Accounting Services Strategic Information System

Question: Discuss about the Accounting Services for Strategic Information System. Answer: Introduction The assignment studies the evolution of accounting software highlighting the dramatic revolution that took place at the present and future of accounting services and software. The adoption and development of accounting software have been an evolution to paperwork in accounting and finance. Moreover, the review highlights the history as well as present scenario of accounting software packages that enabled quick reporting, storage and easy processing of financial information (Murungi and Kayigamba 2015). History of Accounting Software/ Packages in Australia In general, history dates back to millenniums, with the necessity for tracking assets and transactions during the initial development of numbers, arithmetic and even writing. However, with each passing day until our millennia our dependency in computers increased every day to a point where we require computers to even drive our cars, let alone provide entertainment, enforce global communication, etc. Accounting softwares millennia begin when a modern digital computer was gradually developed and was sold to private business for accounting purposes in 1955, 61 years from now. However, the first business to ever introduce computers for accounting dates back to the 1960s where a modern computer (at that time) was used for accounting related calculations. In Australia, standards of accounting were originally burgeoned by the professional accounting bodies, which were prosecuted under the code of ethics forming the Australian Accounting Standards Board (Scott 2015). Prior to the modern era of todays, accounting software were modified and was considered a superhuman task that could be prepared byte by byte over months of hard work. Moreover, to reduce mass employment significantly over adding machines and immense paperwork, there was a lot that needed to be improved upon (Curtis and Averis 2014). However, in 1980s software began improving such that during the eighties, a mettlesome young company known as Teleware Inc. developed an avant-garde accounting software which caught the attention of many accounting firms and was later on bought by an Australian publisher and was named MYOB Limited (Mind Your Own Business) in 1999 (Fletcher-Brown 2015). Therefore, it created a revolution in the accounting software packages in Australia. In the current scenario, accounting software handled almost all aspects of tracking the movement of money for essentially everyone in the world. The updated approaches in hardware and the rise of cellular technology meant less reliance on outdated, bulky and rather expensive boxes in order to achieve advantage. However, with modern mobile technology and modern user interface, the human elements of business became more friendly and accessible (Scott 2015). Development and Adoption The computerised accounting system was known as off the shelf accounting programs at remarkably low cost as it carried out different functions of payments, invoicing, wages and providing regular accounting reports. The accounting software packages were principally adopted for high speed, accuracy of operations and real-time status of companys financial position. Although, it was primarily done for ease of use to get instant reports on management on sales analysis, trial balance, stock valuation, budget analysis, payroll analysis as well as GST/ VAT returns. However, computerised accounting software also provided a basis for day-today bookkeeping tasks, clients accounts and returns which freed the staff of business from time consuming as well as administrative tasks (Hadler 2016). Moreover, with addition of cloud system, it added alertness in the system as one could set up its early warnings for unused activities like posing for profit and loss account instead of balance sheet, maintaining in clients books. Nevertheless, the alert system developed the easier way of resolving disputed before becoming an issue while saving time and clients information (Coltman 2014). Current Market Size and Competitors The accounting, more precisely, the bookkeeping system has been blown wide by the cloud services such as Intuit and Xero. The market leaders that are known to be big players in accounting software market are MYOB, Xero and Intuit. However, MYOB had been growing at a fast pace and has been maintaining its market share and a rise between AU831.7 million dollars and AU833.8 million dollars based on a revealing range of price between 34 dollars a share in IPO (Heber 2015). The two giants rolled up in the Australian market and are described to be combative as the accounting software industry is disturbed. However, in the past 12 months, Xero and Intuit has evolved. Xero has evolved from a start up with more than 400,000 paying customers with 240 billion dollars transactions whereas Intuit, since past 12 months has grown to 60 staff members and had made two acquisitions that is Invitco and Fifo (King 2014). However, in the recent years, global incumbents have been investing in building in their own cloud-based offerings through acquisitions and internal development. However, to compete the growing competition in the recent market trend, MYOB has invested 40 million dollars to make developments in bills and invoices, automated data entry system, improving mobile experiences, payments as well as banking. Figure 1: MYOB and (MYOB vs. Xero) Source: (Heber 2015) Moreover, recent small businesses like QuickBooks Online and Reckon have also come in business. Although, the small businesses are uncomfortable with the idea of cloud computing products but with extra features like payroll, time tracking, billing, inventory as well as Point of sale (POS), the customer can subscribe to a different payroll program in the view of integration (James and Maher 2016). According to the present scenario, the software publishing industry has shown a steady growth in the last five years with emergence of new technology and online connectivity. Increased high-speed internet has taken advantage of cloud computing as well as new hardware like tablest and smartphones. The industry revenue is expected to rise at an annual rate of 10.9% in a period of five years from 2015-16 to achieve 2.3 billion dollars. Therefore, the growth is forecasted to increase by 14.8% to adopt the distributive model of software as a service (SaaS) for the industry participants (Ibisworld 2016). Current Challenges The current challenges that accounting software system has been facing highlights in the problem of stream of payments (Hossack 2015). Additionally, there is no rigorous back up regime such that if the data gets lost, it is hard to sustain it. However, a major concern is data security as the online content is vulnerable to hackers, threats as well as frauds. However, accounting software are not novice-friendly as a result; organizations trained workforce can only use it (Rittinghouse and Ransome 2016). Recommendations The recommendations that can be made to the accounting software packages in Australia are given as: The official should ensure system maintenance of routine programs in order to get liberated from different threats and frauds. Apart from training the staff, it is also important the staff have a continuous check on failing the system as the concern to report impartial financial information. However, there is a need for more audit reviews to check the strength as well as appraise the introduced within the system controls (Murungi and Kayigamba 2015). Conclusion To conclude, it can be said that the accounting software packages were developed to free from paperwork system and provide a refined yet organized way of performing accounting tasks. However, this method had been adopted in 1955 but it all started because of software named MYOB Limited (Mind Your Own Business) in Australia. Although, the market for accounting software are increasing in the market but on the other hand, MYOB had been facing a tough competition from Xero and other new entrants like QuickBooks Online and Reckon. Moreover, there are certain challenges that it has been facing in day to day operations and certain recommendations had been made to provide a change in the given scenario of accounting software packages. References Coltman, E. 2014.Are you wasting time with these give accounting software problems | FreeAgent | ICAS. Icas.com. Available at: https://www.icas.com/ca-today-news/are-you-wasting-time-with-these-five-accounting-software-problems [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. Curtis, V. and Averis, L., 2014.Bookkeeping For Dummies-Australia/NZ. John Wiley Sons. Fletcher-Brown, R., 2015. Mind Your Own Businesshow can we best support employers to improve the mental health of their employees?.Perspectives in public health,135(1), pp.18-20. Hadler, G. 2016.The Advantages of Using Computerised Accounting Software, MYOB, Mind Your Own Business. Itseducation.asia. Available at: https://www.itseducation.asia/computerized-accounting.htm [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. Heber, A. 2015.The cloud accounting supremacy war in Australia. Businessinsider.com.au. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/charts-the-battle-for-supremacy-in-australias-cloud-accounting-market-2015-4 [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. Hossack, S., 2015. Cloud-based accounting and productivity tools for practitioners and taxpayers.Taxation in Australia,50(5), p.265. Ibisworld. 2016.Software Publishing in Australia Market Research | IBISWorld. Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/default.aspx?indid=5275 [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. James, D. and Maher, W. 2016.7 accounting packages for Australian small businesses compared: including MYOB, QuickBooks Online, Reckon, Xero. 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 23 Aug. 2016]. King, R. 2014.Intuit buying cloud-based bookkeeping startup Invitco | ZDNet. ZDNet. Available at: https://www.zdnet.com/article/intuit-buying-cloud-based-bookkeeping-startup-invitco/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. Murungi, S. and Kayigamba, C., 2015. The impact of computerized accounting system on financial reporting in the ministry of local government of Rwanda.Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS),6(4), pp.261-265. Rittinghouse, J.W. and Ransome, J.F., 2016.Cloud computing: implementation, management, and security. CRC press. Scott, B. 2015.The Accounting Journal: Accounting Software Grows Up - The Pulse Australia. The Pulse Australia. Available at: https://myob.com.au/blog/the-accounting-journal-accounting-software-grows-up/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. Scott, B. 2015.The Accounting Journal: Accounting Through Antiquity - The Pulse Australia. The Pulse Australia. Available at: https://myob.com.au/blog/the-accounting-journal-accounting-through-antiquity/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016].