Accounting software Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Accounting software - Essay Example An Accounting Information System (AIS) is an organized framework which is used to keep the business accounting records and information by an organization (Wikipedia.org, 2006). The system can be a manual system or a software based application. This report covers the essential user requirements for the development of an Accounting Information System application, fully equipped to cater all the requirements of internal and external stakeholders.After conducting a formal and organized users' needs assessment survey, that included interviewing key users and process owners and studying the business processes, the analyst team has identified the major requirements of the proposed accounting information system (Accounting Software Research, 2002).The software should include ABC's chart of accounts. If this is not set up properly so that revenues and costs are captured and segregated into the best suited categories, the financial reports will be useless and misleading.All transactions need t o be recorded by AIS. No transaction, once entered, will be allowed to be deleted. Transactions may, however, be reversed if incorrectly recorded in the AIS. The AIS should provide facility for transaction processing and activities like real time transactions entries, validation and verification checks, posting and reconciling, balancing totals etc. The AIS should maintain and produce financial statements for the company based on the transactions that are entered into the software. The system should be able to group various items as per the rules already provided in the system and should be able to develop all relevant financial statements of the company like Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, Statement of changes in equity, etc. Accounts Payable Vendor Master File All related information about vendors and suppliers should be stored in the application appropriately and should be accessible to authorized personnel only. Purchasing Controls The procurement process of the company should be automated. There should be features for request for proposal, purchase orders printing and control, vendor and order details, invoice, etc. Check Writing Checks should be automatically printed from the system upon request. The procedure should take into account proper authorizations and verification features. Accounts Receivable Customer Master File All related information about customers is kept in the system and is accessible to authorized personnel only. Invoicing The customer invoice process that is followed by business should be automated; hence invoices will be produced by the system when necessary information is entered by the operator. Cash Receipts and Debt Collection Rules should be defined in the system for the process of cash receiving from customers using cash, bank checks and other means. Similarly, the system should be able to track debts and loans, should be programmed so that the loans are properly aged, and the collection procedures that is being applied to recover the debt, should be recorded in the system. Payroll Employee Files All related information about employees of the company is kept in the system and is accessible to authorized personnel only. Human Resource Management Payroll benefits, skills classification, applications for recruitment, selection procedures, screened candidates' information, training records, employee health and safety records. Vacation records etc. will be maintained in this sub-module. Payroll Check Writing Payroll checks will be produced automatically by the system at due date. The necessary monitoring controls should be applied to ensure proper treatment of rewards, bonuses, stop payments etc