Stegman & Co. Case Study

INTRODUCTION

Our company is a small company named Stegman & Co. and was founded in 1915 by Edward J. Stegman, a successful and respected accounting professional. He served for more than 30 years as chairman of the Maryland State Board of Accountancy and later his two sons succeeded him. While none of the Stegman family is a member of the firm today, the current owners of the company maintain the same high standard on which Mr. Stegman established his firm. The small accounting firm of 30 employees has evolved into a full service management consulting company and is running successfully. However, Stegman & Co. have been using outdated office equipment for the past 5 years and would like to upgrade their computers and software.

Our company has been using outdated accounting software for a few years now and we have the choice of upgrading to a variety of accounting Software. The 3 types of accounting software our company may choose to upgrade to are Simply Accounting, QuickBooks, and ACCPAC Advantage Series. While selecting the right accounting software for our company we now must choose to upgrade our hardware in order for the software to run. The hardware must match the requirements of the software in order to run the software with good results. Then after selecting the right upgrade for software and hardware, our company must choose either to use desktop or notebook computers and the choice of either leasing or purchasing the equipment which ever fits our budget.

SIMPLY ACCOUNTING

Simply Accounting is the brand name of a accounting software package. Simply Accounting offers the entire core accounting functions of competing products such as QuickBooks. It provides a combination of simplicity of use plus key accounting features that range from basic bookkeeping to detailed analysis. Simply Accounting Basic uses a clear graphical layout designed to be immediately accessible for non-accountants to get them up and running. It contains more than 50 enhancements with easy to use business analysis and reporting. Simply Accounting is available in more advanced versions to accommodate the needs of small business as they grow. The Pro version multi-users support and departmental accounting among other advanced features while the Premium version offers a range of customization and sophisticated reporting features including customizable chart of accounts, industry-specific terminology option, and multi- Company consolidated financial reporting. Simply Accounting Basic sells for $150 for single user. The Pro Version sells for $270-$700 for 2-6 users. The Premium Version sells for $450 -$1000 for 2-6 users.

System Requirement for all versions:

• Pentium (or equivalent), 350MHz or higher

• 128 MB ram

• 150MB hard disk (additional 80MB of hard disk space needed for installation)

• Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, SE, or XP

• Microsoft Word and Excel 97, 2000, 2002, or 2003

• 256 colour or higher SVGA Monitor (800 x 600 resolution or higer)

• Pentium IV, 1GHZ or higher (recommended0

QUICKBOOKS

QuickBooks is developed by Intuit Inc. QuickBooks is the most commonly used accounting product for small businesses. It’s the most comprehensive and easy to use accounting software around. It is simple and easy to use because its on-screen resembles closely to the paper business forms a firm would use to write transaction. It’s like having your own desktop accountant. Small businesses use QuickBooks to track expenses, prepare and send invoices, prepare financial statements, track inventory levels, and many other jobs that small business must do to stay successful. It is available in many versions starting at the Simple Start version for very new business up to the Enterprise Premier version for larger business. The Simple Start version sells for $200 and the Premier version sells for $400.

System Requirements for both versions:

• A minimum of 500MHz, Pentium III or equivalent

• 256 MB or 512 MB ram

• Windows 2000 or XP

• Minimum of 256 colour SVGA video (monitor)

ACCPAC ADVANTAGE SERIES

ACCPAC is a vendor of accounting and business management software is a leader in the software programs and designed for companies of all sizes. ACCPAC Advantage Series is an advanced web-based accounting solution built on a world class, object oriented architecture. ACCPAC Advantage Series General Ledger provides a link to Microsoft Excel for financial reporting. Not only does it give its users the ability to produce what-if analysis and multi-dimensional financial modeling using Excel tools. Only a few products in the market place have this type of Excel functionality. Also, ACCPAC Advantage Series allows the user to define up to 5 different budget amounts each year per currency and per General Ledger account. The setup options make entering budget date easy. From financial decision making to processing payroll only ACCPAC Advantage Series puts business critical information at your fingertips and turns it into a competitive advantage. The price of ACCPAC Advantage Series is retailed at $2,290.

System Requirements:

• 866MHz Pentium or higher

• 256 MB of memory

• Windows 98, 2000, ME, PRO, or XP

• 256 colour or higher SVGA Monitor (800x600 resolution or higher0

• Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2003 or XP

HARDWARE UPGRADE

The computer hardware must match the software in order to give full good performance. If the CPU is too slow, the computer system can not run the advanced accounting software. There are some hardware we need to upgrade if the computer is outdated: Processor, memory, storage, monitor, and operating system.

Processor: the most important part f the computer. If the processor is slow, the computer can not run the latest and new software, even the normal operate. So the first thing to do is to upgrade the computer to a faster