Concept of Accounting Technology

This can only be possible through adoption and use of technology in core business departments including accounting. Currently, there exist several accounting programs. Some of the commonly used programs include; Xero, FreshBooks, QuickBooks, Intacct, Wave, MYOB, reckon, NetSuite, Intuit QuickBooks, Brightpearl, Zoho among others. This paper will explore, and analyze the application of accounting software packages in running present day businesses. The study takes us through the concept of accounting technology - including a brief history, an evaluation of a real business (case study) supported by a review of relevant literature, discussion and finally a conclusion. , 2014; Dimitriu & Matei, 2015; Higgins & Smith, 2017). Further literature evidence associates cloud accounting services with easier access, enhanced security, increased efficiency, increased user-friendliness and ease of set-up. In spite of all these, it is important for companies to consider or ask the following before adopting cloud-based accounting; what is the annual access or subscription fees? Can the application be used across multiple platforms e.

g. PC, smartphones? Can the application integrate with organization bank (bank feeds) and other internal/external organization services/applications? What are the new skills that my employees will require as a result of adopting the application? Will the organization data and financial be secure and accessible whenever and wherever? To advance the discussion on acquisition, adoption, and impact of modern accounting software packages, this study will focus on Woolworths Group, an Australian organization as a case. In any organization, employees’ responsibilities are defined by the tasks they perform, whom they report to and who reports to them – an organizational structure (Grossi, et al. O’Neill et al. (2001) define organizational structure as “the degree of centralization of decision-making, formalization of rules, authority, communication, and compensation, standardization of work processes and skills, and/or control of output by acceptance of only adequate outcomes”.

This implies that Woolworths group must apply well thought out configurations and strategic procedures in order to successfully manage and control communications, decision-making, and reporting relationships across their 200,000+ employees. Woolworths Group uses a matrix organizational structure – a combination of functional and product organizational structures as shown in figure 1. Woolworths Group could also experience increased costs, diminished speed in making decisions especially in decisions where managers are in conflict, and difficulties in resolving conflicts at management level owing to ambiguity in authority. In his study of major Swiss daily newspapers, Grubenmann (2016) findings also captured challenges in costs and resources, conflict in teams, their workflow, role conflict, and ambiguity in matrix organizational structure. Woolworths Business Operations and Accounting Woolworths Group operates diverse and large businesses prompting the use of SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to manage their business functions (Woolworths Group, 2018).

SAP or System, Applications and Products software, developed in Germany, is used by medium-sized and large-businesses to track client and business interactions. Woolworths Group applies SAP to support most of its business operations including accounting. Small-sized companies with one geographical location still use word processing tools like Microsoft Excel to enter data, manipulate and run ledgers. However, mid-sized and large organizations with multiple geographical sites and a large pool of customers and employees prefer specialized or customized accounting software. This is because the customized software is dedicated and tailored to specification. They are also accompanied by full-time support services in case of downtime or failures. Further, customized accounting software like ERP allow organizations to scale-up in future if required (Pitcher Partners, 2013).

For instance, Woolworths Group suffered a series unplanned outages (intermittently) as they migrated their systems from CASS system to SAP ERP (Woolworths Group, 2017). The new system was unable to submit orders to its suppliers leading to lost sales. To resolve this, Woolworths embarked on fixing IT as its key priority through foundation training programs and undertaking investments in its IT infrastructure. Conclusion The evolution of technology and concept of automated accounting opens up new opportunities for businesses to improve, cut down on costs and expand its services to clients. Accounting remains a critical function of business activities - applications such as ERP systems consolidate business processes into a single module thereby allowing organization management to make faster and effective business and financial decisions.