Accounting Software Selection for an Australian Company: Telstra

This report examines the accounting software needs of Telstra Corporation, an Australian telecommunications company. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the importance of accounting software for managing large datasets. The introduction defines accounting software and its various modules, emphasizing its role in streamlining financial processes. The report then delves into Telstra's background, business requirements, and system needs, considering its diverse operations across consumer and business sectors. Key business requirements include managing inventory, accounts payable and receivable, and financial data. System requirements focus on reporting and analysis, graphics, automation, interoperability, and security. The report then evaluates software options like SAP, MYOB, and XERO, considering their suitability for Telstra's specific needs. The analysis suggests how different software solutions align with Telstra's business model. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the key findings and recommendations for selecting the most appropriate accounting software for Telstra's long-term success.

Accounting Software
Assignment

1
By student name
Professor
University
Date: 16th Sep 2018.
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Executive Summary
Accounting software forms an important part of the working of the todays organization. They
have so much of data that it becomes difficult to manage it manually. Therefor companies are
switching to more technologically advanced software that can help in managing the information
and data in a more organized manner. There is several software that are available in the market in
today’s time and therefore it becomes difficult in understanding what are the software that the
company should choose as per their business operations. Many big companies have dedicated
teams that works for the development of IT related part of the company and helps in developing
the technology for long term development. The various types of software’s that are available in
the market includes XERO, MYOB, QuickBooks etc. The main aim should be to see that this
software is making the work of the company easy and they are technologically updated. If these
conditions are met then companies must switch to such software. In this assignment, the needs of
software of an Australian Company would be discussed and analysis would be done to find out
which software suits the company and its operations best and can help them in the long run.
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CONTENTS:
Introduction…......................……………....................................................................................4
Analysis…........................……………….....................................................................................4
Conclusion…........................……………....................................................................................13
References......................……………….......................................................................................14
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Introduction
Accounting Software refers to different types of accounting applications that can help the
companies in recording analysing and processing their accounting data. They include various
accounting modules like accounts payable, accounts receivable, journals, payroll, trial balance
etc. They help in reducing the time and effort that is required in manual work and helps in
making the work easy and fast. There are various ways in which the companies can get them
customized as per their own needs and as per their own requirements. They need to have experts
who can properly use this software and hence the cost of training also increases (Alexander,
2016). There are various types of different accounting software available in the market and that
varies from different formats to prices. Companies can choose whichever they feasible based on
what kind of data they had. Multinational companies that are having large volumes of data often
goes for software like QuickBooks that can help them in handling large amount of data
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separately and singlehandedly. Companies that are small and mid-sized often goes for software
that are medium sized like MYOB and XERO and thus that reflects that cost in these cases are
less. Companies can also get one accounting software for a single function like only for
inventory and accounts receivable and thus the company has that also. In this assignment we will
discuss about an Australian Company and the kind of accounting software that would be useful
for them as per their own needs (Bromwich & Scapens, 2016).
a)Background
The company that has been selected for this assignment is Telstra Corporation. Telstra is one of
the biggest telecommunication companies in Australia. The company is listed on the Australian
Stock Exchange and the overall revenue of the company runs into millions. The company started
its operations in Australia in 1975 and builds and operates telecommunication lines that includes
market voices, internet access, pay television etc. The company also deals in retail business
providing mobile phones, electronic gadgets and other consumer electrical objects. It was started
as a government company but now the company is getting fully privatized and focusing more on
the customers (Choy, 2018). In the recent years the company has expanded a lot and is now
focusing on going the digital ways as more and more people are getting attracted to that. Telstra
Digital was farmed in 2011, after there was a boom of the internet in those times. The major
factor that affects the company and their operations in case of digitalization is the kind of
software that the company is using for managing its operations.
b)Business Requirements
The business model of Telstra is such that it carters to both consumers and other business. So,
there is a multilevel business operation that moves from business to consumers and business to
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business. So, in this case the main aim is to make sure that there is a balance between these
operations and the company is level of operate both at retail consumer level and other business
level. In case of retail consumer level, the business will provide products and services like
mobile phones, tablets, mobile broadbands, smart home, telecommunication and DTH
connections. In case of small business services, the company provide services like website
ecommerce services, tablets, broadband etc (DeZoort & Harrison, 2016). And in case of large
business the company provide services like cloud computing, collaborations, Network
connections, customer contact etc. So, we see that different levels the company is providing
different kind of services and hence they need different kind of software that can help them in
managing these business operations. For larger companies like Telstra the main aim of the
companies are to manage their data and keep a record for that, given the fact that they have
variety of information and the level of data is also huge, hence it becomes difficult to manage it
at a manual level (Farmer, 2018). This is a point of concern for the companies as there are
chances of errors if they are done on a manual level and it also takes a lot of time. But with
change in technologies, these business operations have become easy as there are variety of
software that can help in data management and data processing and that would also be in turn
useful for the companies. Thus, the major business requirements would be –
 To manage the overall inventory related data with respect to the electronic products like
mobile phones, telecommunication channels etc.
 To manage the accounts receivable and accounts payable and their overall accounting.
 The company has taken loans from various sources to support their areas of expansion
and hence that is also a big point of concern for the company to account for.
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 To manage the flow of date to date data and operations and maintaining a trail that is
clearly available as and when the organization would need.
The key outcomes that would be achieved from these processes by the client would be inclusive
of many things like-
 Reduction in the total time for manual management of data and that would in term help in
reducing the overall cost of the company.
 Better and more transparent accountability of operations of the company from all its
sources.
 Better management on part of the company as better data analysis can be done and that
would help in keeping a trail on part of the management and provide them with daily
analysis of data and daily flow of operations can be studied (Goldmann, 2016).
c)System Requirements
There are variety of IT software that are available in the market and they are providing variety of
data services to the clients as per their needs. Given the variety available in the market the
company needs to analyse what are the specific features that they would require in their IT
software and how will that carter to the needs of their business (Heminway, 2017). In case of
Telstra since there are a dual model business, the kind of features that the software would require
will include the following-
 Reporting and Analysis – Information in today’s world are challenging business
environment. It is important that companies must have reporting and analysis capabilities.
It is important that users should be able to get insight into the crucial aspects of the
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business. Reporting and analysis also helps in getting compliant with the regulatory needs
of the management.
 Graphics – Accounting is based on numbers. Hence it is extremely important that there
should be a robust interface in the form of trends and charts that would help in better data
analysis. It is important that these interfaces should be updated as per the needs of the
company and management. This is also an extremely important feature.
 Automation – In case of large organizations having basic financial analytics features is
not enough. Thus, what is important is that there should be more advanced features of
technological updating that would help in automatic updating in term of employee
expenses, time sheets, payrolls etc. It is also important that this software should be
automatically updated, the companies should not be using out-of-date software
(Kangarluie & Aalizadeh, 2017).
 Interoperability- It is one of the most crucial features that the company need to have, the
data entered accounting software can be used by various departments like HR, sales,
marketing etc. Not just between the departments they should be interoperable between
the other software that the company is using. This helps in making multiple users
accessible to the software that is used by the company.
 Security – This is the most important feature that any accounting software should have, it
is very important that companies should be able to keep the data safe that the companies
are entering into the system. It is the crucial data for the company must be kept secure
and there are many ways in which the companies can hack these data and thus it is
important that information should be kept secure (Knechel & Salterio, 2016).
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d) Software Selection
There are various types of software that are available in the market. Companies can choose from
variety of software as they have variety of features and variety of functions that they provide the
organizations. It is very important that companies should analyse what are the features that they
require in their accounting software and that would carter to their services. A brief description
of three of those software has been provided below:
SAP – SAP is an enterprise resource planning software and helps in managing the key business
operations of an organization. It is a system application that helps in data processing for the
company. It is one of the largest accounting software that can be used for variety of services and
helps in providing end to end solutions for the company in terms of financials, manufacturing,
logistics and distribution (Linden & Freeman, 2017). All the modules in the SAP are integrated
with other modules. They are mostly preferred by large organization as they have large amount
of data to manage and report for. The software is mostly very expensive and companies find it
difficult to afford and customize the same as per their own needs.
MYOB – It is an integrated business software that is mostly used for inventory management for
the company. It is also used for other features like payroll, GST, cashflow etc. They help in data
management for the companies and mostly SMEs. They are available on monthly subscription
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basis and companies can take care of that, instead of investing their finances in many expensive
accounting software for the companies. Thus, it is mostly suited for small companies. Cost wise
the software is mediumly priced and can be used for decent data management for the companies
on all pretext (Saeidi, 2012).
XERO – Xero offers accounting services for small and medium sized companies. It is a clod
based computing software for the companies and helps them in integrating basic accounting
services with one another. It has been originated by a New Zealand company and is used mostly
for inventory management or like that single functions for the company. It helps in managing the
number seamlessly for the companies and is flexible and easy to use. It cannot be used by large
organization as the accounting software does not include services like interoperability and
accessibility and that affects large organization. Cost wise Xero is cheap in cost and highly
affordable.
Based on these features that this software is having, the aim of the company should be to choose
the best one and they should analyse the same before investing in that. Companies can also take
help from experts who can provide them with the necessary data and information that they
require and help them in choosing the software as per their budget and needs. Telstra as a
company is a large sized company and there are various requirements of the company that is
important that the software should suffice to and for that it was important to analyse all this
software separately and take decision accordingly (Sithole, et al., 2017).
The best kind of software that would be suitable to the company would include features like end
to end services, interoperability, management of large amount of data for the company. It should
be suitable enough to manage large amount of data and should be able to satisfy the needs of the
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company and reduce the manual efforts that the company must put in. Thus, given all that
conditions it is important that Telstra should choose high end accounting software, there will be
one-time investment but the overall benefits that the company would get would be worth for the
company. Small and medium end software will not be able to meet the needs of the company and
will not be able to suffice the company with better opportunities.
e) Vendor Selection
Difference between the various accounting software that has been stated above:
Particulars SAP MYOB XERO
Suitability SAP is an enterprise
software and are
suited for mostly
large sized companies
mostly public listed
company in case of
which the overall
revenue of the
company runs into
millions.
MYOB, it is suited
for medium sized
firms, it provided
basic and advanced
financial
management services
but they are not
interconnected to
each other.
XERO is an
accounting software
that is used mostly
one or more specific
data management
functions like
inventory
management, payroll
expenses
management for the
company. They are
mostly used by small
sized firms and are
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