Structured Literature Review: Online Accounting's Economic Impact

This report presents a structured literature review investigating the economic impact of online accounting systems on small businesses in Australia. The study analyzes four key articles, exploring common and different themes related to the adoption and implementation of online accounting technologies. The articles examine various aspects, including the impact on cash flow, technology acceptance, the role of e-accounting in modern business, and economic trends within the Australian small business sector. The review highlights managerial implications, such as informing decisions about adopting new accounting systems and strategies. The report also discusses study limitations, such as the vast number of available technologies and the need for generalized solutions, and suggests directions for future research, including a deeper investigation into commonly used technologies and the exploration of additional online accounting tools. The research employs diverse methodologies and data types, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Running head: APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
Structured literature review on ‘Economic Impact of Online Accounting System on Small
Business in Australia’
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
1. Brief summary of theory and progression
The study explores the economic impact of the online accounting system on the small
businesses in Australia. Thus, the paper has different aspects, such as, advanced accounting
technology and its economic impact on the small businesses in the Australian economy. It has
been discussed in the introduction chapter that technological advancement has changed the
business operations in all types of industries. For example, the introduction of online accounting
technology has improved the efficiency of the business operations of the small businesses than
the manual accounting system (Lee and Choi, 2003). This research study will explore the
effective implementation of the online accounting technology to achieve increasing returns for
the small businesses and thus, various dimensions of this new technology will be studied through
4 articles.
A structured literature review will be conducted to highlight the common and different
themes of four articles related to this research subject to gain an extensive knowledge about the
topic and also to have an idea about the managerial implications of the articles. Another purpose
of this structured review is to highlight the study limitations and future scope of study on this
topic. The chosen four articles are:
1. “The Impact of Online Accounting Software as a Credit Management Tool on Small
Business Cash Flow”, by Olamide Osinowo (2018)
2. “Examining Small Business Adoption of Computerized Accounting Systems Using the
Technology Acceptance Model.” By Alan D. Rogers. (2016)
3. “Impact of E-Accounting in Today’s Scenario”, by Hajera Fatima (2016)
4. “The Economic Trends, Challenges and Behaviour of Small Businesses in Australia” by
Sam Nicholls and David Orsmond (2015)
2. Common themes across 4 articles
All the four articles have focused on various e-accounting technologies and their impact
of technology on the small businesses. Osinowo (2018) has explored various online accounting
systems (OAS) for evaluating the effectiveness of the standard online accounting systems in the
small businesses in the UK economy. The author also explored the effectiveness of the standard
OAS in improving the cash flow situation in the credit management system. Rogers (2016)
explored the effectiveness of the technology acceptance model and computerized accounting
systems (CAS) in the context of small businesses and he found that failure to implement the new
technology leads to competitive disadvantage of the small businesses. Fatima (2016) highlighted
the effect of E-accounting in the modern business scenario and it has been found that using new
technologies increases the speed as well as efficiency of the businesses of any size. The digitized
form of records is also beneficial for maintaining the records for a long time and allows real time
access in a short span of time. Lastly, Nicholls and Orsmond (2015) focused on the economic
trends, challenges and behavior of small businesses in Australia in their publication for RBA. In
this publication the authors explored the contribution of the small businesses in the economic

2APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
growth and provided evidences in terms of data that the small business sector is growing rapidly
and with the help of new technology, the growth of this sector has been more rapid. Thus, it can
be said that in all the four articles the authors have been successful in proving that
implementation of the new OAS, such as, CMAM, CAS, etc. have helped in improving the speed
and efficiency of the small businesses, which otherwise was not happening during manual
accounting systems or technology.
3. Different themes across 4 articles
Although all the four articles have focused on the effectiveness of new OAS on the
business efficiency of the small businesses, it can be said that, there are various other factors that
affect the business efficiency and performance. Osinowo (2018) used descriptive exploratory
research method for his study and to evaluate the causal relationship between the dependent and
independent variables, Osinowo adopted only quantitative analysis method. In the paper by
Rogers (2016), the evaluation of the new system was done by using Technology Acceptance
Model (TAM) and the causal relationship was examined by applying mixed methodology, that
is, both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods and both the primary and secondary data
have been collected. Fatima (2016) used only secondary data for her study on the E-accounting
technology and applied explanatory research approach for evaluating the effectiveness of the E-
accounting. Lastly, Nicholls and Orsmond (2015) have also used secondary data to present their
article on various facets of the small businesses in the Australian economy. Some visual
representations of the primary data collected from the participants have been provided but that
mainly followed descriptive analysis with the help of mathematical models.
Thus, it can be said from the findings that, all these four articles have used different
research methodology and different data types, which is beneficial to understand the outcome of
the researches from various different angles. From the papers, it can be said that Nicholls and
Orsmond (2015) have focused more on the several aspects of the small businesses in the more
extensive way and put less focus on the economic impact of the new technologies. On the other
hand, in the other three articles, different types of technologies have been examined for assessing
their impact on the businesses, however, the countries were different along with different
research methodologies and type of technology and therefore, the uniformity or consistency of
the outcome cannot be guaranteed.
4. Managerial implications of 4 articles
The managerial implications of these 4 articles can be stated that these papers provide a
perspective on the impact of new online accounting systems on the business performances.
Different types of technologies have been evaluated by the authors and their causal effect on the
business performance for the small businesses in different countries has been studied too. The
managers of the small businesses in Australia can utilize this information to make decisions to
adopt a new OAS, suitable for their business set up and accordingly make policies and strategies
for effective utilization of the new system. For example, the small businesses of the Australian
economy can take cues from the RBA publication to have an idea about the growth scenario for

3APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
the small businesses in Australia in terms of profit, wage growth, employment size etc. Based on
those findings, the companies can compare their own resources and decide on implementing a
suitable system accordingly. Similarly, the other authors have explored the impact of different
OAS systems and technologies, which will help the businesses to choose a suitable technology.
For example, Osinowo (2018) highlighted the benefits of the CMAM as a strategic tool, which
improves the efficiency of the cash flow situations of the small businesses and in their value
chains, while Rogers (2016) discussed about the CAS and its effectiveness, and Fatima (2016)
discussed about the overall benefits of the E-accounting technologies for the businesses. The
business managers can go through the findings and understand the pros and cons of these
different technologies and can take actions accordingly. These articles at the same time also
discuss about various external elements that affect the business performance and depict how the
small businesses can implement the new technologies to control their internal elements and
improve performances.
5. Study limitations and future research direction
The study has few limitations. Firstly, there are numerous online accounting tools in the
market that are effective in improving the performance of the small businesses, however, it is not
possible to study and compare every technology or tool at the same time. This is a time as well as
budget consuming process. Hence, the researcher must narrow down the research topic for an in-
depth study. Secondly, every business situation is different and hence, application of any
particular random technology might not be beneficial enough for the business. Thus, generalized
solutions are not always useful. In addition, prediction of a particular technology is also not
feasible as every business goes through different conditions.
The future research direction can entail an in-depth research about finding the most
commonly used technology that can be used as a general technical solution for majority of the
small businesses in Australia. Hence, the businesses should be studied more extensively to find
out some general characteristics so that a general technology of online accounting can be
suggested. Secondly, more studies should be undertaken to explore the other online accounting
tools in the market to know about their impact on various aspects of the businesses. This way
people can know more about the new technologies and their pros and cons and ways to utilize
those in the best possible manner.

4APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH
References
Fatima, H., 2016. Impact of E-Accounting in Today’s Scenario. International Journal of
Engineering and Management Research (IJEMR), 6(1), pp.260-264.
Lee, H. and Choi, B., 2003. Knowledge management enablers, processes, and organizational
performance: An integrative view and empirical examination. Journal of management
information systems, 20(1), pp.179-228.
Nicholls, S. and Orsmond, D., 2015, March. The economic trends, challenges and behaviour of
small businesses in Australia. In Proceedings of the Reserve Bank Annual Conference (pp. 5-31).
Osinowo, O., 2018. The impact of online accounting software as a credit management tool on
small business cash flow (Doctoral dissertation, Cardiff Metropolitan University).
Rogers, A.D., 2016. Examining Small Business Adoption of Computerized Accounting Systems
Using the Technology Acceptance Model.