations, the most noted ERP software has been SAP, through which the large organizations have been able to integrate accounting with several other functional areas of the business (QuickBooks. 2017). Evidence of research In several types of small and medium enterprises based in Australia, the research evidence is shown a significant amount of improvement in the overall developments through the introduction of accounting software over the years such as Intuit QuickBooks, MYOB, Reckon, Saasu and Xero. A research study was conducted in Tasmania to show implications on changes in accountancy costs by implementation of contrast accounting systems. The compliance for the services they seem to be directly satisfying the requirements as stated in Australian taxation Office (ATO) and Australian securities and investments commission (ASIC) and Corporations law. The main work included the preparation of financial statements, income returns for an SME organization based in Tasmania. On 1st July 2000, there were several changes introduced into the income system hence it was necessary to ensure that the introduction of modern accounting methods were not related to increase the indirect cost of the organization (Chaplin 2013). The research evidence has been not only found in business concerns, corporate organizations and small firms, but the integration of computerized accounting has also been seen to be benefiting the learners of the subject. In several cases, the application of accounting software has been seen to be useful for many users of accounting packages. Hence, the research showed that whether the implementation of accounting software had a subsequent change in the external accounting fees. The findings showed that in less than 3% of the obtained results SMEs were seen to be reporting a decrease in the accounting fees and in more than 45% of the cases the organization experienced a fee hike. The research findings further implied that that this increase in the accounting fees was not due to the implementation of accounting softwares but the main cause was associated to inadequate understanding of the accounting principles (Robb, Rohde and Green 2014). Development of Discussion The development of the discussion has been segregated in several sections. This has been shown advent of adoption techniques related to the accounting softwares, the present market size, the leaders of the accounting softwares in Australia and different types of challenges experienced by the customers. Adoption and development of accounting software The main development of the accounting software was seen to emerge due to the need of Accounting Information System. It is defined as that mechanism which accounts for recording and processing of accounting transactions within various types of functional modules such as accounts receivable, trial balance, payroll and accounts payable. That adoption and the development related to the accounting software was further seen with the rise of the concept of cloud accounting. In several cases, it has been also observed that Small Business Accounting (SBA) accounting software has led to several technological advancements related to sophistication, power, speed and flexibility (Newman et al. 2015). Over the years the development of the accounting software is has been seen in terms of adding more features to the financial packages such as marketing, supply chain activities, web interface and procurement of the materials. Hence, the main advancements are seen in terms of automatic updating of th e accounting information and its impacts on subsequent ledger accounts. The recent development in the accounting software such as Reckon is not only identified for its features such as performing point of sale transactions but features such as linking of sales transaction to the deck stop software suit (AdvisoryHQ. 2015). The present market size At present, it has been observed that MYOB itself has a customer base of more than 500,000 users in Australia and New Zealand. It has been further seen that more than 18,000 copies of Small Business Accounting (SBA) are sold off the shelf every year in Australia. It has been further reported that more than 77% of the IT systems based in Australia rely on the technology of comprised accounting softwares. The main implementation on the IT adoptions has been seen in the small and medium enterprises. In Australia, the SME sector has been seen to be consisting of 99% of all the business activities. The employees consisting in the SME organizations using the various types of accounting software has been seen to be ranging from 1 to 20. Hence, it can be said that the present market size of Australia consists of mostly the SMEs and the IT companies. The present customer base of Xero in has been seen with more than 400,000 customers all over the globe (Curtis 2015). The leaders of accounting software in Australia The leaders of the accounting software in Australia have been seen with three big players such as MYOB, Intuit and Xero. The competition related to the cloud accounting has shown MYOB as the supreme leader of accounting software for the medium and small enterprises and Intuit QuickBooks for the small Australian business owners (Heber 2015). In Australia MYOB have been seen with the market share ranging from a AUD 31.7 to 33.8 million and with an indicative price range of $ 3- $ 4 per share in the IPO. On the other hand, Xero has reported to receive payments from more than 180 countries and revenues worth $ 240 billion from the transactions and more than 95 million invoices (Heber 2015). Intuit has seen to be responding with allocation of significant investments through the developments in cloud-based offerings and in acquisition of internal development program. It has been further seen to be making an investment $ 250 million for its cloud-based offering (Mayasari 2015). Intuit QuickBooks is seen to be the most popular in terms of small Australian business owners due to its low price and comprehensive level of features. One can pay an amount of $ 12 per month in order to avail the basic features and $ 21 per month in order to avail the premium version. This is comparatively low when it comes to implementation of other software such as MYOB the charges between $ 50- $ 99 per month. Current gaps and challenges identified by the customers The findings from an experiment conducted in Australia related to learning benefits of employing accounting software in classrooms showed that the integration of accounting package in the accounting curriculum does not enhance the understanding of accounting concepts. This has further shown that several customers and users of accounting software find it difficult in understanding the application of accounting tools (Cluteinstitute.com. 2017). Some of the main noted gaps are further seen in terms of lack of security, weak reporting service, lack of efficiency, poor integration of customer relationship management, compatibility of the accounting software. It has been further seen that software such as SAP is very expensive and in many cases, users find it difficult to customize (QuickBooks and Premiere 2013). Recommendations Based on the several findings, it can be said that companies should rely on the use of accounting software is but at the same time monitor and crosscheck the accounting transactions which have been entered using the accounting software. In case of misinterpretation or disintegration of accounting data, the organizations should also ensure that they are able to avail the adequate support service from the software companies. Conclusion The findings based on the report have been able to show the historical background of emergence of accounting software in Australia. It has been further able to show the various types of development of the same and highlight on the importance of cloud accounting and accounting information system, which have led to the rise of accounting software or packages used in Australia. The several findings based on the previous research have also stated accounting softwares comes with its own pros and cons. Reference List AdvisoryHQ. 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