This is my assesment and i have no clue how to start it. i never wrote a report

Question

This is my assesment and i have no clue how to start it. i never wrote a report before neither did we practice such a thing in class? where can i find an example or some guidelines??

Accounting system

part a

Write a report as the accounts manager for an organisation looking at purchasing an accounting information system. The report has been requested by your general manager and should include the following areas:
A brief overview of how you might identify system features and requirements and the areas you will need to take into account
A brief overview of how you might prioritise the requirements
An overview of the details that might be involved for a cost-benefit analysis
A summary of the testing you might consider
The type of user manuals that should be prepared, and available

Part b

The general manager has also asked you to provide a series of questions on key issues that could help guide their decision-making.
Prepare a list of questions that the general manager could use, the reasons for the questions and describe the way in which you would provide the information.

Thanks LilY

Explanation / Answer

Answer -

Part A

To:

General Manager

XYZ Organization

Date: 05th November 2017

Title: Report on purchasing an Accounting Information System for the Organization

In the Board Meeting held on 20th October 2017, it was discussed to purchase an Accounting Information System for the organization to meet the strategic business objectives.

Before purchasing the Accounting Information System, we need to identify the current and future requirements of the business. This can be done by having discussion meetings with the departments that will be using this system like Finance, Accounts, and Sales etc. These departments will put forward, what features are required in this system as per the current business process. These requirements and features can then be compared with the features and specifications of popular accounting systems available in the market.

There can be situations where all the internal requirements are not available in the accounting systems, therefore the business needs to identify and prioritize those requirements which are critical to the functioning of the business. The business needs to identify those internal requirements which are not critical and can be handled using the existing system.

After the requirements have been finalized, we can share a Request for Proposal (RFP) to the existing Accounting system vendors, asking them to share their proposals with details of the accounting systems and the price charged by them for their system and services. A detailed cost-benefit analysis exercise has to be performed, by comparing the cost charged by each vendor and the benefits offered by their systems. While considering this exercise, the organization should look at the various components of the cost like subscription charges, fees of the technology consultants, license fees etc. For comparing the benefits offered, the organization should look at the internal requirements and compare them with the features offered by these systems.

Once the selection of vendor and accounting system is completed, the development and implementation phase of the accounting system will start. The organization will be involved in different testing cycles with the project team during this phase. Unit testing will be performed once the development has been completed for each of the different modules of the system. After unit testing, the project team will perform System Integration Testing (SIT) by testing a complete business process involving different modules and departments. A successful SIT, will open the door for User Acceptance Testing (UAT) which will involve the respective departments and their business users to test the development of the system. The UAT has to be performed with utmost care and due diligence and any issues faced during the UAT stage should be highlighted with the project management team.

User manuals also play an important role in the purchase and development of accounting system. The organization has to prepare detailed user manuals for different business process with the help of the Project management team. The user manuals should be elaborate, they should have flowcharts and system screenshots to help the users understand the process in the new system. These manuals should be reviewed and approved by the department heads.

These are some of the important areas to be considered for purchase of an Accounting Information System for the organization.

Reported by:

Lily

Accounts Manager

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Part B

Questions on key issues

Q1. Is the accounting system offered by the vendor meeting the defined requirements of the organization?

Q2. Has the vendor’s claim of product performance and completion of work with other customers validated and verified by the organization?

Q3. Is the vendor supplying the system, financial and technical viable enough?

Q4. The vendor’s number of years of experience in offering the accounting system services?

Q5. The vendor’s list of clients using the accounting system offered by the vendor?

Q6. Is the development of the accounting system completed as per the organization’s requirement?

Q7. Is the testing of the accounting system completed as per the organization requirements?

Q8. And any issues faced during the testing phase have been resolved?

The information for above questions can be obtained from the Vendor’s in their proposal documents. The claims made by vendors for their clients, years of experience, system features etc. can be validated from the industry sources and external agencies.

The information related to development and testing of the accounting system has to be obtained from the internal project management teams involved in the purchase and development of the accounting system.

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