Applications of Technology in Modern Accounting Jonathan Eno Christopher Parks Nathan Phillips

Technology in Accounting The more a company is able to access and review data with immediacy, the more nimble they are in response to business challenges and opportunities. There are many decisions that a manager, business owner or CFO may need to make as accounting systems are put in place to replace the paper ledgers of the past

ERP systems are one of the most widespread applications of technology in accounting.

ERP systems are used by organizations to integrate their accounting and other business functions.

What is ERP?

The ERP market is dominated by two vendors, SAP and Oracle

Clash of the Titans: An independent comparison of SAP versus Oracle

CRM Systems  Packaged systems focused on the support of several key areas of a company including: The customer service relationship Product distribution Company revenue and cost tracking functions

CRM Systems Commonly used as a separate package from the central accounting and finance functions of an enterprise Typically not focused on external stakeholders

SME Systems Focused on small and medium enterprises Similar functionality to ERP systems, but may not be as integrated to all departments Often offered as Software as a Service (SaaS) products

Integration Fights Hairballs

Cost of Systems SME systems are priced as low as $15 per year for a service A full-service SME solution may cost several thousand dollars for the software plus several hundred per year per license ERP systems for middle to large scale companies commonly range from 100,000 to several million dollars, plus large costs per user

System Performance  Factors that drive the decisions on what systems to use include: Storage of documents Ease of inputting Accessibility of data for review, distribution, and analysis

ERP System Improvements  Recent ERP system improvements include: Systems that speed the inputting of data into the ERP system at the unit or call center level and provide managers with automatic reports from the system queries Systems and interfaces that improve ERP system functionality

Mobility Universal desktops, VPNs or interface portals allow clients and managers to access information and perform functions in the ERP system throughout the world using mobile devices This mobility is increasingly important as the speed of information distribution capability improves

Mobile Accounting Software Example

Dashboards Dashboards are designed to be a visual representation of business performance for a defined business unit  Dashboards display relevant data on a single page for easy display on mobile devices

Cloud Computing One of the major recent developments in business software is increased use of cloud computing. What is cloud computing?

Cloud Computing Explained

Companies can now focus on responding to information instead of spending huge amounts of time recording and storing it The next challenge for companies is to make use of the cloud more effectively, speeding information through their organization and encouraging pro-active response to information and analysis