Information Systems Design and Development for Accountants

Information
Systems Design
and Development
for Accountants

Task 1
Traditional Accounting System refers to the process of managing the different
accounting, compliance and the related procedures, on papers and through hands, instead of
the computer systems and the networking techniques. The methodology is best suited for the
small size of businesses, where the transactions are fewer and are less complex to understand
and manage. Accountants manually fill the various columns of the books such as cash
registers, journals, and more. In addition, the bills are prepared using hands and the trial
balances and the preparation of the financial statements is done manually. Some of the chief
benefits of using the traditional accounting systems are as follows. Firstly, the traditional
accounting systems are run at relatively lower costs as compared to the computerised
accounting systems. The gross investment and the maintenance expenditure are lesser in the
traditional accounting processes (Arcega et. al, 2015). The second advantage of the
traditional accounting systems is that these are generally free from the cyber security threats
and the security risks involved on account of the digitalisation, loss of the shared data,
unauthorised access and such. The third major strength of the traditional accounting systems
is that the amount of time and the expertise required to manage the operations effectively is
less. However, the traditional accounting systems have some weaknesses as well. These are
listed as follows. First major weaknesses in using the traditional accounting systems are that
the possibility of the occurrence of the errors is quite more (Brown, Dillard & Hopper, 2015).
The errors can be out of the calculation mistakes or simply because of entry not being posted
in the respective second account, according to the double entry system. Another major
weakness is that there is no backup facility for the data to be stored and accessed in critical
situations. The data is wholly recorded in the said books, and storage of the books and papers
manually is a tedious task for the accountants (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2017). Some other
disadvantages are that manual accounting procedure is bound to be less reliable because of

the human involvement and the related factors such as boredom, tiredness, manipulation and
more.
Some of the various accounting techniques that can be opted by Walton Brothers, as
they try to automate the accounting systems are being explained as follows. Firstly, the entity
can make more use of the Microsoft office techniques such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft
Word, online tax calculators, and more. This way, an entity can opt for a combination of
manual and automated processes. The second technique that can be opted by the owners of
the entity is to integrate the computers and networking systems into the accounting processes
of the entity. This can be done by installing accounting soft wares as described below.
Two of the most popular accounting software that can be used by the owners to fasten
and make the accounting processes more reliable is MYOB Business Software and
Accounting Solution, and XERO. The MYOB software is referred to as an accounting
solution for the businesses of all sizes and types. The software is embedded with tools for
management of the taxation, preparation of the invoices, maintain the payroll, management of
the expenses and preparation and reporting the financial statements in an effective manner.
XERO accounting software is the cloud-based accounting software system mainly suited to
the small and the medium-sized businesses (XERO, 2018a).
MYOB is further divided into various categories i.e. the MYOB Essentials, MYOB
Account right, MYOB Invoices and the MYOB Account edge, for the small businesses
(MYOB, 2018). Both of the above-mentioned accounting software comes with various)
subscription plans, depending upon the requirements of the businesses. While the MYOB
Essential software subscription starts from $ 20 per month (MYOB, 2018), XERO offers the
first subscription for $ 9 per month (XERO, 2018b). Both the subscriptions involve different
features and therefore the difference between the costs. The major investments that are

required to be made by the owners in integrating the accounting processes with the modern
accounting soft wares are the cost of computer systems, printers, internet connections, other
hardware infrastructure, the installation cost of software, training cost for the employees, and
other related software. However, these are one-time investments only, which hold the
potential to yield benefits for a number of years.
Currently, the issues concerning the timely management of operations are the main
concerns faced by the entity owned by Walton Brothers. In addition, the accountant of the
entity is unable to manage the various tasks simultaneously. As she concentrates on one task,
the other task is delayed. The software like above would solve the entity’s problem of timely
management and reliability of operations. These would automate a number of procedures
such as calculations of taxes, depreciation, values at the year-end, double posting of journal
entries, tracking expenses, managing purchase orders, inventory and payroll management and
more. The accountants are simply required to record the transactions the first time, the rest of
the operations are almost automated. In addition, both the software uses the cloud computing
system for the storage of the backup of the processes and data, which can be readily accessed
as and when required and is safe. Some of the other strengths of the usage of the software like
above are online training and support for installation and use, customised services, legal
compliances, interaction with the online software communities and more (Simkin, Norman &
Rose, 2014).
However, the cost consideration, training, and the security issues are still a major
concern for the use of the accounting software. In addition, as the employees of the company,
especially the accountants are well versed and comfortable in handling the traditional
accounting systems, employee resistance is also crucial for the successful installation and
working of the software. The owners must also be careful of the security concerns arising out