Question

Make a report highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of MYOB and MS Excel in the company's internal control system, transaction cycle and business process. Provide examples to establish the points raised and explain further.

in business report format

Answer 1

MYOB

The name MYOB stands for ‘Mind Your Own Business’ – which is exactly what this accounting software company aims to help you do. But is it as good as it sounds? Find out with Canstar Blue’s review of MYOB accounting software, its product features and prices, to help you make an informed decision for your business.

Advantages

1.Anytime, anywhere access

Cloud accounting gives employees the ability to work on organisational content from anywhere, using any device. This eliminates productivity roadblocks when traveling, while onsite with a client or at home.

2.Greater speed of input

Manual accounting systems can be painfully slow. MYOB automates many manual accounting processes that waste valuable time and money.Oftentimes, manual accounting systems require multiple entries of the same information. MYOB syncs information and reduces time-consuming processes by automating credit notes, purchase orders, payroll and more.

3.Greater accuracy

Accurate data is essential for effective financial management. Organisations relying on manual accounting systems are burdened by the possibility of human error and the likelihood of working off outdated information

4.Reduced costs

Hardware, operating systems and accounting fees can quickly exhaust a solid budget. MYOB’s cloud offering reduces financial and operational expenditure.When organisations use MYOB’s cloud offering, instead of needing upfront capital, organisations pay a monthly fee. This eliminates the ongoing costs of maintenance, updates, and backups. Additionally, server failures, hardware upgrades and other technical issues are no longer the company’s problem.

Disadvantages

1. Record sales as
2. orders and customise the printout to say Tax Invoice instead of Order. Then when the stock is available, convert the order to a sale. This can work well if it happens infrequently and you don't already use Orders for Order tracking - if you do this will cause confusion as you won't easily know which are real orders and which are sales.
3. Use a dummy, non-inventoried Item on the sale, type in the correct description and price and record the sale. Later edit the sale and replace that line with the correct item. A good practice to manage this is to allocate the dummy item to it's own income account and then check that their are no transactions against that account at the end of the week or month. Again this can work for low-volume situation
4. It’s Too Hard To Find Out What’s Really Happening Across Your Business Right Now Traditional business software like MYOB was designed for a time when you could afford to wait until the end of the month to get the data you need. That’s not the case today, when consolidated views and up-to-the-minute reporting can make the difference between thriving and barely surviving.   

MS Excel

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program included in the Microsoft Office suite of applications. Spreadsheets present tables of values arranged in rows and columns that can be manipulated mathematically using both basic and complex arithmetic operations and functions.

Advantages

1.Easy and effective comparisons - With the powerful analytical tools included within Microsoft Excel you have the ability to analyze large amounts of data to discover trends and patterns that will influence decisions. Microsoft Excel’s graphing capabilities allows you to summarize your data enhancing your ability to organize and structure your data.

2.Powerful analysis of large amounts of data - Recent upgrades to the Excel spreadsheet enhance your ability to analyze large amounts of data. With powerful filtering, sorting and search tools you are able to quickly and easily narrow down the criteria that will assist in your decisions. Combine these tools with the tables, Pivot Tables and Graphs you can find the information that you want quickly and easily even if you have hundreds of thousands of data items.

3.Working Together - With the advent of the Excel Web App you can now work on spreadsheets simultaneously with other users. The ability to work together enhances your ability to streamline processes and allows for ‘brainstorming’ sessions with large sets of data – the collaboration tools allow you to get the most out of the sharing capabilities of Microsoft Excel.

4.Microsoft Excel Mobile & iPad Apps - With the advent of the tablet and the smart phone it is now possible to take your worksheets to a client or a meeting without having to bring along your Laptop. The power of these mobile devices now allows you to manipulate data and update your spreadsheets and then view the spreadsheets immediately on your phone or tablet.

Disadvantages

1.Difficult to manage advanced pricing rules. ... 2.Lack of control and security.  

3.Excel is vulnerable to fraud/corruption.

4.Excel is susceptible to human error.

5.Excel is difficult to troubleshoot or test.

6.Excel is obstructive to regulatory compliance.