Ict100 Information Management Systems |Center Assessment Answers

B  Bakery  is  a  family  owned  firm  with  around  70  employees  and  sales  revenue increased to more than $ 13.5 million during the past year. It has been in business for over 50 years and supplies bread and confectionary products to a number of different businesses, including supermarkets and pub-chains. The firm has experienced mixed fortunes  over  the  years  in  terms  of  business  performance,  but  in  the  last  few  years has  experienced  a  growth  in  orders  for  some  of  its  new  healthy  product  ranges. However, the Bakeryhas recently lost some key accounts as a result of being unable to produce some of its products at a competitiveprice.Although  the  firm  hired  an  accountant  who  was  keeping  their  books  for  them  and producing  the  financial  statements  each  year,  the  firm  thought  they  needed  much more information to really run their business efficiently. They felt that they needed to make  an  investment  in  an  accounting  software  to  take  their  business  to  the  next level.

In  groups  of  three  or  four,  you  are  required  to  conduct  desk  research  on  AIS/ERP Systems  for  your  above  client.  Prepare  a  Business  Report  for  the  client detailing  thefollowing processesof selecting anAIS/ERP:

 

1.Define business processes

a)What a Baker does? Discuss the business activities/processes of the organisation to show your understanding about the business.

2.Develop business requirements

b)What processes are indispensable to be performed?

c)What outcomes are required from these processes to achieve business objectives?

3.Determine the systems requirements

 

a)What are some of the possible software features or functionalities that the firm  should  consider  to  achieve  their  IT  investment  objective? 

4.Software selection

a)Visit  the  web  sites  of  accounting  software  package  vendors  (e.g.  SAP, MYOB,  Xero  etc.).  You  need  to  visit  at  least  3  (three)  software  vendors’ websites.

 

b)Which  category  of  accounting  software  (low,  medium  or  high-end/ERP) suitable for thefirm? Give your justifications in detail.

5.Vendor selection

 

a)Compare  and  contrast  the  features/  functionalities  of  two  accounting software  packages  offered  by  accounting  software  package  vendors  (e.g. SAP,  MYOB,  Xero  etc.)  within  your  selected  category  in  question  4.

 

c)  Which  one  would  be  the  most  suitable  vendor  (and  accounting  software package) for the Bakery business and why?

Introduction

The main aim of this task is to outline the significance of accounting software packages. The paper explains the business requirements and business process of B bakery. B bakery is a family owned firm who employs approx 70 employees to sale the products in the global market. The paper explains that which software is adopted by B bakery to satisfy the needs and requirements of the clients. More detail of the task has been detailed below.

Define business process

A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour based baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries, food, pies and cookies. Some retail bakeries are also serving coffee, cafes and tea to customers who wish to consume and use the baked goods on the premises. Mainly bakers sell the bread and other products to the customers worldwide. It has been noted that bakers mix ingredients according to recipes in order to make bread, baked goods and pastries.  It has been noted that most of the bakers work in grocery stores, bakeries and restaurants to sell the products to the customers in the market (Cauvain, 2017).

a. Business process

Business process is significant to understand the organization in an effective manner. Business process plays an effective role to accomplish the goals and objectives of the firm. Bakery is considered the family owned organization that provides various food products to the customers across the world. It has been noted that business process can be classified into three categories that includes center business process, management process and support process (Varzakas and Tzia, 2015).

Center business processes: The center business process includes marketing, finance, procurement, manufacturing and distribution. Firstly, the bakery procures the raw material from the vendors and produces bread and other products for the customers. After the production, these products are sold by the baker to the customers in order to generate profit and revenue (Schippmann, 2013). The center process of the bakery has been detailed below.

The above business shows that baker perform various tasks and duties in the organization. It will help to generate more and more funds and revenue within the organization. The center business process helps for successful and effective execution of the business operations and activities.

Management business processes: Management business process is also used by the company to initiate the business activities and operations effectively. The management process is employed and managed by the organization in order to plan, organize, control and manage the business resources efficiently. It has been noted that management business process helps the firm to administer and control the operational and management system of the firm. The effective and unique management business process is used by the company to pursue growth strategy by providing healthy and tasty products to the customers in the competitive market (Schippmann, 2013).

Support processes: This process helps the company to manage and operate the business operations effectively and efficiently. These business processes include collection of actions that provide support to the business operations in the organization. Recruitment, accounting and technical support are unique examples of the support process in the bakery business. The support department in the organization maintains books and records of the company and they help to recruit the attractive and talented employees within the organization. Along with this, technical support is also provided by the support team within the organization (Dora et al, 2013).

(Source: Cauvain, 2017)

The above mentioned diagram shows the center business process and support business process that are used by the bakers in the bakery business. It helps to accomplish the long term goals and objectives of the firm. Different business processes are used by the bakery to generate profitability and market share (Wilson and Post, 2013).

Define business requirements

b. Indispensable business processes

Indispensable business process is initiated by the company to gain competitive advantages in the workplace. It has been noted that bakers seek to provide new and healthy products to the customers at appropriate prices. Therefore, it is quite complex to perform and manage the administration, management, operational and support business process in a hassle free manner. The support process of bakery includes recruitment, selection, compensation and management of the human resources that could have direct impact on the center business process of the bakery. Sometimes, the firm is failed to recruit talented and capable employees therefore it affects the production and outcomes of the firm. It may also reduce the profitability of the firm. On the other hand, accounting process helps the company to maintain books, records and financial transactions. It is typical for the organization to offer various food products at suitable prices. The bakery can handle and control the resources effectively by using effective strategies at the workplace. It will also help to improve the quality of the products. It is difficult for the firm to perform various processes effectively for carrying out the business activities and operations by using information system at the workplace. Along with this, accounting activities are unable to provide right and accurate information to the customers. Thus, it can affect the image of the company in the global market. It is stated that support processes is complex for the company to ensure the better productivity and performance in the organization (Zhou and Hui, 2014).

C.Required objectives

It has been stated that the value creation outcome is essential to attain the long term objectives of bakery. The business processes including recruitment, selection, accounting and marketing are designed to generate and maximize the additional value for the vendors, consumers and workers within the organization. The support processes are essential to increase and enhance the effectiveness of the firm by rendering better quality of the products to the consumers across the world. Bakery needs to improve and enhance the support activities for improving and enhancing the outcomes and productivity. Supporting activities such as accounting needs to provide right and accurate information related to the products to the customers in the market. Furthermore, optimum utilization of resources shall be done by the firm to enhance and increase efficiency of the workers and organization as well. It will help to make favorable impact on the capability of the employees and organization to produce more healthy products by using adequate and unique resources. The support processes are essential to align the different activities of the business in order to ensure the flow of work. It will also help to maintain good and strong collaboration and communication among the employees. This output makes a favorable impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the other business processes that help to increase the revenue and outcomes of the B bakery. It has been stated that effective decisions must be taken by the B bakery to maintain peaceful environment and beat the customers in the global market.

System requirements

A. Analysis of system requirements for bakery

The bakery has decided to make a huge investment in the implementing and buying the accounting software. For this purpose, B bakery analyzes and evaluates the system requirements in the global market. It is complex to analyze and evaluate the system requirement and to ensure the performance of the software at the workplace. There are ample of features that the firm should consider to achieve their IT investment objectives and goals that have been detailed below.

• The firm should focus on the data reporting as well as statutory requirements to accomplish the goals. The IT system must provide facility to create financial, legal and law requirements. The system should allow the B bakers to get financial reports and documents in a specific time period.
• Expandability and interoperability: The system should encompass expandability and interoperability features that help in performing task and duties effectively and efficiently. Interoperability system ensures the ability and potential of the system. Along with this, expandability features are essential to add extra abilities within the organization. These features must be useful for B bakery to ensure the effective and unique system migration.
• The internet security and connectivity should also be good feature that can be used by B Bakers to attain long term targets of the firm.
• Predictive and historical features must be used while buying the system. This system must allow the firm to analyze and evaluate the historical data in order to predict the future risks and challenges.
• It is stated that performance evaluation must be done by B Bakers to achieve the IT investment objectives and goals. All these features should be used by B Bakers to solve and handle the issues of the IT system (Pollitt, 2014).

System requirements for B Bakers

Software selection

A. options for software vendor

The website of three vendors includes MYOB, SAP and Xero that help to select right software vendor in the organization.

B.Category of accounting software

It has been noted that accounting software can be divided in three forms such as high, low and medium. The high cater of accounting software permits the company to increase and enhance the efficiency and productivity of the firm. The high accounting software is called as enterprise resource planning that helps in gaining rivalries benefits in the global market. The low category of accounting software permits the firms to exercise roles and functions including books of accounts, tracking of data, and development of financial reports (Duki?, Mesari? and Duki?, 2014). It is analyzed that medium category accounting system are more costly rather than low category software. On other the hand, implementation of high accounting software is also more expensive and difficult than other categories (Simkin, Norman and Rose, 2014). For B Bakers, medium sized category of accounting software is mote approximate because it is effective and unique to serve needs and demands of the business and customers with reducing the cost of the company. The bakery can use this software to provide healthy and unique products to the customers in the marketplace (Schorr et al, 2013). The medium sized software provides accurate and unique information regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of the each and every department and to decline the cost of the firm. On the other hand, high category of software will increase and enhance the cost of the company effectively which may have direct impact on the efficiency and competencies of the employees. Furthermore, middle class category of software allows B Bakers to customize the features and to generate high profitability (Recker, 2015).

Vendor selection

A.Compare and contrast the features of two accounting software packages

The medium category of accounting software such as Xero and MYOB has been selected for B bakers. The comparison and contrast between two software have been detailed below.

Features or functionalities	Xero software	MYOB software
Operating system support	OSX, Linux and Windows	OSX and windows
Update	Updation is done automatic	Updation is done manually.
Business size	Large, medium and small	Medium and large
User interface	Web based	Stand alone
Backup	Backup can be done within 10 days	Any time availability in MYOB software
Reporting	Reporting is done in standard format	Vertical and horizontal analysis are done.
Billing and invoice	Automatic billing	Purchase order data
Budgeting and forecasting	Available	Available
E-commerce	E-commerce is available	E-commerce is not available
Taxation	Taxation	Taxation can be done
Accounts management	It is possible in multiple currency	It is possible in signle currency
Inventory management	Basic feature	Advanced inventory function
Bank Reconciliation	Bank reconciliation is available	Available
Data integration	Automatic	Automatic
Price	Relatively low	High prices
Multi browsing	Available	Multi browsing is not available
Payroll functionality	Effective features	Less features
Mobile accounting app	Mobile accounting app is available	It is also available in MYOB
Customer support	Customer support can be possible through email and phone	Customer support can be possible through online chat, phone and email.

On the above table, it has been analyzed that Xero and MYOB has ample of similarities and differences that can affect the business operations and actions of B bakery for accounting software. It is noted that MYOB is appropriate and effective for small and medium size organization whereas XERO is unique and effective for large and medium size organization. In this way, several differences and similarities can be identified and analyzed in the above table (Wells, 2018). It is noted that Xero provide web based features whereas MYOB does not provide web based features as it requires installation of software to save the file and data. Accounting management can be done in ample of currency in Xero whereas in MYOB, inventory management is done in single currency (Mageto, 2017). E-commerce and taxation are available in both the software. Mobile software app is available in both the software such as XERO and MYOB. The price of Xero is high whereas the price of MYOB is low. It is analyzed that security measure can be done in Xero rather than MYOB creates various issues and differences in the data protection. The above are the some effective and unique features of MYOB and Xero accounting software that can be used by the company (Rainer et al, 2013).

B.Most appropriate accounting software for bakery business

For bakery business, it is complex to select and choose right accounting software from the MYOB and Xero. It has been measured that B bakers provides variety of goods to the customers in the marketplace. It is noted that Xero can be suitable and effective for bakery to fulfill the needs and requirements of the target audience (Weygandt, Kimmel and Kieso, 2015). It is complex to identify and analyze the cost of the different business activities such as packaging, distribution, warehousing, shipping and production. Xero is suitable it is less expensive and furthermore, it does not take more time for up-gradation. By using Xero, the firm has been able to integrate cost and information of the various departments and furthermore, it also helps in determining the market share and profit margin. Activity based costing system can be used by bakery to control and manage the cost of the firm. On the other hand, inventory is the primary concern for the company (Hossack, 2015). Ineffective and poor inventory management causes stock turnover for the business and it affect the revenue of the firm. It is analyzed that Xero is most suitable and unique to control stock and maintain sufficient level of inventory. It also permits the company to modify the inventory management tools (Scott, 2016). On the other hand, MYOB is not effective and unique to grow in the future. Xero accounting software also helps to analyze the desires and expectations of the consumers in the global market. It is noted that MYOB is not flexible therefore, the company uses Xero software. This software also helps in addressing the accounting information needs and requirements of B bakers. Moreover, Xero also provides billing, budgeting, invoices, and systematic calculation of products and resources. These entire features make Xero is unique and effective in the organization. This software also helps the bakery to determine and analyze the areas of the inefficiencies (Chiang, 2014). This may also helps the company to improve and enhance the business process and to decline the cost of the company. Xero provide 24*7 hours support to the customers and employees whereas this benefit can be provided by MYOB. MYOB provides only 12hours services to the customers. Therefore, it is not suitable for the clients in the marketplace. Xero is appropriate to cater needs and wants of B Bakers. It is noted that B bakers is a medium size firm that employs more than 70 workers and provides various types of goods to the customers. Payroll feature also allows the company to analyze the efficiency and performance of the workers in the workplace. B Bakers can use online platform in order to increase the sale and to expand the market globally (Dimitriu and Matei, 2014). XERO will also facilitate the e-commerce and along with this, online payment can be accepted with the help of Xero. In this way, it is noted that Xero provides various benefits to the customers across the world. Xero accounting software can serve the needs, wants and desires of the bakery business effectively and successfully (Mcauliffe and Ichargeyou Pty Ltd, 2017).

Conclusion

From the above mentioned analysis, it is analyzed that B bakers can use Xero to obtain various types of information related to the sales. This system provides various benefits to the bakery by reducing the cost of the firm. Here is the discussion about the various accounting software that can be used by B Bakery

References

Cauvain, S.P., 2017. Baking problems solved. Woodhead Publishing.

Chiang, B., 2014. Self-Directed Learning: Using Individualized Self-Directed Learning Assignments in a Managerial Accounting Course. In Advances in Accounting Education: Teaching and Curriculum Innovations (pp. 79-101). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Dimitriu, O. and Matei, M., 2014. A new paradigm for accounting through cloud computing. Procedia economics and finance, 15, pp.840-846.

Dora, M., Kumar, M., Van Goubergen, D., Molnar, A. and Gellynck, X., 2013. Food quality management system: reviewing assessment strategies and a feasibility study for European food small and medium-sized enterprises. Food control, 31(2), pp.607-616.

Duki?, B., Mesari?, J. and Duki?, S., 2014. A knowledge management model aimed at continuous quality assurance in bakeries. In 7th International Congress Flour-Bread'13 and 9th Croatian Congress of Cereal Technologists, 16-18 October 2013, Opatija, Croatia. Proceedings (pp. 336-344). Josip Juraj Strossmayer University, Agriculture Faculty in Osijek.

Hossack, S., 2015. Cloud-based accounting and productivity tools for practitioners and taxpayers. Taxation in Australia, 50(5), p.265.

Mageto, J., 2017. Accounting Softwares in Australia. An Overview. GRIN Publishing.

Mcauliffe, B., Ichargeyou Pty Ltd, 2017. System, device, method, software application and data signal for monitoring an interaction. U.S. Patent Application 15/303,489.

Pollitt, D., 2014. Fosters Bakery puts HR in the mix: Plain-speaking approach to employee relations. Human Resource Management International Digest, 22(7), pp.15-17.

Rainer, R.K., Cegielski, C.G., Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, I. and Sanchez-Rodriguez, C., 2013. Introduction to information systems. John Wiley & Sons.

Recker, J., 2015. Evidence-based business process management: Using digital opportunities to drive organizational innovation. In BPM-Driving Innovation in a Digital World (pp. 129-143). Springer, Cham.

Schippmann, J.S., 2013. Strategic job modeling: Working at the core of integrated human resources. Psychology Press.

Schorr, M., Sylvester, M., Dopf, G., Henrich, D., Liebich, G., Conrad, M., Reccius, A., Klein, M., Hohendorf, M., Roesinger, A. and Soltek, R., 2013. Providing accounting software application as enterprise services. U.S. Patent 8,442,850.

Scott, P., 2016. Accounting for Business. Oxford University Press.

Simkin, M.G., Norman, C.S. and Rose, J.M., 2014. Core concepts of accounting information systems. John Wiley & Sons.

Varzakas, T. and Tzia, C. eds., 2015. Handbook of food processing: food safety, quality, and manufacturing processes(Vol. 35). CRC Press.

Wells, P.K., 2018. How well do our introductory accounting text books reflect current accounting practice?. Journal of Accounting Education.

Weygandt, J.J., Kimmel, P.D. and Kieso, D.E., 2015. Financial & managerial accounting. John Wiley & Sons.

Wilson, F. and Post, J.E., 2013. Business models for people, planet (& profits): exploring the phenomena of social business, a market-based approach to social value creation. Small Business Economics, 40(3), pp.715-737.

Zhou, W. and Hui, Y.H. eds., 2014. Bakery products science and technology. John Wiley & Sons.