HOLMES INSTITUTE
FACULTY OF
HIGHER EDUCATION
Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines
Trimester T1 2019
Unit Code HA2042
Unit Title Accounting Information Systems
Assessment Type Individual assignment
Assessment Title System Analysis and Selection
Purpose of the assessment (with ULO
Mapping) Students are required to:
• Understand and explain the place of an accounting information system in the context of the organisational structure and operating practices. (ULO 2)
• Identify, analyse and compare different types of accounting information systems. (ULO 3)
• Use different methodologies to evaluate various accounting information systems. (ULO 4)
Weight 20% of the total assessments
Total Marks 20
Word limit Not more than 2,000 words
Due Date Week 9, Friday 5:00 pm (AEST)
Submission Guidelines • All work must be submitted on Blackboard by the due date along with a completed Assignment Cover Page.
• The assignment must be in MS Word format, no spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings and page numbers.
• Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list using Harvard referencing style.
HA2042 Accounting Information Systems Individual Assignment T1 2019
Assignment Specifications
Background
You are recently employed as a graduate consultant in a management consultancy firm. One of your firm’s clients is currently evaluating its accounting system and the CFO of your client thinks that they needed to make an investment in a cloud-based accounting software to support the growth of the business.
Required
You are required to prepare a report to evaluate and recommend a cloud-based accounting software for an Australian ASX-listed company of your choice (your firm’s client). The report should include the following components:
• Background
o Provide a description of your client and its business activities.
o Discuss the key business processes for your client.
• Systems requirements o Outline the software features and functionalities that your client should consider to support its business activities.
• Software selection o Visit the websites of at least two (2) accounting software package vendors (e.g. SAP, MYOB, Xero etc.) and provide a brief description of each vendor and its products.
o Compare and contrast the features/functionalities of two cloud-based accounting software packages offered by accounting software package vendors.
o Identify the most suitable vendor and accounting software package for your client and explain why it is the best option.
Assignment Structure
The report should include the following components:
• Assignment cover page clearly stating your name and student number
• A table of contents, executive summary
• A brief introduction or overview of what the report is about.
• Body of the report with sections to answer the above issues and with appropriate section headings
• Conclusion
• List of references
The report should be grounded on relevant literature and all references must be properly cited and included in the reference list.
Marking criteria
Marking criteria Weighting
Provide a description of your client and its business activities 2%
Discuss the key business processes for your client 3%
Outline the software features and functionalities that your client should consider to support its business activities 3%
Visit the websites of at least two (2) accounting software package vendors (e.g. SAP, MYOB, Xero etc.) and provide a brief description of each vendor and its products 2%
Compare and contrast the features/functionalities of two cloud-based accounting software packages offered by accounting software package vendors 3%
Identify the most suitable vendor and accounting software package for your client and explain why it is the best option 3%
Presentation 2%
Research quality 2%
TOTAL Weight 20%

Marking Rubric
Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory
Provide a description of your client and its business
activities
/2 An excellent description of your client and its business activities. A very good description of your client and its business activities. A good description of your client and its business activities. An adequate description of your client and its business activities. No proper description of your client and its business activities.
Discuss the key business processes for
your client
/3 Demonstrate an excellent understanding of key business processes for your client in the discussion. Demonstrate a very good understanding of key business processes for your client in the discussion. Demonstrate a good understanding of key business processes for your client in the discussion. Demonstrate an adequate understanding of key business processes for your client in the discussion. Unable to present a proper discussion of key business processes for your client.
Outline the software features and functionalities that your client should consider to support its business
activities
/3 Present an excellent discussion on features and functionalities of accounting software that your client should consider. Present a very good discussion on features and functionalities of accounting software that your client should consider. Present a good discussion on features and functionalities of accounting software that your client should consider with minor errors and/or omissions. Present a discussion on features and functionalities of accounting software that your client should consider with errors and/or omissions. Unable to present a proper discussion on features and functionalities of accounting software that your client should consider.
Visit the websites of at least two (2) accounting software package vendors and provide a brief description of each vendor
and its products
/2 Present an excellent description of accounting software package vendors
and their products. Present a very good description of accounting software package vendors
and their products. Present a good description of accounting software package vendors and their products with minor errors and/or omissions. Present a description of accounting software package vendors and their products with errors and/or omissions. Unable to present a proper description of accounting software package vendors
and their products.
Compare and contrast the features/functio nalities of two cloud-based accounting software packages offered by accounting software package vendors
/3 Present an excellent comparison of factures and functionalities of two accounting software packages. Present a very good comparison of factures and functionalities of two accounting software packages. Present a good comparison of factures and functionalities of two accounting software packages with minor errors and/or omissions. Present a reasonable comparison of factures and functionalities of two accounting software packages with errors and omissions. Unable to present a proper comparison of factures and functionalities of two accounting software packages.
Identify the most suitable vendor and accounting software package for your client and explain why it is
the best option
/3 Propose a choice of accounting software package based on very strong arguments. Propose a choice of accounting software package based on strong arguments. Propose a choice of accounting software package based on reasonable arguments. Propose a choice of accounting software package based on weak or inadequate arguments. Unable to propose a proper choice of accounting software package or back the proposed choice with valid argument.
Presentation
/2 Report included all elements and is very well presented.
Writing flowed clearly and sections are linked very effectively.
Referencing is exemplary.
English is used very effectively and is error-free. Report included all elements and
is well presented.
Writing flowed clearly and sections are linked effectively.
Referencing is of a high standard.
English is used effectively with very few errors present. Report included all elements and
is generally presented appropriately.
Writing mostly flowed well and sections are linked.
Referencing is in accordance with guidelines.
English is used effectively with few errors present. Report included
most elements and is adequately presented.
Writing sometimes does not flow clearly leaving the paper to seem disjointed in areas.
Referencing is somewhat in accordance with guidelines.
Basic English is used with some errors present. Report lacked some elements and is poorly presented.
Writing often does not flow clearly leaving
the paper to seem somewhat disjointed.
Referencing is not entirely in accordance with
relevant guidelines.
Basic English is used with errors present.
Research Quality
/2 An extensive amount of highquality evidence from peerreviewed journal articles and other sources is included and used effectively to support discussion. A broad range of quality peerreviewed journal references and other sources is included and used effectively to support discussion. An adequate range of peerreviewed journal references is included and used to support discussion. An adequate range of peerreviewed journal references is included and used to a basic extent to support discussion. Little or no peerreviewed journal references are included and these are rarely used to support discussion effectively.