Accounting Information System

Executive summary

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is the software that centralizes and integrates all the business processes of the company at one place which allows businesses to be flexible. The main features which ERP provides are financial management, customer management relationship and machine learning which is the business intelligence tool. ERP gives smart insights of finances, customers relations, supplier management, supply chain and human resource management. The company ,who want to purchase ERP system, have to consider their budget, complexity of their business , skillsets of their employees who will work on ERP system and return on investment whether implementing ERP system is profitable or not (SelectHub confidence in software, n.d).

A2B Australia is the land transport company which have best technology brands and activities. However, it needs better cash and expense management tool where it can manage its cash effectively. Moreover, the company also need ERP system in order to look after other business processes like HR, Sales and distribution and customer relationship management. Through this ERP system A2B company can improve its Taxi dispatch and booking system which had been discussed in this report. Furthermore, there ERP software, namely SAP ERP, Acumatica and Sage intact, were suggested for A2B Australia according to their system and module requirements. The report also compares all these ERP systems according to the business sector they are operating in, ERP software features and pricing range. 

Introduction

Today, everything is about the advancement in technology which helps to revolutionize the global economy and it helps to expand the horizon of companies. Moreover, data analytics is the requirement of all the firm nowadays from which firms can get useful insights of all its business processes and then manage it so this data analytics comes from information system which company has to install through ERP system ( Kolcun, Grabara, & Kot, 2014). There are various types of information system like accounting information system which deals with internal and external financial transactions and then use this all information to post annual reports. The other type of information system is supply chain information system.

However, according to (Xie & Deng, 2018) there should be better planning and strategies before implementing ERP system like selecting right system according to requirements or to have competitive edge. If there is no right planning so ERP system will be less efficient.

A2B Australia

A2B Australia is a land transport public limited company operating in Australia. This company was founded by Reg Kermode. The main service of the company is Cabcharge which was established in 1976 and through this service the customers who use taxi service can pay through account payment system which is one of the methods of non-cash. A2B comes under the group company of CAB. It offers brands and activities in tax network which include ride services like 13cab and handheld payment terminal which facilitate in non-cash payment in taxi network like Cabcharge and spotto.

Business process issues

In FY 2018 this company faced numerous controversies due to predatory pricing strategies and it also had accusation of earning abnormal profits from online payment services by imposing 5% to 10% surcharge. Company has overcome all this controversy and they follow all the regulations. However, this company can uncertain consequence in 2020 as fierce competition can be anticipated along with strict regulations imposed by the Australian government. The payment service of the A2B can be impacted if government impose price restrictions on the fare of taxi network or there might be regulations which can reduce service charges in taxi industry. Moreover, in FY 2019 the company operational cash expenses have also been increased due to increase in operations and sales revenue so the company might face cash or expenses management issues, so the company need a proper financial information system to monitor its payment processes and expenses.   

Information system requirements

The following are the issues or concerns which A2B must look after in order to improve its information system:

• Diversifying user experiences especially in its payment process services.
• Maintaining its operational growth divisions which include growth of taxi networks.
• Enhancing expense and cash management.
• Maintaining efficient booking system for customers and drivers.
• Improve its taxi dispatch system.

 The ERP system which is the cloud computing system where all the resources can be shared over the network and it can also store the information which will be helpful for customer management. This ERP system can build long run communication with the drivers and customers and will store all their activities. The data collection which will be collected at ERP system will proud with all means of presentation and visualization as well (Tomasz, 2016).

A2B company also need to improve its taxi dispatch system where it must minimize the waiting time for its customers. It can be done if proper booking system is established like in peak hours’ time where customers can’t able to get ride due to unavailability of taxi driver and the prices in this time remain the same which is for non-peak time. In order to allocate rides to those customers who really want ride in emergency hotspot so company can introduce explicit pricing or peak factor which will reduce unnecessary travelling of some customers. During this time driver will be available for those customers who willingly paying higher prices during peak hours. Moreover, there should be a system where driver should know local information regarding their hotspot like traffic impact on pick up and drop off locations so that they would anticipate their ride accordingly and through this way customer services will be improved as customers will already anticipate why there had been waiting time which will already show in online application or system (Santani, Balan, & Woodard, 2007).

A2B has to realize the importance of good information system so that there will be optimal use of the transport network, routes will be monitored for the remote areas for some of the rides, lesser taxi dispatch time where drivers would able to complete their according to their scheduled time and at last the trips should be conducted according to the requirements of costumers so that it would reduce additional costs like there might be options of multiple drop offs which would reduce fuel cost and increase the fare costs. Moreover, in recent times competition has been increased so A2B company have to make sure they have good information system which would allow them to monitor its operations and then improve it like bringing new features on its application like various promos, peak factor charges or scheduled rides bookings which give feasibility on the part of the customers (Grabara & Kot, 2014).

Need for ERP system

ERP system is the integrated managed tool big businesses are using in order to automate business back office processes and manage those businesses who are big in sizes where complex processes must be managed easily. As A2B is the growing business so the management must make sure they have proper ERP system installed already and this ERP system will automate processes in following subsystems (Schwarz, n.d). Below are the areas where A2B company can apply ERP system module (Tomasz, 2016):

• Cash management
• Customer relationship management
• Human resource management
• Financial information system (Accounting)
• Sale service management
• Taxi dispatch system
• Driver’s scheduling system

Now company must determine which ERP system is best for them to increase their efficiency in above processes and it will be key for them to expand their operations in future.

SAP ERP

SAP ERP is the product of the SAP SE which is the Germany based company. The first version of SAP ERP was launched in 1992 which was build on software of SAP R/3. The latest version is the SAP ERP 6.0 which was launched in 2006. For A2B company there are some business processes where SAP ERP can be applicable for example sales and distributions (operations), financial and management accounting(financials) and travel management or health and safety (corporate services). Moreover, the company would also have the advantage of handling finances and capital effectively which is basically financial readiness with SAP. The SAP ERP’s feature of cash management and treasury management would allow A2B company to look after the liquidity and optimize the working capital (ERP and Finance, n.d). SAP ERP always look to innovate themselves and bring out new features in their products and currently their new version of SAP ERP, S/4HANA, reduces manual processes and bring out more automated processes which include the feature of artificial intelligence. In this product real time analytics, machine learning and industry specific capabilities are embedded (ERP and Finance, n.d).

Acumatica

Acumatica is the leading cloud-based ERP software which was launched in 2008 and it has many users globally. It is the cloud and mobile based technology which allows the businesses to see real time analytics, the ability to view the business processes 24/7 and anywhere they want. So, these features are in one licensed model which facilitates all its users. Just like SAP ERP this software can assist A2B company on the following business processes:

• Customer relationship management
• Operations (sales and distribution)
• Financial management
• Project management

They are currently the leading ERP software company due to their ability to generate more revenue than other ERP firms. Currently they have more than 275 workers and 6000 customers all over the world (Acumatica About us, n.d). Acumatica usually provides its services to SME and medium enterprises which requires stability, future support and who are expanding rapidly. However, some clients reviewed that its price is not so competitive and its features is not good in mobile application (G2 products (Acumatica review), n.d). One of the great features of Acumatica is its pricing, as it is not on the base of the users like sizes of business will be charged different prices. The pricing is based on the resources which users have consumed and there are more than 100 product extension (ERP Focus, n.d).

Sage Intacct

This is the ERP software which was launched by Sage group and it is the California based company. It is also the cloud-based services which allows clients to reduce their maintenance and to make business environment more accessible. The company claimed that they can provide technology consultancies and all the various services to every sizes of businesses. Managing finances of the company is the main feature of their software. Not only this feature is supported by standard business, but any other type of business can utilize this ERP software by using multi way general ledger system where company can record their transactions. Moreover, finance feature also allows management reporting. Furthermore, in this ERP system there is customization which is based on the needs of clients and there is facility available like dashboard which accumulate all business process in one database, billing feature, real time analytics. The main objective of sage intact is to promote long term relationships with all its clients along with the consultancy or technology training in the organization throughout the years where they have any sort of relationship with clients (Sage Intacct, n.d).

Comparison of ERP software

The above software are all mid-market and cloud based as they are almost same. However, there are few considerations must be look on in order to compare these ERP systems in order to have great understanding and to find which ERP system is best for A2B Australia. One of the comparison tools we look on is the business sector these ERP systems can operate in.

Table 1: Comparison on business sectors

Business Sectors	SAP ERP	Acumatica	Sage Intacct
Manufacturing	Yes	Yes	No
Government Institution	Yes	Yes	Yes
Service	Yes	Yes	Yes
Retail	Yes	Yes	Yes
Logistics	Yes	Yes	Yes
Financial services	Yes	No	Yes
Discrete industries	Yes	No	No
Travel and Transportation	Yes	Yes	No

As A2B Australia is the travel and transportation company so SAP ERP and Acumatica are suitable for it. And Sage Intacct doesn’t provide services to transportation businesses. The comparison is based on the feature ERP is providing.

Table 2: Comparison on ERP software features

ERP software features	SAP ERP	Acumatica	Sage Intacct
Customer relationship management	Yes	Yes	No
Supply chain management	Yes	Yes	No
Financials	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sales	Yes	Yes	Yes
Human Resource management	Yes	Yes	Yes
Business Intelligence	Yes	Yes	Yes
Machine learning	Yes	Yes	Yes
Real time analytics	Yes	Yes	Yes
Quality management	Yes	No	No
Expense management	Yes	No	No
Planning and Scheduling	Yes	Yes	Yes

From this comparison we can conclude that SAP ERP will be best suited for A2B Australia as SAP ERP offers all the features which are mentioned above. Moreover, the feature of expense management which is essential requirement for A2B Australia is only offered by SAP ERP. Furthermore, SAP ERP also offers Financials, CRM, planning and scheduling and Human resource management which are information system requirements for A2B Australia. The third comparison is based on Price ranges of all these ERP systems.

Table 3: Comparison on the base of Price range

ERP software	Price Range
SAP ERP	$$$$$
Acumatica	$$$$$
Sage Intacct	$$$$$

 (Top ERP Software Comparison List, n.d)

The above table shows that SAP ERP is more expensive than other software as it has more bold dollar signs in its price ranges. However, it offers better services than other software. According to the table Acumatica is least expensive.

Findings

The best ERP system which is suitable of A2B Australia is SAP ERP as it suitable for Transport sector, along with it have every features which the information system of A2B Australia requires and it can help A2B to explore and include other features in its centralized system in near future. Sage intacct is no where suitable for A2B Australia according to the information provided in above table and it doesn’t operate in transport sector.

Conclusion

If a firm is deciding to have a proper information system so it need to make sure that it should also have the objective to grow and expand its horizon in near future. Because the investment firm put on to purchase ERP system is too much, so it also needs to consider the return on investment. The other factor which firm must consider is the knowledge and skillsets of the employees who would require to operate information system and lack of knowledge and skills will make the purchase of ERP system useless. For A2B Australia the best software it can implement from SAP ERP, Acumatica and Sage Intacct is the SAP ERP.  

References

Kolcun, M., Grabara, J., & Kot, S. (2014). THE ROLE OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN TRANSPORT LOGISTICS. International Journal of Education and Research, 2(2). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271443600

Acumatica About us. (n.d). Retrieved from Acumatica website: https://www.acumatica.com/about-acumatica/

ERP Focus. (n.d). ACUMATICA CLOUD ERPEXTENDED PROFILE. Retrieved from Acumatica website.

G2 products (Acumatica review). (n.d). Retrieved from G2 products website: https://www.g2.com/products/acumatica/reviews#details

Grabara, J., & Kot, S. (2014, February). The role of infomation systems in transport logistics. International Journal of Education and Research, 2.

Sage Intacct. (n.d). Retrieved from Sage Intacct website: https://www.sageintacct.com/why-sageintacct

Santani, D., Balan, R. K., & Woodard, J. C. (2007, March). Spatio-temporal Efficiency in a Taxi Dispatch System. School of Information Systems,Singapore Management University.

SAP SE products. (n.d). Retrieved from SAP SE website: https://www.sap.com/products/erp-financial-management.html?sred=products-erp#financial-resilience

Schwarz, L. (n.d). Choosing the Right Global ERP System for Your Business. Oracle Netsuite. Retrieved from https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/erp/choosing-right-global-erp-system.shtml

SelectHub confidence in software. (n.d). Retrieved from SelectHub website: https://www.selecthub.com/erp-software/

SelectHubconfidence in software. (n.d). Retrieved from SelectHub website: https://www.selecthub.com/erp-software/

Tomasz, D. (2016). A method to select an IT system for a logistics company. A highlyefficient infrastructure to respond, change and to drive innovation. Tranportation Research Procedia, 16, 54-60. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352146516306214

Xie, C., & Deng, S. T. (2018, September). The Design and Implementation of Logistics Information System basedof Multitier Architecture. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1087/4/042034