Strategies for Implementing Accounting Software Systems within SMEs - Essay Example

and Number Project Strategies for Implementing Accounting Software Systems within SMEs Project Task Description The proposed project will try to find out software implementation strategies are best used with SMEs in order to increase their accounting performance. Project subject area and Angle description Small to medium enterprise present the major part of developed economies: SMEs form 99% of enterprises in highly developed countries. In this context it is extremely important to research as explicitly as possible all factors driving SMEs performance. The project will bring better insight into what software implementation strategies are best used with SMEs when implementing accounting software packages. It will try to compare different strategies used with SMEs through assessing their accounting performance. Choosing the right accounting software is perceived as one of the most challenging tasks an entrepreneur faces in his professional career (Johnston 2003). This especially relates to small businesses as their owners often lack the expertise beyond their core activities. Therefore the outcome of the research project will bring a list of recommendations for entrepreneurs based on the information concerning software implementation strategies acquired within the research. Problem to be Solved and Worth There is a wide choice of accounting software packages currently presented on the market addressing various needs of customer. In this highly diversified area, choosing the 'right' software system becomes an important and at the same time difficult issue leading to the importance of picking out the 'right' strategy for implementing accounting software. This problem requires further research, as it brings better understanding of links between accounting performance and strategies of software implementation. Research Question What strategies for implementing accounting software are best suited with SMEs in order that their accounting performance will be increased Idea for action and Data Outline At first the researcher will contact from 10 to 15 SMEs to conduct interviews for gathering data needed for preparing a list of software implementation strategies used within those companies. Then the effectiveness of strategies will be evaluated and compared through measuring their accounting performance basing on the data gathered through interviewing. For that purpose the researcher will need a measuring system which will be developed within the research with the help of secondary data gathered through the literature review. The results of analysis will be used in the final report to recommend which strategies should be implemented with SMEs and which ones are better to avoid. Context: Setting, Background and Scope The proposed project will be based on the analysis of accounting performance of SMEs contacted during the research. Although temporal limits do not allow contacting a large number of SMEs in order to make the results of a research statistically more accurate, the project will be able to identify the most general trends in accounting software strategies. Then these trends are to be analysed from the scope of influencing the accounting performance of SMEs, i.e. from looking on their effectiveness. The measuring system developed within this project will particularly deal with changes in the accounting performance that occurred after the implementation of a certain strategy.' Project Strategic IT Value and Intention The results of the proposed research will be presented in a form of report analyzing software strategies used with SMEs with recommendations developed during the research. The recommendations on choosing a certain strategy for implementing accounting software systems developed within this project will be a useful contribution to the general theory of software implementation strategies explaining through evaluation of strategic approaches what steps a small to medium enterprise should take to implement a suitable accounting software successfully. Moreover, till now theoretical frameworks have been concentrating mainly on general benefits of strategic approach to software implementation. For example, Jones (2005) advises small businesses to: take a long term view of their business applications; look early for good measuring systems; make financial accountability inherent in company's life; consider ramifications of software integration, product migration and solution flexibility; and plan for the future, not the present. However these recommendations are of general character lacking the specifics of SMEs and applying to almost all software implementation strategies implemented with SMEs. My project will try to bring better detail into choosing software implementation strategies and provide companies with an analysis of different strategies for implementing accounting software systems. Aim To find out what software implementation strategies are best suited with SMEs in order to increase their accounting performance. Objectives to pick out the most common strategies used with SMEs for implementing accounting software systems; to develop the measuring system for the analysis of accounting performance of SMEs; to analyse the accounting performance of contacted SMEs with the developed measuring system; to develop the recommendations on choosing a software implementation strategy in order to increase the accounting performance on the basis of the results of analysis. Research Design This section of the project specifications deals with the general design of the proposed research, methods used for data collection and interpretation, and preparing the results for presentation. Data and Methods The proposed research project requires a measuring system to be developed in order analyze the accounting performance of businesses participating in the research. The measuring system will include temporal measures (e.g. how much time it takes to produce a financial report with current strategy), financial measures (e.g. what are the costs associated with the implementation and maintaining of a strategy), labor measures (e.g. how many accountants work in a company), and quality measures (e.g. are the financial reports produced adequate Is it easy to spot problems on early stages with a certain strategy). The main method of this research is the survey. It will be conducted through interviewing a sample frame of SMEs and then interpreting the data acquired with the measuring system developed within the project. The survey was chosen because it belongs to descriptive methods of research providing descriptive information, which enables generalization to be made (Moser and Kalton 1977). Surveys gather data at a certain point in time to describe the existing conditions, therefore they are economically feasible, and more importantly, provide up-to-date information on current trends. Sample frame includes 10 to 15 small to medium enterprises from different industries implementing different software strategies. The data, which will be acquired during interviewing will most probably lack the statistical credibility, however it will be sufficient to make generalizations on the most common trends in accounting software implementation strategies, which goes along with the design of the proposed research. Collection Protocols At first potential participants of the research will be contacted via phone or email. The same means will be used when holding semi-structured interviews. Interview as a research tool produces qualitative data on the outcome. It is flexible enough to be used for researching any SMEs regardless of the specifics of the industry it operates in. Interviewing gives deeper insight into the subject of research than a questionnaire, for example, and provides participants with better motivation, thus offering wider range of data collected. Semi-structured approach gives the researcher an ability to rearrange questions dependently on the way the interviewee is connected to the subject of research. Implications usually associated with interviews deal with qualitative nature of the gathered data, which is harder to interpret than a quantitative one. Means of contacting stated in the paragraph above were chosen because they do not require vast financial or temporal resources and easily allow conducting several interviews at a time (not applied to phone interviews). Nevertheless, there are also limitations - a price a researcher has to pay for easy access to those means. Neither emailing, nor interviewing through phone calls provides a researcher with non-verbal information, which is often perceived as an important benefit of interviewing. Processing and Presentation After the data is collected from SMEs it will be divided into two sections: related to software implementation strategy used and to accounting performance of a company. The first part of the acquired data will be used in determining the specific features of a strategy used within a company for implementing accounting software systems. The list of different strategies will be produced on the outcome of the processing. The second section of data will be analyzed with the help of the developed measuring system. Each measure will be marked with the consideration of its weight. In order to bring better credibility of the results different measures will be given different weight: for example: improving the quality of financial reports is more important to SMEs than minimizing the labor resources used for producing those reports, therefore the first group of measures will be marked from 0 (poor quality) to 5 (highest quality), while the second group will be marked from 0 (10 or more accountants needed) to 3 (3 or less accountants needed). The comparison of the interpreted data follows next, which will be given in the form of report. The recommendations produced on the basis of this report will be the final outcome of the research project. Logistics - Required Resources This research does not require vast financial or temporal resources. However, the researcher will need software programs to compile the gathered data and to present in the clear table form. Outline Content List for your Project 1. Introduction 2. Aims of the Research 2.1 Background Information 2.2 Problem Statement 3. Literature Review 4. Methodology of the Research 4.1 General Philosophy and Design 4.2 Participants of the Research 4.3 Data Gathering 4.4 Data Processing 4.5 Implications and Ethical Considerations 5. Results of the Research 5.1 Software Strategies used with SMEs for Improving Their Accounting Performance - the Description 5.2 Comparing Strategies 5.3 Recommendations for SMEs 6. References References Johnston, R.P. (2003). A Strategy for Finding the Right Accounting Software. Journal of Accountancy, Sep. Retrieved online July 16, 2005 from http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/sep2003/johnston.htm Jones, K. (2005). Beyond Bookkeeping: Software Strategies for Small Business Growth. Aberdeen Group. Retrieved online July 23, 2005 from http://www.microsoft.com/businesssolutions/beyond_bookkeeping.mspx Moser, C. and Kalton, G. (1977). Survey Methods in Social Investigation. Heinemann, London. Project Plan Literature Search Developing a Measuring System Composing Questions for Interviews Contacting SMEs Interviewing Processing the Data Producing the Report Read More