Research Proposal: Impact of Online Accounting Systems on SMEs

This research proposal aims to critically evaluate the economic impact of online accounting systems on small-scale organizations, specifically within the Australian context. It begins by highlighting the increasing adoption of online accounting software like Xero, Intuit, and Sage by small businesses and emphasizes the benefits, such as reduced manual labor. The proposal identifies the research problem as the overcrowded market and the challenges small businesses face in selecting the right platform, further complicated by recent CEO changes and automation efforts. The objectives are to examine the impact of these systems on economic growth, evaluate available options, and identify the most preferred software. The research questions focus on the impact, available options, and software preferences. The proposal includes a literature review covering cloud computing, intellectual capital, and accounting systems, identifying a gap in understanding the impact on small businesses. The methodology will employ a pragmatic, deductive, mixed-method approach using quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques, including sequential explanatory design and sampling methods like simple random and purposive sampling. The proposal includes a list of relevant references.

Research Proposal
By

Introduction
• This research had aimed to critically evaluate the impact of online accounting
systems on economic aspect of small-scale organizations.
• The use of accounting software has become one of the most necessary things for the
small-scale businesses in Australia. Xero, Intuit and Sage have increased their
number of subscriptions from small scale business organizations.
• The online accounting system have reduced the time spent on manual drudge work
in accounting.
• The small-scale businesses have to go through many issues due to the changing
nature of the political and economic environment of the country in the past decade.
• The most significant pain point for these organizations were the availability of
online technology at affordable prices

Research problem
• The power of desktop accounting systems has been replicated through huge
ecosystems of online applications that are compatible to each other. Amazon Web
Services is one of the most popular platforms for executing SaaS (software as a
service) and many companies have opted for these services which reduced the
subscription of major companies like Sage, Intuit and Xero.
• These organizations have all lost their CEO’s in the past year which have
increased the problems for these organizations. The majority of the companies
are attempting to automate the reconciliation processes.
• The availability of large number of organizations have provided the businesses in
Australia with excess options and the market has become overcrowded which
made the choice of platform quite difficult for small scale business organizations.

Research objective
• To examine the impact of online accounting systems on
the economic growth of small- scale organizations
• To critically evaluate the different options available for
small scale organizations in terms of online accounting
systems
• To identify the most preferred online accounting software
among small scale businesses

Research question
• What is the impact of online accounting systems on the
economic aspect of small- scale organizations?
• What are the different options available for small scale
organizations in terms of online accounting systems?
• What is the most preferred online accounting software
among small scale businesses in Australia?

Research hypothesis
• H0: There is no significant impact of cloud based
accounting system on the economic growth of small scale
organizations
• H1: There is significant impact of cloud based accounting
system on the economic growth of small scale
organizations

Literature review
• Cloud computing
• Intellectual Capital
• Cloud based accounting and business performance

Conceptual framework

Literature gap
• The majority of the literature has failed to identify the impact of online
accounting system on business and economic performances of small-scale
organizations.
• The concept of online accounting software and cloud computing is relatively new
and most of the literature has not addressed the characteristics of the different
cloud accounting software and the way it impacts the economic performance of
small scale organizations.
• However, even though it is a broad topic, Australia is one of the major markets
where the competition and use of online accounting system has intensified.
• The impact of online accounting systems on economic performance will be
evaluated in context to the Australian small-scale companies.

Research methodology
• Pragmatism
• Deductive
• Mixed method ( quantitative and qualitative)
• Sequential Explanatory
• Simple random sampling and purposive sampling
• Cronbach’s Alpha

References
• Al-Aqrabi, H., Liu, L., Hill, R. and Antonopoulos, N., 2015. Cloud BI: Future of business intelligence in the
Cloud. Journal of Computer and System Sciences, 81(1), pp.85-96.
• Armitage, H.M., Webb, A. and Glynn, J., 2016. The use of management accounting techniques by small and medium‐
sized enterprises: a field study of Canadian and Australian practice. Accounting Perspectives, 15(1), pp.31-69.
• Asiaei, K., Jusoh, R. and Bontis, N., 2018. Intellectual capital and performance measurement systems in Iran. Journal of
Intellectual Capital, 19(2), pp.294-320.
• Brandas, C., Megan, O. and Didraga, O., 2015. Global perspectives on accounting information systems: mobile and
cloud approach. Procedia Economics and Finance, 20, pp.88-93.
• Cleary, P. and Quinn, M., 2016. Intellectual capital and business performance: An exploratory study of the impact of
cloud-based accounting and finance infrastructure. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 17(2), pp.255-278.
• Desai, S., Motamarri, T.R., Solanki, V. and Mishra, R., 2018, March. Cloud ERP for Small and Medium Enterprises.
In 2018 Second International Conference on Electronics, Communication and Aerospace Technology (ICECA) (pp. 1-3).
IEEE.
• Dimitriu, O. and Matei, M., 2015. Cloud accounting: a new business model in a challenging context. Procedia
Economics and Finance, 32, pp.665-671.

contd
• Dimitriu, O. and Matei, M., 2015. Cloud accounting: a new business model in a challenging context. Procedia
Economics and Finance, 32, pp.665-671.
• Emerson, R.W., 2015. Convenience sampling, random sampling, and snowball sampling: How does sampling
affect the validity of research?. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 109(2), pp.164-168.
• Etikan, I., Musa, S.A. and Alkassim, R.S., 2016. Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive
sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), pp.1-4.
• Fatima, H., 2016. Impact of E-Accounting in Today’s Scenario. International Journal of Engineering and
Management Research (IJEMR), 6(1), pp.260-264.
• Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project. Sage.
• Inggarsono, Y., Goman, M., Paembonan, A.P. and Asri, M., 2018. Literature Review on Cloud Computing
Technology Integration in Small and Medium Sized Enterprise’s Accounting System. Available at SSRN
3298094.
• Kennedy, A.M., 2017. Macro-Social Marketing Research: Philosophy, Methodology and Methods. Journal of
Macromarketing, 37(4), pp.347-355.