Accounting Software Memo

4. Assignment: Accounting Software Memo

 Due Day 7 [Individual forum]

 Read the following memo:

Your department’s accounting software is extremely outdated and you have included the purchase of new software in this year’s fiscal budget. You have decided it is time to start looking into purchasing your company’s accounting software and have chosen someone in your department to undertake the task. You want to draft a memo for your employee to help guide her in the purchasing process.

 Prepare a 350-word memo discussing the factors to consider when choosing accounting software. Discuss why each factor is important and the risks of not considering each factor.

 Post your paper as an attachment(115).

MEMORANDUM

To: Joe Somebody

From: Susan Eldridge

Date: April 11, 2010

Subject: New Accounting Software

Good Morning,

After reviewing this year’s budget we have decided to update our accounting software. I would like you to look into the different accounting software and chose a program that will be suitable for our needs. I have the utmost confidence that you are up to this task and will choose a program that will fit our needs. You may form a team if so needed to accomplish this task.

You can coordinate also with the heads of some of the departments to familiarize yourself with their software needs to help you better choose the correct software for our needs. We need every department to be able to use the same system in order to cut costs on software effectively. Examine the different types of accounting software and determine if an upgrade to a different type might be needed. It may not be cost effective to upgrade software types at this time. Talk with our current software vendor to see if they have a suitable upgrade that might be useful and compare that one with some from other companies to see if switching companies could be in our best interests. You can request formal quotes from the various companies in order to get a better idea of exactly what costs we would be looking at if we go with that program. Do a little research on what current users think of the product and how their upgrades went. This may give us a better idea of what to expect in way of bugs or kinks when upgrading with a certain program.

It is important to choose a software program that does not exceed our needs nor fall short and that fits within our budget. After you have researched our best options for the upgrade prepare a chart showing the costs of each and what the difference between what each software offers. This may help you narrow your choices if you can see it all in a glance. Then let me know your top choices and why you think they will be the best. I would appreciate a weekly update on your progress.

Thank you and Good Luck.