Group_Assignment

Kudler Fine Foods: Automated Process of Accounting Information Systems Learning Team A Melanie Barnes, James Corradino, Carmelita Quito, Heather Romano, & Shawndele Stafford Accounting Information Systems/ACC542 Richard E. Westbay May 22, 2010 Characteristics of the system that support the recommended course of action Kudler Fine Foods is similar to any other business. Kudler uses payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and inventory processes. Kudler would like to improve these four processes by incorporating the use of accounting information systems (AIS). The business must decide whether to purchase industry-specific software or develop customized software that fits their business to the tee. As a team of the accounting firm, we will recommend and describe the course of action that Kudler Fine Foods should take. It has been recommended that Kudler develop customizable software. Kudler Fine Foods is very different from the others in its industry, and industry specific software may be too specific to those other businesses. Therefore, With Kudler Fine Foods incorporating an accounting information system, this will bring expansion to their accounting operations. Smith Systems Consulting will add value to the accounting operations of Kudler with the installment of its Retail Enterprise Management System; this system is sure to bring expansion, as well as productivity to the company. Also, the REMS will add tremendous value to the company by infusing structure within the finance and accounting department. General Ledger Module: The general ledger module provides extensive functions ranging from chart of accounts to budget reporting. The chart of account function provides a list of all accounts within the AIS. The transaction detail provides all transactions by any number permutations such as store, department, etc. The financial reporting function gives balance sheet detail, income statement detail, and statement of cash flow detail with breakdowns by period. With the general ledger module, paper-based source documents will be minimized. Also, the necessary requirement for manual data entry will decrease. Accounts Payable Module: The accounts payable module provided all functions necessary. Such functions include vendor codes and master files, multiple bank account options for check printing, posting vendor orders directly to the AP module and tax and freight allocations. Because some vendors require cash payments, each store has a petty cash fund to accommodate cash purchases. In cases where the purchase is considered large, Finance and Accounting is notified in advance and the store manager is provided with a check that may be cased at a branch of our bank. Records of such transactions are faxed to Finance and Accounting and then manually entered into the system (Kudler Fine Foods, Accounting Systems Overview, pg. 1). Accounts Receivable/ POS Module: The Accounts Receivable/POS module captures and reports all retail sales in detail…item code, cost, price, time, station, clerk, quantity, store, etc (Kudler Fine Foods, Accounting Systems Overview, pg. 1). This module also handles all credit and debit card transactions, which are processed to the electronic payment clearing house and the cash reconciliation module, with 85% of sales being a debit or credit card transaction. Bank Reconciliation module: Bank reconciliation is performed on a daily and monthly basis. This module also assists in the cash flow analysis by collating data from AP, AR and the Purchase Order Module. Kudler Fine Foods Automated Process Flowchart [pic] AIS Maintenance After the implementation of the specialized software for the Transaction Processing Systems—“process data resulting from business transactions, update operational databases, and produce business documents (e.g., sales and inventory processing and accounting systems)”—the next step for Kudler’s Foods will be to monitor the output, make enhancements, and maintain the system for quality information in areas of payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and inventory (O’Brien & Marakas, 2008, p. 14). These steps are necessary to ensure quality control and sustainability of the AIS output Kudler uses for decision making. The use of the flow of operation in prioritizing the automation, enhancements, and maintenance of the four main systems, will achieve a consistent flow. Automation. First, the automation of the four systems are necessary to decrease management’s time on these processes so that the time use of that time is spent on more important issues. The implementation of automation will flow in the order of: payroll – to ensure employees receive their paychecks on time to keep them happy and they will continue to do their job to keep the store in operation; inventory – to ensure the store is always in-stock with items customers are in demand for; accounts payable – to ensure Kudler’s Foods pays it vendors or suppliers on time to keep a positive relationship; and accounts receivable – to ensure Kudler’s Foods receives payment of goods sold to customers. Enhancements. After a month of the systems implementation, management may have enough data for a report of how the systems output is performing. Issues are taken note of as they arise and management will make decisions using the output report and comparing it to the issues. After management addresses the issues and decides what enhancements of the systems are necessary, implementation of the enhancements will take place in the same order as the automation—payroll, inventory, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. Maintenance. Once the systems are performing to the best of its ability, maintenance of these programs will continue in the same order to sustain a reliable and consistent flow of output. As the market changes or competition arises, Kudler’s Foods will implement innovative ideas to keep up with the market and competition. Reference Bagranoff, N.A., Simkin, M.G., & Strand Norman, C. (2008). Core Concepts of Accounting Information Systems (10th ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, LTD. O'Brien, J.A., & Marakas, G.M. (2008). Management Information Systems (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. University of Phoenix. (2010). Week Two overview. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, ACC542-Accounting Information Systems website. University of Phoenix. (2008). Kudler Fine Foods Virtual Organization. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, ACC542- Accounting Information Systems website.