ACC SOFTWARE APPS (SAGE)

COURSE PARTICIPATION EXERCISE: ACC SOFTWARE APPS (SAGE)

ACC 351: Accounting Information Systems

Instructor: Dr. M. Walters

Course Participation Exercise. This exercise requires students/teams to complete a practical exercise. Required Submission: Each student/team will be required to submit a write-up of work completed. Write-ups must be properly prepared, formatted, and submitted in accordance with requirements in the “Assignment Policies” documents posted on Blackboard. Write-ups must be submitted to Blackboard before the submission deadline date announced in class. Late, emailed, or hardcopy write-ups will NOT be accepted

Getting Started. Access the software and open a sample company.

· Locate Sage 50 Accounting on the lab computer and open the application.

· If you are using Sage 50 in one of the computer labs, a window will open and ask whether you want to open an existing company, create a new company, or under “Other Tasks”, explore a sample company or convert from another accounting program. Select “explore a sample company.” A window will open and ask what sample company you want to explore. For the purposes of this assignment, select “Bellwether Garden Supply”.

· The application will open the sample company data for the sample company you selected. A window entitled “What’s New” may open; you may close this window (You can access it later by clicking the “Help” dropdown on the menu bar).

REQUIREMENTS: SAGE 50c

Perform the tasks listed below and enter your responses in the table template provided (see below).

1. Help/Support Resources. Familiarize yourself with available help/support resources.

a. Click the “Help” on the tool bar under the title bar at the top of the screen and select “Help”. Explore available help/support resources then provide a brief description of the help resources provided here.

b. Comment on the adequacy of available help resources. Is adequate help provided? Explain. Are the help resources useful? Explain.

2. Structure. Familiarize yourself with structure within the application. Explore the dropdown menus on the menu bar and the buttons on the functions pane to assess the interface, structure, and navigation.

a. Briefly describe the application interface. What does it look like? Can you customize it?

b. Briefly describe the structure of the application. How is the application organized?

c. Briefly describe navigation within the application. How do you access various functions?

3. Basic Functionality. Familiarize yourself with the modules and capabilities/features of the application by examining the content, tasks, lists, documents and/or reports associated with each of the functional pages accessible from the menu pane.

a. Examine the home page for the application.

i. What information is available on this page?

ii. Can you customize this page? Explain.

iii. How might this page be useful?

b. Examine the “Customers and Sales” module.

i. What transaction information can be viewed?

ii. To what transaction cycle(s)/subcycle(s) does “Customers and Sales” relate?

iii. What transaction tasks can be performed? Review the tasks necessary to view customers, create a new customer record, create a sales order, create a sales invoice, and receive payments. Briefly comment on the ease with which these tasks are performed.

iv. What business documents are associated with this module?

c. Examine the “Vendors and Purchases” module

i. What transaction information can be viewed?

ii. To what transaction cycle(s)/subcycle(s) does “Vendor and Purchases” relate?

iii. What transaction tasks can be performed? Review the tasks necessary to view vendors, create a new vendor record, create a purchase order, enter payables, and record payments. Briefly comment on the ease with which these tasks are performed.

iv. What business documents are associated with this module?

d. Examine the “Inventory and Services” module

i. What transaction information can be viewed?

ii. To what transaction cycle(s)/subcycle(s) does “Inventory and Services” relate?

iii. What transaction tasks can be performed? Review the tasks necessary to add new inventory items, order inventory, and receive inventory. Briefly comment on the ease with which these tasks are performed.

iv. What business documents are associated with this module?

e. Examine the “Employees and Payroll” module.

i. What transaction information can be viewed?

ii. To what transaction cycle(s)/subcycle(s) does “Employees and Payroll” relate?

iii. What transaction tasks can be performed? Review the tasks necessary to create add a new employee, edit employees, and pay employees. Briefly comment on the ease with which these tasks are performed.

iv. What business documents are associated with this module?

f. Examine the “Banking” module.

i. What transaction information can be viewed?

ii. To what transaction cycle(s)/subcycle(s) does “Banking” relate?

iii. What transaction tasks can be performed? Review the tasks necessary pay bills. Briefly comment on the ease with which this tasks is performed.

iv. What business documents are associated with this module?

g. Examine the “Reports & Forms” module (see dropdown menu).

i. What key accounting reports are available from this menu?

ii. Briefly comment on the adequacy of the reporting capabilities of this application.

h. Examine the “System” module.

i. What information can be viewed?

ii. What is the apparent purpose of this module?

4. Evaluation. Briefly summarize your assessment of the accounting capabilities of Sage 50.

a. Assess interface/structure/navigation. Is interface/structure/navigation logical and intuitive? Explain.

b. Assess functionality. Does the application contain appropriate software modules? Do these modules contain appropriate features (i.e., capabilities)? Explain.

c. Assess ease of use. Is the application simple to use? Explain.

d. Would you recommend this application to an acquaintance or business? Briefly explain.

5. Discussion. Be prepared to briefly share your analysis with the class (3-5 minutes).

Use the table template below to present responses (add rows/expand cell space as needed). Note : Tables are preformatted. Do NOT alter table format (fonts, headers, spacing, or margins).

SAGE 50c ANALYSIS
Requirement	Attribute	Description/Evaluation
1. Help/Support	a. Resources
	b. Adequacy
2. Structure	a. Interface
	b. Structure
	c. Navigation
3. Functionality	a. Home Page
	i. Info Available
	ii. Customizability
	iii. Usefulness
	b. Customers/Sales
	i. Trans Info
	ii. Trans Cycle/Subcycles
	iii. Trans Tasks
	iv. Business Docs/Reports
	c. Vendors/Purchases
	i. Trans Info
	ii. Trans Cycle/Subcycles
	iii. Trans Tasks
	iv. Docs/Reports
	d. Inventory/Services
	i. Trans Info
	ii. Trans Cycle/Subcycles
	iii. Trans Tasks
	iv. Docs/Reports
	e. Employees/Payroll
	i. Trans Info
	ii. Trans Cycle/Subcycles
	iii. Trans Tasks
	iv. Docs/Reports
	f. Banking
	i. Trans Info
	ii. Trans Cycle/Subcycles
	iii. Trans Tasks
	iv. Docs/Reports
	g. Reports
	i. Acctg Reports Available
	ii. Reporting Adequacy
	h. System
	i. Info
	ii. Purpose
4. Evaluation	a. Interface
	b. Functionality
	c. Ease of Use
	d. Recommend?

Sage 50c Analysis Table

Walters ACC 351 Course Participation Exercise 1