Introduction
There are a number of accounting software used across Australia. The country has some small and large organizations that use accounting software. Sonar argued that the use of accounting software depends on a number of factors. The need for accounting software for large organizations may not be the same as the need for accounting software for small or mid-size organizations. By definition, accounting software defines a type of software that accounts and practices accounting communications inside functional units such as accounts receivable, accounts payable, trial balance, and payroll. It purposes as an accounting data system. The objective of this paper is to discuss the literature review on the accounting software packages that are being used in Australia.
Development and adoption of the accounting software packages
The market for accounting software is a matured market. The history of accounting software goes back to the 1990s. Before the 1990s, there were some players in the market. After the 1990s, the market observed a consolidation phase. In the current market conditions, the market is divided into the organized segment and the unorganized segment. Significant and third-party players like Microsoft, Xero, Kashoo Accounting Software, Working Point Accounting software, etc., rule the market. The large companies would typically use high-end accounting software that could be integrated with the ERP (Employee Resource Planning) products. The ERP systems like Microsoft Dynamics would have a combined module of accounting.
The research suggests that organizations can have various ways to use accounting software. The firms can use the ‘on-premise’ installations of accounting software, or firms can use the cloud version of the accounting software. In recent times, there has been a trend in the industry to use cloud-based accounting software. In fact, the Australian market has witnessed a transformation from on-premise installation to cloud-based accounting software.
The leader in the Market and its Competitive Advantage
In the field of the organized accounting business, Microsoft is a market leader. Microsoft offers various types of accounting software installation options like on-premise, on a cloud, software as a service, platform as a service, etc. In recent times, the market share of Microsoft and other companies has seen an increase in the percentage of cloud-based accounting software implementation. There are various advantages of cloud-based accounting software. It helps the organizations to minimize the cost. With the on-cloud deployment, the organizations are not required to make an initial investment toward hardware. One of the tricky tasks for administration is to manage operational and capital expenses. The revenue collected from customers can help to maintain operational costs, but the decisions around capital investments are always challenging to make. With ever-changing technology and development, organizations operating in different industries have to make the capital investment on a regular and continuous basis, and the use of a cloud-based accounting system enables the organization to optimize operational expenses. It is imperative that employees, internal stakeholders, and external stakeholders should support the administration in these decisions.
Current Market Size
There was a time when the accounting software in Australia was primarily being used by vast organizations only. However, with the use of cloud computing and the use of cloud base accounting software implementation, small organizations have also started to use accounting software. The method of accounting systems and software also enables the organizations to emerge as process-based organizations. The movement to a process-based organization is more comfortable said than done; however, Creed, Daly, and his fellows warned the transformation into a process-based organization is a challenge despite what the books describe. From a top manager and middle manager perspective, the shift toward integration means employee collaboration and centralization of certain functions, and patience with the organization’s plans to achieve organizational outcomes. Cultivating cross-functional process teams will shift organizations to a process-based organization, and cross-functional teams will help transform value-added processes and industry best practices.
There are various theories that describe the use of accounting software for firms in Australia and the firms at a global level. Taylor’s approach has a significant impact on contemporary organizational design, being that it was one of the first designs to communicate how to efficiently run an organization systematically with the use of integrated accounting software. The way this theory described the organization and people as a running machine puts in perspective how the organizations should be. Also, how Taylor states that the mind can be rebooted and programmed shows that the direction of an organization can be done many different ways, and it is up to those who run it to determine how it should best run with the ERP systems and accounting software. From this theory, many other methods can and have been birthed. This theory provides the perfect foundation to build upon in efforts to create many different ways to establish a more contemporary designed organization.
Current Gaps
There are certain gaps in the current use of accounting software that could be bridged by the organizations. In fact, there are organizations that are working continuously to bridge this gap. One of the weaknesses is the limited use of accounting software by large organizations. It is observed that the use of accounting software is at a reasonable level for large and established organizations. However, small organizations in Australia are not able to make extensive use of accounting software. Another observed gap is in the long-term planning and use of accounting software. It is observed that organizations would decide to invest in accounting software with a short-term vision. It is essential that the organizations should have a long-term view of the implementation of accounting software. Authors argued that the accounting software should be implemented as a part of the overall ERP or Information System implementation within the organization. The accounting software should not be considered as a stand-alone implementation. The organizations and stakeholders would be able to make the comprehensive benefits of accounting software implementation only when the software is integrated with other IT systems used in the organization.
Another gap is in the limited use of accounting software and packages for fraud detection. Granlund argued that the frauds and insider trading incidents like Enron could have been avoided with the use of accounting software at the workplace. Therefore, it is recommended that organizations should be able to take full benefits of the implementation of accounting software. In a business relationship, accounting software can also be used to generate the trust factor. It should be even more important to work on the trust factor and to communicate a lack of action if something is in the way of being able to deliver the promised item. It is recommended that the organizations should have a 360-degree view of the business operations while implementing the accounting software. A holistic understanding of the business operations would enable the organizations to derive the maximum benefits from the implementation of accounting software. The use of accounting software in Australia has evolved a lot, and it is expected that this field will continue to grow with the emergence of more and more players. The competition is already high among the existing players, and it is expected that this competition will continue to increase.
Conclusion and recommendation
It is recommended that the organizations should first analyze the actual need for the accounting software from a different perspective. The inputs from various internal and external stakeholders would enable the management to have a better understanding of demand. Once the need for accounting software is established, the organization should decide on the vendor and the product. There are various products on the market and multiple vendors. For some organizations, Microsoft Dynamics is the best solution, and for some of the organizations, XERO could be the best option. It is essential that the organization should use the product that is best suited for their business. Once the organization has determined the outcome and vendor, the next step for organizations would be to determine the platform to implement the accounting software. There are many means to approach the application of your new accounting structure, and not unexpectedly, some methods work far more thoroughly than others. The 1st step in the operation of accounting software practice should begin using a detailed review of the industry necessities and procedures to recognize what is operational well and the features of the business that might require development and modification. In a nutshell, it can be said that the implementation of the accounting software should be part of the overall business level strategy of the organization.
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