HA2042: Cloud-Based Accounting Information System Report

This report, prepared for the CFO of a firm, analyzes the implementation of a cloud-based Accounting Information System (AIS) for the client, Asaleo Care. The report begins by outlining the company's business processes, including manufacturing, marketing, distribution, and sales, and identifies the system requirements necessary for efficient financial management. It then evaluates two cloud-based AIS options: MYOB and SAP, detailing their features and capabilities, such as invoicing, inventory control, and data management. A comparison of the two systems highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each, leading to a recommendation for Asaleo Care to adopt a SAP hybrid system. This choice is based on SAP's ability to handle Big Data and IoT, ensuring data security and scalability, particularly beneficial for an ASX-listed company. The report concludes by emphasizing the increasing importance of cloud-based accounting for accessible and secure financial transaction management, and it provides guidance for companies seeking to optimize their financial reporting.

Accounting Information System
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Executive Summary
As per instruction of my CFO, I am presenting this report to give an understanding of
cloud-based accounting in modern business with the suggestion to prescribe suitable
option of cloud-based accounting software for one of my clients. The role of cloud-
based accounting software is welcomed by all the business entities irrespective of their
size and business volume. Main objective of selecting cloud-based accounting
information system is to ensure accessibility of financial data of any entity by the
stakeholders at any point of time. Recent business culture does not allow a fixed-time
affair; instead it demands 24x7 accessibility for any business related transactions. There
are different options for cloud-based accounting software available in the market. Being
a consultant, I have to understand the requirement of our client and suggest best
possible option for their business.

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Background..................................................................................................................................................4
Asaleo Care Limited.................................................................................................................................4
Business Process......................................................................................................................................5
System Requirements..................................................................................................................................6
Software Selection.......................................................................................................................................7
MYOB.......................................................................................................................................................7
SAP Application.......................................................................................................................................7
Compare and contrast- MYOB and SAP...................................................................................................8
Suggestion...............................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References:................................................................................................................................................10

Introduction
Accounting is the basic practice to present financial information through which the
financial condition of any business can be determined. This activity was earlier executed
through manual practice. After the introduction of latest technology for maintenance of
accounting activity of any organization, the business entities tend towards using that
technological assistance called as accounting software. There are two types of
accounting data management available in the market- static and dynamic. While static
accounting data management is providing service with static terminals, the dynamic
accounting data management provides service with 24x7 availability and accessibility
beyond any specific geographic region or place. The big business houses are now
trending for the dynamic pattern of accounting software, which are called as cloud-
based accounting information system. At present the activities of accounting is not only
confined within the activities of storage of financial information with subsequent
presentation through prescribed format of financial reporting. The contribution of this
software provides more analytic presentation enabling the management to take decision
for business process. In this report, two different cloud-based accounting information
systems will be discussed with their features with conclusion to select one for the client.
Our client is Asaleo Care Limited, a company with ASX code AHY. As this company
approaches to us for prescription of specific cloud based AIS for their business
operation, I will furnish this report featuring small description of the company, its
business process, scope of accounting software to add value in their activities,
description of two different cloud-based AIS with their features, finding the most suitable
option for the company depending upon its business process and conclude the report
with my overall views about this aspect.
Background
Asaleo Care Limited
Asaleo care is one of the leading brands in personal care and hygiene products in
Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. (Main, 2018) This company is engaged in
manufacturing of those products following the business activities of marketing,
distributing and selling of their branded products The Company is mainly insisting on
retail and business to business (B2B) operation. The history of this company is with rich
heritage of more than 60 years. The household products of the company are used in
every house on day-to-day basis by the consumers. The company is registered in the
ASX since 2014 with the ASX code AHY. (marketscreener, 2019)Main objective of this
company is to ensure sustainable business by innovation, which is applied in their

products with quality, packaging and respective marketing approaches through value
addition to the consumers and customers. (Asaleocare, 2019)
The financial report of the company as on 31.12.2018 showed total revenue of AUD
409,300 Million with net loss of AUD 108,679 Million and basic loss per share AUD 0.2.
The company resulted profit of AUD 57,181 million last year this period with earnings
per share 0.105.(Bloomberg, 2019)
Business Process
The business process of Asaleo Care is starting with manufacturing of products,
followed by marketing, distributing and selling to retailers and B2B customers. This
business process requires integrated well-controlled system to ensure secured way of
business. Manufacturing process needs to look after procurement of raw materials, the
labor and packaging. Marketing process needs to make the customers aware of the
products of the company through different promotional drive. Distribution process
demands professional supply chain management with intensified focus on logistics
process. Selling process demands dispatch of the products as per the sales target and
allocation of products to the retailers and B2B partners with payment collection as per
fixed condition. This business process requires extensive and well-knit accounting
information system for the company. The sales normally take place from office with
dispatch from warehouse. The collection process demand integrated system to support
bank transaction with live feed. GST compliance needs to be ensured for avoiding
violation of statutory requirements. The below chart would give the idea of flow of
business process of this company.

To understand the business process of this company, the above chart would project the
flow of operations of the company. The role of accounting is very important in the entire
business process with critical monitoring required in different stages and activities.
Inventory management is one such domain. Inventory control is required in perspective
of raw material and finished goods segment. The sales management is consisting of
invoice generation, dispatch of materials as per invoice and collection of payment. All
these activities and respective business process need integrated and well-connected
accounting system with easy accessibility for the executives of the company. For this
reason, the company is looking for option of cloud-based accounting information system
to ensure 24x7 accessibility of accounting data and information to decide future course
of action for the company.
System Requirements
The above flow chart of business process of our client can clearly distinguish and
highlight system requirements. The business process starts with production process.
This process needs to generate from production budget, which is generated by
analyzing historical data and respective managerial skill to forecast the sales target. The
required historical data should be preserved in accounting system for future use. The
next stage is procurement of raw material. Accounting system plays vital role in this
activity by contributing towards comparison between supply chain associates in respect
of quality and price of the raw product of finished goods and packaging. The company
has to ensure their sales strategy with clear distinction between retail and B2B
customers. For this purpose, the system can give input through historical data stored in
ProductionMarketingSalesDistribution

accounting information system. The sales operation would consist of different
documentation like invoice, payment collection, necessary debit or credit notes
incidental to sales operation, GST calculation and financial reporting of the entire
process to contribute towards annual financial report of the company. System
requirement are necessary in all these micro-level activities to ensure proper financial
projection and reporting in macro level for the company.
Software Selection
For selection of cloud-based accounting software, Australian market has plenty options
with distinct features for the client. There are MYOB, XERO or SAP to consider for this
purpose. For the requirement of our client, I would consider MYOB and SAP to discuss
their features and respective deliverables. This selection process would result to final
suggestion for the client to opt for proper cloud-based accounting software for running
their business in effective and prudent manner.
MYOB
The business process of our client needs extensive and integrated cloud-based
accounting software, which should provide solution for the entire business operation.
MYOB provides such solution on web-based platform with following features:
 Invoicing process;
 Receipt acknowledgement process with Paydirect option;
 Preservation of historical data;
 Inventory control and management for raw products and finished goods;
 Bank monitoring with live feed option;
 Provision for offline work with terminal back-up;
This cloud-based accounting information system provides accurate and proper
presentation of financial transactions with financial report presentation to comply with
different regulators’ requirements and respective compliance. (Myob, 2019)
SAP Application
This software provides digitization of the business entity to ensure smarter
management decisions and fast mover than competitors to avail the perceived
opportunity of the business. Main feature of this software is to handle Big Data and
Internet of things (IoT). This technological support confirms success in the domain of
digital economic opportunity with the SAP Managed Services organization for the
company to help, build and run better. This software provides following solutions for the
business organization through their professional services: (SAP, 2019)

 To ensure lifecycle of full software support with the facilities of terminal-specific,
hybrid and cloud-based models;
 Management of testing services to enhance better and effective strategies;
 Mitigation of system risk;
 Security management system to control environment of the system;
 Effective option of data management for the organization with data set-up for IoT.
This software features following benefits for the organization:
 Enhancement of business innovative ideas with IT support;
 Drive to ensure operational maturity with optimized use of this software;
 Management of Big Data and IoT;
 Quick adoption of innovation with proper cloud- based software and respective
technologies. (Carey, 2018)
Compare and contrast- MYOB and SAP
For effective suggestion, proper comparison with contrast is to be done between the two
options- MYOB and SAP. Main objective of this exercise is to guide the client with
proper suggestion to adopt effective cloud-based accounting information system to run
their business smoothly and to meet ultimate responsibility of the company to present
financial report with prudence and as per the guideline set by the regulators. MYOB is
well capable of managing regular financial transactions. SAP is high-end application of
digitized software to ensure Big Data and IoT management. (Bluleader, 2018) MYOB
has normal scope of offerings in cloud-based AIS, while Sap provides extended service
with the add-on features derived through their research and development.
Suggestion
Of the two options, our client should go for SAP hybrid system, consisting of both static
and cloud-based application. Main issue is to preserve data of the client, which can be
well managed through the feature of SAP confirming Big Data Management by IoT. If
the company thinks of future business process through e-commerce, SAP can facilitate
this service through their add-on features. Sap can provide proper cloud-based
accounting software service to our client through their well-trained and professional
team. Present business scenario demands storage of secured data by mitigating the
risk of accessing it by outsider. This feature is mostly prevalent for any ASX listed
company. SAP can take care of this domain with their secured and upgraded provision
of software service. With all these positive outcome expected with assurance from SAP,
Asaleo Care should go for this cloud-based hybrid software to ensure their business
prosperity and assured transparency for the stakeholders.

Conclusion
As per the requirement of the CFO of our firm, this report is prepared for our client,
Asaleo Care. Objective of this report is to analyze the scope of applying cloud-based
Accounting information system to the client as per defined business process. Then the
system requirement is identified in the business process. Two available cloud based
accounting information systems were short-listed with their feature to suit the
requirement of the client. A comparison analysis was done of these two available
options. Then the suggestion was forwarded to the CFO for client. Cloud-based
accounting software is gradually gaining its popularity by their salient features of easily
accessible nature. The companies with effective data management and security have to
opt for any of them by assessing their merits and demerits to match their needs. This
report will highlight the guideline for such effort for the companies to ensure prudent and
appropriate financial transaction management with subsequent reporting.

References:
Asaleocare, 2019. About Asaleo Care. [Online] Available at: http://www.asaleocare.com/about-us/
[Accessed 20 May 2019].
Bloomberg, 2019. Compnay Overview of Asaleo Care Limited. [Online] Available at:
https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=264985733 [Accessed 20
May 2019].
Bluleader, 2018. SAP C/4HANA for Customer Experience (CX). [Online] Available at:
https://www.bluleader.com.au/sap-systems/ [Accessed 20 May 2019].
Carey, S., 2018. Everything you need to know about SAP’s new CRM product: C/4HANA. [Online]
Available at: https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/642006/everything-need-know-about-sap-
new-crm-product-c-4hana/ [Accessed 20 May 2019].
Main, L., 2018. Asaleo Care sells Handee, Sorbent, Deeko to Solaris Paper for $180m. Business. Australian
Financial Review. https://www.afr.com/business/retail/fmcg/asaleo-care-sells-handee-sorbent-deeko-
to-solaris-paper-for-180-million-20181206-h18sqy.
marketscreener, 2019. Asaleo Care Ltd. (AHY). [Online] Available at:
https://www.marketscreener.com/ASALEO-CARE-LTD-16772127/company/ [Accessed 20 May 219].
Myob, 2019. Set your business up for success. [Online] Available at: https://www.myob.com/au
[Accessed 19 May 2019].
SAP, 2019. Enabling Your Digital Transformation Journey with SAP® Managed Services. [Online] Available
at: https://www.sap.com/australia/services/cloud/application-management.html#pdf-asset=a8651071-
857c-0010-82c7-eda71af511fa&page=1 [Accessed 20 May 2019].