Accounting Software Packages Acceptance of Australian Market

Question: Discuss about the Accounting Software Packages for Acceptance of Australian Market. Answer: Introduction There is always a need of accounting software packages for large firms. With the new ERP (Employee Resource Planning) implementation like ERP on cloud the mid-size organizations and the small organizations have also started to use the accounting software. There are number of small and large firms in Australia that uses accounting packages (Akhavansaffar, 2013). Organizations have realized the importance of accounting packages and the benefits that accounting software brings. By definition, accounting software describes a type of application software that records and processes accounting transactions within functional modules such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and trial balance. The objective of this paper is to discuss the literature review on the accounting software packages that are being used in Australia. Xero is an accounting software package that has gain a far more acceptance in the Australian market (Granlund, 2011). The paper also discusses the various g aps that should be bridged in this industry and the ways to overcome these gaps. Analysis The market of accounting software product is a growing market in Australia. The history of the accounting software in Australia could be traced back to 1990s when the Information Systems started to establish the ground in the country (Green, 2015). There are large as well as small players in the market. The large players like Microsoft have the accounting solutions for the large firms, and the small firms would typically have the solution for the unorganized market segments. The large and third party players like Microsoft, Xero, Kashoo Accounting Software, Working Point Accounting software, etc. rules the market (Hansen, 2009). Xero is a powerful accounting software that caters to the need of mid-size and large organizations. The advantage of Xero over Microsoft Dynamics is that Xero is cost effective than Microsoft Dynamics. Therefore, the mid-size organizations can also afford Xero. There are various ways and methods to use Xero (Green, 2015). The two key methods that are used widely in Australia are: On premise installation of Xero: This method is recommended when the organizations have the prime motive of security. The financial institutions would mostly use on premise installation. With this option, the organizations are expected to make any initial investment to procure the hardware (Mouritsen, 2009). Xero on Cloud: With this method, the organization can save a lot of cost. The e-commerce players and the retailers would mostly use on cloud implementation. With this option, the organizations are not expected to make any initial investment to procure the system hardware (Sonar, 2009). In recent times, there has been a trend in the industry of using the cloud based accounting software. In fact, the Australian market has witnessed a transformation from on-premise installation to cloud based accounting software (Oster, 2012). There are various drivers of cloud based accounting software. The three key drivers of cloud based accounting system are: Cost advantage: The use of cloud based accounting packages enable organization to optimize the cost. With the use of cloud system, organizations can use the accounting information system on a license model. Accessibility: The cloud based information systems can be accessed anytime and from anywhere (Shoaib, 2012). In the cloud based model, the data and information is stored on the cloud and the stakeholders can access this data anytime. Efficiency and Deskilling: With the use of cloud based system, the organizations are not required to make any specific investment to have resources to manage the accounting software packages. It increases the overall efficiency of the organizations. The use of accounting systems and software also enables the organizations to emerge as process based organizations (Rahman, 2014). With the establishment of strong policies and procedures, the organizations can improve the efficiency levels. It is expected that the use of accounting software packages would increase in the future. The current trend in the market is definitely a platform for the cloud based system. However, organizations have to slightly compromise on the data security with the use of cloud based platform. In fact, this is the reason that the data sensitive industry like financial institutions do not use cloud based systems. Xero is a strong accounting software package that provides multiple solutions (Bruyn, 2016). There are various options to use this accounting package. The organizations can analyze their internal environment and then decide the type of accounting package that they want. The need of accounting package could different for different organizations. Some of the organizations may want on premise installation while some may demand cloud based implementation. The latest trends in the accounting software industry is the use of Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service. The study of literature also reveals certain gaps in the use of accounting software in Australia. One of the gaps is the limited use of accounting software by small organizations. The maturity levels of the use of accounting software packages like Xero is high in the large organizations (Bruyn, 2016). However, the maturity level is not much high in the small organizations. Another observed gap is in the long term planning and use of accounting software (Oster, 2012). It is observed that organizations would make the decision to invest on the accounting software with a short-term vision. It is important that the organizations should have a long-term vision with the implementation of accounting software. Conclusions Recommendations The above paper discusses the use of accounting software packages in Australia. It is important that the accounting software package should be implemented along with the other ERP products in the organization. The complete benefits of Xero or any other accounting package could be realized only when organization can implement Xero in an integrated manner. The use of ERP systems would help the organizations to implement Xero in an integrated manner. The above paper also discusses the various types of alternatives to use accounting software package. In recent times, there has been a trend in the industry of using the cloud based accounting software. It is expected that the use of accounting software packages would increase in the future (Brooks, 2009). It is recommended that the organizations should take the inputs from various internal and external stakeholders before making any investment decision. The decision towards the use of accounting software should be a long term decision. It is not easy to change the accounting system used in the organization as it involves huge change. Therefore, the first step in the implementation of accounting software system should be the analysis of the business requirements. It is important that the strategy to use the accounting software should be the part of the overall business level strategy of the organization. The products like Xero and Microsoft Dynamics or other have similar capabilities. The organizations should do the comparative study of the vendors to make the best decision. It is expected that the market of accounting software package in Australia would observe a transformation from growth stage to maturity stage. References Amran, A.M., Rahman, R.A., Yusof, S.N.S. and Mohamed, I.S., 2014. 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