Accounting Business System of Lascelles Fine Foods - Case Study Example

Table of Contents Introduction 2 System Implementation 2 Identification of Team 2 Team Organization 3 Scope and Expectation 3 Plan 3 System Management 4 Reporting 4 Monitoring 5 Designing 5 Documentation 5 Information Systems in Financial & Management Context 5 Information 6 Analysis 7 Integration 7 Administration 7 Security and Governance 8 Conclusion 9 References 9 Lascelles Fine Foods Introduction Lascelles Fine Foods is progressing in its operations. The advancements in the operations have led to the development of the needs of a computerized information system that shall be beneficial for the company in various aspects. The current management and information system regarding the accounting perspective is elaborated so as to ascertain the requirements of the system. The analysis of the current system denoted the fact that there is a much intense need of organizing and managing information throughout the various departments of the company so as to benefit with the timely transfer of information. The identification of the needs of the system implementation and advancement the main focus is upon the requirements of system implementation and management. The computerized system of information transfer and keeping records shall be much beneficial for the company in the management and accounting perspective, as this report shall be explaining. The explanation of the implementation of the automated information system in the accounting and management context the evaluation of the system is done as regarding security and governance. Various security and governance issues are elaborated along with their impact upon the computerized information system. The report shows the implementation requirement along with the needs in assistance of accountancy, management, security and management. System Implementation For the successful implementation of the system it is highly required by the management officials and the staff of the organization to respond in a positive and acceptable manner (Bikram & Goyal, 2008). Followings are the steps involved for the successful implementation of the system. Identification of Team For the successful implementation it is important to realize the team that is to be made in order to take the responsibility of the implementation of the system. The members are to be chosen that are reliable and competent so as to determine the needs and accountability for the implementation of the system. LFFL has not much IT efficient staff so as to understand the advance information system. However the team should be made of the personnel who are willing to accept the change and responsibility for the implementation of the system and are much likely to operate as a team. Viable team members should be selected from Sales and Marketing, Warehousing and Distribution, Manufacturing and Finance. Team Organization The identification of the team shall be providing the information about the competent personnel who shall be able to form a team. The identification of the personnel from different departments, a team shall be formed. The team shall posses the information regarding all the departments and knows the flow of information in the departments. The team shall be well organized, as the success of implementation of the system is dependent upon the team. Each member of the team shall be assigned the specific tasks that are to be done. The collaboration of the team is to be ensured so as to affirm the success in the system implementation. Scope and Expectation The scope of the project shall be much clear with management of LFFL. The project of implementing a computerized information scopes that there shall be automated transfer of information and regular update of information throughout all the departments of LFFL. This scope and expectation of the system implementation shall be discussed and elaborated to the assigned team so as to ensure the objectives that they need to obtain. The elaboration of the scope and expectation with the team and the management the objective shall be much clear for the company. Plan A plan of the implementation of the information system shall be ascertained. This will include the breakup of the whole system into various activities that should be performed. Each member of the team shall be assigned the responsibility of fulfilling different tasks and activities. The plan shall include the following items: Identifying the resources Allocation of the resources Designing budget Gathering information Designing timeline Installation Checking Debugging Comparing with budget Reporting The plan of the implementation of the information system shall be provided to the team and each member of the team shall be provided with responsibility of performing different activities. The successful implementation of the information system in LFFL shall be ascertained with proper planning as the management and the team shall be aware of each aspect and step of the project and thus can realize the viability of the plan. System Management The management of the system is utmost important for LFFL as the company is projecting increase in sales and profits. The purpose of implementing a computerized information system is to ensure that the performance of the different departments of the company excels. The proper management of the information system and its implementation shall be resulting in cost effectiveness for the company and shall be enhancing the performance of the department that lacks due to the fact of slow transfer of information. The management of the system will be ensuring that the implementation of the system is done in an effective manner. Followings are the activities that should be ensured in system management. Reporting As the whole project is divided into several tasks and activities the reporting of each of the stage in the information system implementation should be done. The reporting of each of the activity done to the management by the team shall enhance the management of the whole project as required decision can be made in time in response to the stage of completion (Tiko, 2013). The proper reporting of project shall be assuring that the management of LFFL is well aware of the project and its completion and thus shall be able to take further actions when required regarding the implementation of the information system. The reports shall be providing useful information to the users as to what extent the project is being implemented and it can be determined that how the scope and the requirement of the project shall be fulfilled. Monitoring The reporting of the project is equally beneficial as the monitoring. The monitoring of the project implementation is necessary so as to affirm that the project is in the right direction. LFFL is to spend huge sums of money in the project and it shall be up to the requirements and needs of the company and thus the monitoring of the project becomes a necessity. The monitoring shall be effectively managing the project as to the stage of completion along with the requirements that are met. Designing The designing of the project of information system is essential so as to affirm that how the project is to be implemented. The designing will enable the management of the information system where the tasks are divided and assigned and timeline allotted to the different team members. LFFL shall design the project as in various tasks and activities along with the allotted budget and time so as to affirm that the implementation of the computerized information system is managed properly. Documentation Documentation is vital for the management of the system. Each information regarding the implementation of the computerized information system shall be documented so as to assure the reliability of the information that is to be ascertained at different levels. LFFL shall be documenting each and every aspect of the computerized information system so as to clear the scope and management along with the accountability and responsibility of the implementation of the system. Information Systems in Financial & Management Context The computerized information system that is to be implemented in LFFL is much effective in order to take effective financial and management benefits. The current documentation system in the company is not much effective as to the transformation of the information. The delay in the transfer of information that is the prevailing situation in the company has created crucial circumstances, as the company was not able to satisfy the requirements of the customers. The inter-departmental transfers of information hurdled the collaboration of the departments of the company and thus lack coincidence in the operations. For the different options of the information system that are available to LFFL are elaborated in the management and financial context. Although there are different alternatives available to LFFL as to the acquisition of the information system but the benefits for the company shall be much similar in all the alternatives as the computerized information system shall be enhancing the performance and operational activities of the company. Information The computerized information system is much enhanced and advances in the computerized systems. The information that is provided by the information system is much comprehensive and detail. The quality of the information system is much crucial for financial and management aspect of the company (Kirstie, 2001). The information range that is provided in the computerized information system enhances the ability of the user to viably utilize it in order to analyze it financially. The provision of information can be altered to the needs and requirements of the users. The information that is required can be requested in order to gain the required information with no extras so the analysis can be much effective and efficient. For the financial analysis the intensity of the information is crucial, as it will determine the time that is to be incurred upon the analysis. The computerized information system provides information as per the demand of the user. The tailored demand of the user can be easily input in the depending upon the interface so the information gathered provides time savings. With the required information provided only and removing the intensity of user hassles in sorting the information the analysis can be easily done and shall take much less time. The presentation of the information is crucial for the financial and management analysis as the presentation shall be determining the categories of the information that is to be analyzed. Provided information when categorized and presented in a user-friendly manner shall enable to user respond in an efficient manner and shall increase the efficiency of the staff. The demanded and precise information shall be enhancing the ability of the users and efficiency of the users as well. In LFFL the staff is not much IT efficient but with the convenience by which the information is transferred and presented in the computerized information system shall enhance the abilities of the staff and will be providing LFFL an efficient human resource (Mjema, et al., 2005). Analysis For the sake of analysis of various operations of the company much time is consumed. The data is to be collected from the raw source and sorted so as to gather the required information that is to be utilized in the analysis. With the implementation of the computerized information system the analysis of the information becomes convenient and easy. The simulations that already accompany the information system are much beneficial for the analysis of the information. With the required information when put in the system the automated analysis of the information is done by the system. Integration The information system that is integrated in each department of the company shall be providing detailed information from all the departments. Along with the information detail the information shall be gathered from different departments of the company and for the input all the departments shall be providing information and thus the integration of the departments of the company is made (Rafael, et al., 2004). The computerized information system when implemented shall be working in all the departments of LFFL and thus the transfer of information between the departments shall enhance resulting in integration of the departments. When the integration of the department is successful the financial management of LFFL shall be convenient and fast as the information shall be from all the departments and thus the analysis is improved. Administration The administration cost of the company reduces with the implementation of the computerized information system. The implementation of the information system shall be determining the input from the users and shall not be accepting any irrelevant input thus the administration upon the staff can be reduced, which will result in the reduction of the administrative cost of LFFL. Security and Governance The security and governance of the computerized information system is advanced and enhanced as the information system is tailored and is designed to be as required. The computerized information system is made as per the needs of the company and LFFL shall be determining secure information. The computerized information system that is to be implemented in LFFL shall be providing security to the information system in the company. The computerized system will be much secure as there are minimum chances of the loss of information. The information when provided in the information system shall remain secure in the system and there are much little chances of the loss of information when once put into the system. With the integration of the system within the different departments of LFFL the information that is provided in the system will be secure and can be retrieved whenever demanded. The information that is to be provided in the system is to be done by the employees of the company similarly for retrieving the information. The employees’ behavior is much of a concern for the security of the information system. Authority to the access of information shall only be provided to the responsible personnel. The computerized information system that is to be implemented in LFFL is subject to the behavior of the employees. As with the lack of IT expertise in the human resource of the company the company shall be subjected to the input from the employees of the company. The information that is provided is from the employees thus it should be ensured that the information provision in the system should be resourceful and authentic. The users of the information system shall be educated so as to understand the interface and interaction with the system. Special rights shall be provided according to the hierarchy of the company to the users, which access the system. This will ensure that the person accessing the system is authorized and in case of misappropriate information provided the relevant person can be tracked and traced. Taking back up of the information regularly so as to ascertain the minimum loss of information should do the maintenance of the information system. Conclusion The implementation of the computerized information system in Lascelles Fine Foods shall be enhancing the transfer of information between all the departments of the information. The analysis of the implementation of the information system is realized as when the activities involved in the implementation and management of the information system. With the implementation explained the activities are elaborated as with their importance and thus realizes their utility for the benefits of the company. The implementation and management of the information system shall be enhancing the operative effectiveness of the company. The analysis of the information system in the management and financial context shall be determining the usability and effectiveness of the information system for the company. The information system shall be providing a secure source of information and integration within all the departments of the company and thus shall results in the collaboration of all the departments of the company along with performance enhancement. References Bikram, J. R. & Goyal, D., 2008. Success factors in the implementation of strategic information systems: an empirical investigation of public sector undertakings in India. Journal of Advances in Management Research, 5(1), pp. 46 - 55. Kirstie, S. B., 2001. The use of human resource information systems: a survey. Personnel Review, 30(6), pp. 677 - 693. Mjema, E., Victor, M. & Mwinuka, M., 2005. Analysis of roles of IT on quality management. The TQM Magazine, 17(4), pp. 364 - 374. Rafael, L., Steve, S., Joaquín, A. & Ricardo, C., 2004. Role of information systems on the business network formation process: an empirical analysis of the automotive sector. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 17(3), pp. 219 - 228. Tiko, I., 2013. Underpinning theories: order-of-use in information systems research. Journal of Systems and Information Technology, 15(3), pp. 224 - 238. Read More