Questions:
1. You are a Systems Accountant working as an independent consultant. You have been approached by a local small wholesaler who has grown significantly since they opened their business 5 years ago. You have been employed to provide a report to the business that outlines the following:
• Differences between a cloud based accounting system and a traditional accounting system
• Advantages of a cloud system
• Potential areas of concern around cloud accounting
Within the report the business would also like you to compare (in table format) 3 potential cloud accounting systems that would fulfil the following:
• GL, AR, AP, Payroll for 20, Inventory and reporting
• Dashboard
• Secure Bankfeeds
Also provide details of any additional features that you believe may benefit the business. Compare and contrast the cost of using these systems, and make a recommendation to the business based on your analysis.
2. You have recently started in a new organisation as a Financial Accountant. Part of this role involves supervising the Accounts Payable department. You have early concerns around Internal Controls within the existing process. You have decided to undertake an initial internal audit of the AP process, specifically focussing on accuracy, completeness and validity of the process. The scope of the investigation is to review:
a) Master file data
b) Purchase transactions
c) Purchase returns
d) Purchase discounts
e) Payments
Provide a report to your manager, the Financial Controller, identifying potential internal control risks that may exist in each of the areas above (a-e). You must also recommend appropriate Internal Control measure to mitigate the risks.
3. HTH Corporation has been growing rapidly, as has their technology. Systems have been added on an as-needs basis which has resulted in a “patchwork quilt” of over 20 best of breed legacy systems. Many of these legacy systems are over 10 years old. To improve the quality of their business-decision information, HTH has decided to implement a solution that will bring their disparate systems together in one seamless dataflow.
Using the framework provided in step 1 of the SDLC, provide HTH Corporation with a summary (no more than 1000 words) of what they should do next. You can use headings and subheadings as part of your summary. Include in your answer an overview of who from HTH Corporation should be involved and any outcomes/ deliverables that HTH should expect from this step.
There are a number of differences when it comes to traditional accounting systems and the cloud based accounting system.
Audit refers to the through examination of all the internal controls and assessing their adequacy and whether they are operating and whether they are able to detect the material misstatements.
Further, there are a number of accounting packages that could be implemented in the business system. But the system to be used must be assessed and then the appropriate action must be taken.
The following are the differences between cloud accounting and traditional accounting:
1. Cloud based accounting entails a huge amount of savings and they are immediately seen whereas the traditional accounting involves huge outlay of costs.
2. In the cloud based accounting system, the accounts are kept online and can be retrieved using the internet but under the traditional based accounting, there is no such possibility.
3. The cloud based accounting system is more flexible when it comes to accessing the information while travelling whereas the same cannot be done in the traditional accounting
4. The cloud based accounting system has some of the added features and additions but the same are not present in the traditional accounting system
5. The cloud based accounting system can update and upgrade the system automatically but the same is not possible for the traditional based accounting system
6. The cloud based accounting system backs up all the information online but the same is not possible under the traditional accounting system.
7. In terms of back up, the cloud accounting backs up all the processes online. There is a single source of information that is continuously backed up so as to avoid the risk of the data loss whereas under the traditional accounting, the backups are done manually.
The following are the merits of the cloud based accounting systems:
1. It saves money
2. It provides the financial information in the real time
3. There could be an effective and an efficient way of collaborating with the accountants, managers, partners and the other staff that belong to the different locations.
4. The degree of fraud is reduced with the help of the cloud based accounting system
5. The efficiency of the accounting system is increased when cloud based accounting system is used.
The following are the risks that are involved:
1. Disagreement among the employees
2. The controls may have been over written by the management
3. The controls may have been designed in such a way that they are good for the handling of the routine tasks but are somewhat not adaptable for the non-routine tasks
4. Errors of humans
5. The cost of the controls may be so huge that they are way beyond the benefits that they provide.
The following are some of the controls that could be in place in the purchase system:
Systems development life cycle is concerned with the development of the system through the various stages of the information systems development project. This includes a number of stages such as the feasibility study, system analysis etc among others.
The following are the benefits that are involved:
The analysis of the system refers to the specification of the requirements of the system. The person who does the analysis of the system is the system analyst. He is the one who is responsible for the work of the analysis of the system. The following are the common responsibilities that are associated with the work of the system analyst:
1. System analysis: it is very important for the system analyst to know the working of the activity of the business. The analysts has to gather all the information and the requirements that must be there in the system so that all the requirements of the users are fulfilled.
2. System designing: in this, the system has to be designed along with the development of the application
3. Designing and programming: in this stage, the analyst performs as the programmer and he writes the codes so as to implement the design of the proposed application. The system analyst is required to handle a huge amount of responsibilities and it is due to this reason, he must possess the skills so that his responsibilities can be fulfilled in the most efficient manner. The system analyst must also possess the following information:
4. The working knowledge of the business module so that the analyst can imbed the features of the same in his application. But for this, he must know the general functioning of the business
5. The analyst must be very skilful at all the stages of the development so that there could be an efficient interaction between the users and then the stated requirements must be extracted.
6. The system analyst must possess the problem solving skills so that there could be a definition of the alternative solutions and solutions for the various problems that occur as and when the stages of the development are progressed. The analysis of the system must be done in order to define the requirements of the organization and this could be done through a variety of ways and methods. The information that is gathered by the system analysts are gathered either manually or through the use of the computers. The collection of the information is very important and could even affect all the major decision of the organization
7. Requirements defining: the system analyst must undertake interviews with the users, observation, walkthroughs etc, and questionnaire so that he can understand the exact requirements of the user.
8. Requirements prioritizing: each and every user has his own set of requirements and perceives the information in a very different way. But the limitation here is that it is not possible due to the limitation on the capacity to satisfy the requirements of the users
9. Facts gathering: after the needs and the requirements of the users have been determined, the necessary information and the useful information is collected. The system analyst then starts developing the system with the help and involvement of the users. The users from time to time keep on helping the system analyst so that the system could be developed faster.
10. Evaluating the system: the system undergoes continuous monitoring and makes it better and user friendly for the users so that they could use the same with the utmost ease.
11. Solving of problems: the analyst should have the in depth knowledge of the business and therefore, must provide the alternative solutions to the management. The analyst must present some of the flexible alternatives to the management that they have a variety of options to choose from.
12. Specifications drawings: during the process of system analysis, the analyst must lay down the points that are not technical. The managers should draw the specifications that are useful for the managers. The specifications and the requirements drawn must be in detail and presentable.
The following are the deliverables for the system analysis:
Conclusion:
The cloud based system must be used since it has a number of advantages.
Also, there are a number of controls that must be kept in place so as to ensure that the organization is safe and that there is no mis-statement.
And even when there are mis-statements, they do not go undetected. This is mainly due to the reason that the misstatements can affect the confidence of the people that believe in the financial statements and when there are misstatements, they will no longer know whether to believe in them or not.
Audit is concerned with the detailed examination of the financial statements. The main aim of audit is to give an opinion on the reliability of the financial statements and keep the confidence of the investors intact in the financial statements.
References:
Accountantnextdoor.com, (2015). Advantages and disadvantages of cloud accounting to a small business | Investment and Small Business Accountants. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
McCarthy, D. (2013). Out of the Office: Cloud-Based Accounting vs. Traditional Accounting | Compass EAST. Compasseast.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
opentuition.com, (2015). Internal Control Systems. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
Price, D., & VIPs, L. (2012). Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing To Accounting Firms – CloudTweaks.com. CloudTweaks.com.
Searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com, (2015). What is systems development life cycle (SDLC)? – Definition from WhatIs.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
Umsl.edu, (2015). Deliverables in Analysis. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download