Cloud Accounting Software Advancements

This assignment delves into the evolving landscape of cloud accounting software. It requires an analysis of the latest advancements, exploring their influence on business operations and user experiences. The focus is on understanding how these technological developments are shaping the future of accounting.

Running head: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Information Management Systems
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

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Executive Summary
B Bakery is a family-owned business. The company is near about fifty years old and
currently, seventy employees work over there. The report explains the business activities of B
bakery in details. B Bakery faces certain issues related to accounts and finance, so they
appoint an accountant to manage all the financial activities of the company. However, they
feel that they need to adapt accounting software to enhance their business activities. They
believe the accounting software will help to manage the accounts. The software will help
them to serve their customers well. The report compares three accounting software packages
SAP, MYOB and Xero. Xero is the best among the three software chosen. B bakery can
enhance their productivity with the aid of the Xero. All the beneficial aspects that Xero can
offer has been detailed in the report.

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Table of Contents
1. Business Processes.................................................................................................................3
a. Business activities of Bakery B..........................................................................................3
2. Developing business requirements.........................................................................................4
b. Business processes that are indispensable to be performed...............................................4
c. Outcomes required for these processes to achieve business objectives.............................5
3. Determining all the systems requirements.............................................................................6
a. Software features Bakery B should consider achieving their IT investment objective......6
4. Software selection..................................................................................................................6
a. Overview of the accounting software packages.................................................................6
b. High-end accounting software and the benefits they offer to Bakery B and their
customers..............................................................................................................................11
5. Vendor selection...................................................................................................................12
a. Comparison between two accounting software packages, Xero and MYOB Essentials. 12
c. Xero accounting software and solution and the benefits they can offer to the B Bakery 16
6. References............................................................................................................................19

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1. Business Processes
a. Business activities of Bakery B
A baker is an individual who bakes and sells bread, cakes and pastries. The place
where the baker conducts his business activities is known as a bakery.
B Bakery has been chosen as the case study in this report. It is basically a family
business. The organisation is nearly fifty years old. Bakery B is known to bake bread,
confectionary items and sells them in the pub-chains and the supermarkets. The organisation
has seen many ups and downs since last fifty years (Lam, 2015). However, in recent years, B
Bakery has experienced a growth because of the new business initiatives. They have currently
seventy employees working in the company. The sales revenue of the company gets enhanced
to $ 13.5 million.
However, they are concerned about the issues that creep out. They lose some key
accounts as they fail to deliver the best service to the customers. They lose the customer trust
and the customer base. B Bakery faces heavy losses and falls behind other bakery companies.
Bakery B is struggling to take orders effectively. Bakery B cannot be able to track the
inventory well. They are struggling as they do not have the latest update of the stock. They
cannot monitor the employees well. Thus they are completely unaware of all the business
activities (Kowalewski & Niedzielska, 2015). Besides they are not getting the customers’
purchasing list. Bakery B enter financial and accounting data into the system all by manually
thus it takes a longer period of time. For this reason, they are suffering to manage the
customer data, the sales and inventory. They may have multiple IT software installed within
the system; those applications are not properly integrated and thus giving complex and mixed
results.

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Bakery B appoints an accountant to manage the entire inventory and the financial data
of the company. However, they have realised that they need accounting software to manage
the inventory and the employees so that they can conduct the business activities efficiently.
Bakery B is suffering from the due to the lack of quality accounting software (Sampaio &
Bernardino, 2016). They are suffering from the lack of security, the malware attack and
insider threats can lead to data loss and security breach. The employees enter data once face
immense difficulties to get them back. The software and the technology they use are outdated
and lack efficiency. The applications they use are not at all efficient and fast. Again, the
applications they use do not integrate with the rest of the applications. The prevalent system
is also restricting the employees to communicate with the customers. They cannot provide
24x7 services to the customers (Lee, 2017). That is why they are not able to provide quality
customer service. The prevalent system of the company is not at all fast and effective. Speed
is an issue for this project. Since Bakery B is looking to configure best accounting software
for their premises they must choose the best software that can provide them with the best
solutions.
2. Developing business requirements
b. Business processes that are indispensable to be performed
Bakery B must install and configure accounting software for their business. The
accounting software is an absolute necessity for them. The software must provide access to
financial and accounting information properly. The accounting software also provides cloud
computing services. The cloud computing offers facilities- the employees of the company can
access the financial data anywhere (Aduamoah et al., 2017). The data of the company can be
accessed by the employees from the desktop machine and from the mobile device. The
accounting software provides data backup and security. The financial data can be shared with

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all the stakeholders all the time. The cost-effective solutions are provided by the accounting
software. Bakery B can save lots of money and can earn more and more revenues and so
accounting software adaptation is necessary. Bakery’s business efficiency can get enhanced
due to the business. The accounting software efficiency can help Bakery B to conduct the
business operations in an agile and effective manner so accounting software adaptation is an
utmost necessity. The prevalent system of Bakery B contains multiple flaws and because of
the software failure Bakery B is suffering loss (Rahman, 2016). Thus it is important for
Bakery B to install the latest and best accounting software that can help the stakeholders of
the company to carry out the business activities flawlessly. Bakery B needs to prevent data
loss. The company needs to prevent unauthorised access. The accounting software is capable
to provide security to Bakery B.
c. Outcomes required for these processes to achieve business objectives
There are certain advantages which are associated with the adaptation of accounting
software in the system. Manual bookkeeping is time-consuming. The accounting software
will save a lot of time of Bakery B. Accounting software facilitates automatic bookkeeping
and financial monitoring. Error-free and efficient financial data can be evaluated by the
assistance of the accounting software (Lyons, 2015). Bakery B can manage the cash by
implementing the accounting software in the system. The latest accounting software is
relatively easy and simple to use. Less training is required for the software. The accounting
software is also helpful in minimising the mistakes. The accounting software is capable to
generate correct results automatically. The accounting software offers cloud-based scalable
solutions and all these data can be accessed anywhere anytime and from any devices. The
accounting software also aids computerised invoicing. Bakery B can record the customers’
payment data with the help of the software. The company can acknowledge what customers
will have to pay with the help of the accounting software (Flaherty, 2018). The accounting

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software is helpful to track the inventory. Accurate inventory can be measured by the usage
of the software. The business process details can be known by the accounting software as
well.
3. Determining all the systems requirements
a. Software features Bakery B should consider achieving their IT investment
objective
The accounting software provides facilities to conduct business activities online over
the website and mobile app. They need to adopt cloud computing services offered by
Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure to conduct business securely and effectively (Dimitriu &
Matei, 2015). They need to have Windows or Mac devices to carry out the online activities
over the website and IOS and Android mobile platform to carry out the business activities
over the mobile phone. The management staffs and the employees of B Bakery must be well
acquainted with the software and cloud computing services (Flaherty, 2018). The
management team must train their employees so that they can use the accounting software
and cloud services effectively for the betterment of the company.
4. Software selection
a. Overview of the accounting software package
The three websites SAP, MYOB, Xero have been visited and a detailed comparison
among the three sites has been done in this report.

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Figure 1: Business Size and Industry
(Source: Lewis, 2014)

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Figure 2: Core Accounting Features and Billing and Invoicing Features
(Source: Amirul et al., 2017)

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Figure 3: Tax Features and Reporting Features
(Source: Lewis, 2014)

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Figure 4: Fixed Asset Features and Support
(Source: Zare, 2015)

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Figure 5: Functional Scores
(Source: Charron & Raschke, 2014)
It can be concluded from the functional scores that Xero accounting software is the
best. Bakery B must make full use of Xero to furnish their business.
b. High-end accounting software and the benefits they offer to Bakery B and
their customers
Bakery B can get maximum benefits by implementing the high-end accounting
software. The software implementation lowers IT related expenses. It can improve the
efficiency of the business activities. The management staff can get an overall view of all the

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business operations of Bakery B. The accounting software can help the business to monitor
the inventory levels regularly. The accounting software is also useful in generating financial
reports. The software has a built-in feature for which they provide detailed income and cash
flow reports (Rahman et al., 2014). The accounting software is useful in reduced IT and
training costs. The workforce of Bakery B can work fast and in an effective manner by
implementing the high-end accounting software. The sales team can be able to serve better to
the customers with the aid of the software. They can have the customers’ details, customers’
purchase history details. Thus the sales team can offer discounts and offers and can attract
them. Thus a high-end accounting software solution is beneficial to retain their customer
base. The software also offers data security. Bakery B can safeguard the sensitive data of the
customers. They can protect the financial data of the company from getting breached with the
assistance of the high-end accounting software solution. The accounting software also
improves collaboration and workflows. The software eases interdepartmental collaboration.
The data from each and every department of Bakery B can be funnelled into one centralised
area with the help of software (Fordham & Hamilton, 2017). Bakery B can conduct e-
commerce activities from online website and mobile app with the help of the high-end
accounting software solution. The software also aids easy data access, data storage and data
process. Thus the high-end accounting software solution can provide multiple advantages to
Bakery B by which they can furnish their business activities. Xero is one such high-end
accounting software solution they should use for their business.
5. Vendor selection
a. Comparison between two accounting software packages, Xero and MYOB
Essentials
Three accounting software has been chosen for the report, among the chosen three,
the Xero is the most effective one. Between MYOB and SAP, the MYOB is slightly better

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than the SAP. The report will explain the features offered by the two soft wares in the
following table-
Features MYOB Essentials Xero
Set up procedures The software works online,
the software can be accessed
by the mobile, tablet and the
computer
Xero works completely
online and the software can
be accessed
Software updates The software gets updated all
the time (Devine et al., 2016)
The software vendor updates
the software automatically so
that the customers can get
best services all the time, the
software is updated all the
time
Software backup The software vendor
constantly offers online
backup and security
Xero provides the online
backup as well as security
Multiple user access MYOB offers multiple user
access
Xero is also known to
provide multiple user access
(Wahab et al., 2017)
Simplicity to use Users can easily use the
application
Xero typically works fast, it
is effective. The accounting
software is relatively simple

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to use.
Reporting speed The reporting speed for the
accounting software much
higher. Only one report run
at a single instance of time
Reporting speed is much
higher. Xero has the
capability to run multiple
reports at the browser tabs at
a single instance of time
Quotation system A quotation system is offered
by MYOB (Wongsim,
Srimontree & Phosri, 2017)
Xero accounting software
provides the quotation
system. the customers by
accepting the quotes can
convert those quotes into
active jobs
Invoices MYOB can send invoices Xero accounting software is
capable to send invoices,
using nice templates, logo
and details (Quinn &
Kristandl, 2014)
Receiving payments The customers of MYOB use
multiple online payment
procedures including PayPal.
The customers can connect to
the online store
Xero customers can use
multiple payment methods
that include PayPal as well.
the customers can connect to
the online store with the aid
of the accounting software

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Receipting payments Payment from the customer
can be applied to a lot of
invoices at once (Wongsim,
Srimontree & Phosri, 2017)
Xero either performs quick
batch payments or use the
bank reconciliation screen.
Xero first our keyword
search, then the software
vendor applies payment to
numerous invoices
Payroll Allows payroll only for one
person
Xero allows payroll for the
payslips and the summaries.
Employee Logins The customers can use
MYOB only after paid
subscription
Xero customers can access
the portal for free however,
paid subscription will help to
use the Xero to the fullest
Client Cards In case of MYOB, no
purchases can be processed
against a customer card, and
no sales can be processed
against supplier card
(Wahab et al., 2017)
In case of Xero, a single
contact represents both the
consumers and the suppliers
Fixed resources or assets The fixed resources or the
assets can be added as add-on
Xero comes with built-in
Asset Register. The Asset
Register contains many
options

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Follow up debts MYOB follow up the debts Xero follows up debts with
nice templates. The software
is made to meet all the
business deliverables
International Currency It is not available for this
software, however, the
feature can be incorporated
as add-on to the accounting
software
Xero has the capability to
provide multi-currency with
rates evaluated at the current
date
Expense claims MYOB do not provide this
feature
Xero handle all the expense
claims, it performs quite well
in handling all the expenses
(Quinn & Kristandl, 2014)
Budget MYOB has numerous hidden
fees and the software comes
with several confusing
versions and the features are
quite expensive, the features
cost heavy
Xero offers maximum
services at minimal cost. It is
known to provide the cost-
effective service
Table 1: Comparison between MYOB and Xero
(Source: Created by author)

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c. Xero accounting software and solution and the benefits they can offer to the B
Bakery
Xero accounting software is best suited for B Bakery. The company can manage the
home bakery business online over the cloud platform. The software can be accessed from
anywhere anytime from any devices. The B Bakery can conduct their business from the
smartphone, PC and Mac devices. The company can keep track of the customers. B Bakery
can monitor all the customers’ activities. They can acknowledge all the customers’ purchase
lists. They can know the customers’ wish lists. They can know the products which customers
surf online. Thus with the aid of Xero, the bakery company can keep a record of the
employees' details, also they can print out the customer activity reports. Xero can record
customers’ birthday and anniversaries. The bakery business can be able to proactively
market on those special days to the customers. B Bakery can showcase all the food products
online. They can fix price for those products or recipe. The customers can know the price and
buy those recipes online (Dhar, 2018). The customers can even track their orders. They will
come to know about when and what time they will get the product. Thus Xero can facilitate
the customers in several ways.
Xero will keep photos or sketches of the finished product and will keep a record of all
the orders. Xero will keep a record of the orders from the time it is placed until the end when
it is delivered. Xero sends email or pdf invoice to the customers. Thus Bakery B can send
emails and pdf invoices to the customers so that the customers can get to know every detail of
the orders made. Xero helps to keep records of the deposits and helps to schedule future
payments (Wahab et al., 2017). Xero prints out reports and those reports are helpful in
knowing the payments which are upcoming or overdue. The customers of Bakery B can get a
detailed overview of all the food products they order. Xero also provides Pricing Calculator.
The Pricing Calculator is helpful for the customers of Bakery B to place orders effectively so

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that they can earn a profit. Xero also prepares a shopping list. The customers can know the
products which they have ordered. Bakery B can know the details of the products ordered by
the customers. Bakery B can acknowledge the customers' shopping patterns. They can know
the customers' wish list (Rahman et al., 2014). Xero can help Bakery B to evaluate the
financial data. Xero will help them to know the budget required to prepare bakery items.
Bakery B will have a record of the bakery products they make. Bakery B can calculate
the number of orders they need to serve in a particular week or a particular month. Xero will
help the bakery business to calculate the revenues, in this way Bakery B will be able to earn
maximum profit. The accounting software will help Bakery B to know the shipping address
details where the food items need to be delivered (Rahman et al., 2014). The accounting
software will help to prepare and deliver bakery items within the given time period. Thus it
can be stated that the accounting software, Xero can play a significant role in furnishing the
business activities of Bakery B. The customers of the company will similarly benefit from
this approach.

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6. References
Aduamoah, M., Yinghua, S., Anomah, S., & Ahmed, F. (2017). Riding the Waves of
Technology: A Proposed Model for the Selection of Appropriate Computerized
Accounting Software for Implementation in SMEs in Developing Countries. Archives
of Business Research, 5(12).
Amirul, S. M., Mail, R., Bakar, M. A., & Ripain, N. (2017). Information Technology
Knowledge and Skills for Accounting Graduates: An Insight from Public Accounting
Firms. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 10(12).
Charron, K., & Raschke, R. (2014). Student perceptions and experiences using Jing and
Skype in an Accounting Information Systems Class. Journal of Education for
Business, 89(1), 1-6.
Devine, T., Goseva-Popstojanova, K., Krishnan, S., & Lutz, R. R. (2016). Assessment and
cross-product prediction of software product line quality: accounting for reuse across
products, over multiple releases. Automated Software Engineering, 23(2), 253-302.
Dhar, S. (2018). Operational Route Accounting ERP Software Service: Benefits and
Obstacles.
Dimitriu, O., & Matei, M. (2015). Cloud accounting: a new business model in a challenging
context. Procedia Economics and Finance, 32, 665-671.
Flaherty, S. (2018). Bookkeeping in the Cloud: Advancements in Accounting
Software (Doctoral dissertation, Appalachian State University).
Fordham, D. R., & Hamilton, C. W. (2017). Accounting Information Technology in Small
Businesses: An Inquiry. Journal of Information Systems.

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Kowalewski, M., & Niedzielska, J. (2015). A Study of the Financial Accounting Software
Used by Small Enterprises in Olsztyn. Olsztyn Economic Journal, (10 (3)), 233-245.
Lam, G. (2015). The Online Accounting Software Guide: An In-depth Analysis of Today's
Leading Cloud Accounting Applications.
Lee, S. N. (2017). Satisfaction of Accounting Information Education Using Educational
Software. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, 12(16), 5829-5834.
Lewis, J. (2014). The Book You Need Before You Buy That Accounting Software: How Find,
Buy and Implement the Best Accounting Software Solution For Your Business. Evolve
Systems Distribution Pty Ltd.
Lyons, S. M. (2015). Using Accounting Software for Food Hubs: Processing Traceable
Orders.
Quinn, M., & Kristandl, G. (2014). Business information systems for accounting students.
Pearson Education Ltd.
Rahman, M. (2016). Accounting software application as internal control system and its
benefits: case study of treasure island company.
Rahman, M. M., Elahi, T., Gupta, S., & Rahman, I. (2014). Assessment of Accounting
Software Practices in Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of Bangladesh: A Survey of
Barrier and Adoption (Dhaka City).
Sampaio, D., & Bernardino, J. (2016). Open source accounting software for
SMEs. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 23(3), 287-306.

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Wahab, R. A., Dangi, M. R. M., Latif, N. E. A., Mad, S., & Noor, R. M. (2017). Technology-
Based Accounting Education: Evidence on Acceptance and Usage. Advanced Science
Letters, 23(8), 7737-7741.
Wongsim, M., Srimontree, C., & Phosri, P. (2017). Information Technology Competences for
Professional Accountants in Thai Small to Medium Accounting Practice. World
Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of
Information and Communication Engineering, 4(6).
Zare, I. (2015). Study of Effect of Accounting Information Systems and Software's on
Qualitative Features of Accounting Information.