ACF5904 Group Assignment

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ACF5904 Group Assignment

ASSESSMENT TASK: Group Assignment

WEIGHTING: 20%
COMPLETION: Group
GENERATIVE AI: Generative AI tools can be used in this assessment task
In this assessment, you can use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the grammar, expression, and overall readability of your written report.
DUE DATE: 11:55pm, Wednesday 9 October

OVERVIEW

This assignment is designed to reinforce the following skills and areas of knowledge:

MAPPING ASSESSMENT TASK TO COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Objective
 Included
 How
Understand the use of information systems for business and analyse and make recommendations on the utilisation and design of such systems
 YES
 Requires analysis and design of AIS elements, including a database, data visualisation, and data analysis and reporting on system development
Interpret business process documentation including flowcharts and data flow diagrams
 YES
 Requires the preparation of a BPMN diagram
Communicate with database professionals about the design of databases
 YES
 Requires preparation of a database (data checking, importing, table design, relationships, queries),
Critique computerised and manual business processes in terms of their exposure to risk, and suggest internal controls that address the risks
 No
 Not directly assessed
Apply critical thinking and problem solving to activities dealing with accounting information systems.
 YES
 Requires critical assessment and problem solving skills during the process of designing an AIS

 SUPPORT REFERENCES

  • Fairhurst (2019). Using Excel for Business and Financial Modelling: A Practical Guide. 3rd edition. John Wiley& Sons Ltd: West Sussex, UK
  • Richardson et al (2024) Accounting Information Systems. 4th edition. McGraw Hill.

TASK DESCRIPTION

This assignment task draws upon the practical skills in Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel that have been covered in workshops and lectures. In this task, you and your group members are required to apply the concepts learned in class to a business case and develop a series of business solutions that support the provision of information for decision making and analysis. This task involves solving business problems by building queries in Access and designing worksheets in Microsoft Excel. A written report outlining the design process and considerations will also be prepared.

GROUP FORMATION

This assignment must be completed in groups. Group work, allocation of tasks to team members, managing group project progress, and working together to solve problems and achieve goals are key transferrable skills that are in increased demand in the workforce.

You should already be in an assignment group and know who you are working with. Within each assignment group, it is expected that each group member will actively contribute to the project and be involved throughout the project. Any groups who are experiencing issues or have concerns about the effective operation of their group should contact the Chief Examiner as soon as possible.

Within your group you should:

  • Ensure that each group member has contact details (for example, email address) of all others in the group
  • Your group has agreed on how communication will occur during the process of completing the assignment.
Once the assignment task is released, you should:
  • Hold an initial group meeting to familiarise yourself with the requirements of the task
  • Plan a timeline for project completion
  • Allocate responsibilities to group members
  • Meet at least three times to check progress, share ideas, ask questions, monitor project progress
  • Share your work and progress with your group members
All group members should be familiar with ALL components of the assessment task. Do not allocate the assignment task on a question by question basis – everyone needs to be familiar with the key areas (BPMN, Process Analysis, Access, and Excel).

Keep in contact with your group members

ASSESSMENT COMPONENTS

Group Task (20%)
Each group will complete a task that will involve:
  • Preparing system documentation (BPMN diagram)
  • Query building in Access
  • Excel design and data analysis
  • Preparation of a written report outlining how dashboard / query design and internal control considerations were applied to the project.
Each group will submit the above components as a group.

All group members will receive the same result for the group task, unless there is evidence of unequal contribution. If unequal contribution is detected, the marks for each group member may be adjusted to reflect the different levels ofeffort.

Any concerns about group member involvement should be raised with the Chief Examiner as soon as possible. 

CASE SETTING

Exciting Electronics is an electronics / home gadget store that has set up its store in open warehouse space in the docklands area, near Melbourne’s central business district. They commenced trading in March 2016 and have had a solid base of customers since then.

Late last year the business changed its sales process, introducing a new online only sales format. This was done so the business could reduce the floor space needed for display items, as well as to increase the reach of its customer base.

SALES AND COLLECTIONS PROCESS

Customers can order their products online through the company website. Orders from customers include the customer name, address, and the products that are ordered. Customer details are stored in the customer data and the items available for sale are stored in the inventory data. When the customer is entering the order the products available for sale are displayed on the screen, in a drop-down list, and the customer chooses what they want to order. Completed orders are stored in the Sales data. Once an order has been processed, the warehouse is sent the order details. The warehouse staff pack the order and prepare the goods for shipment. Since the items are typically high-value electricalproducts, shipping insurance is mandatory, so shipping insurance is arranged, the goods are packed for delivery, and a copy of the order details is printed out. Once these have been completed in the warehouse, the goods are ready fordelivery. Exciting Electronics has several drivers on standby, and once a delivery is ready for release the driver is notified and they collect the goods and take them to the customer’s address. As each delivery is released to the driver, the details of the items sent to the customer are forwarded to the accounts division. In the accounts division, a computerprogram captures the details of the delivery and compares it to the details of the customer’s sales request. If the details agree, an invoice is prepared and sent to the customer. The invoice details are stored in the invoice data. If there is discrepancy between order and delivery details a notification is sent to the manager, who will need to resolve the differences for billing to be completed. Once a customer receives the invoice, they make payments electronically. At the end of each week, the accounts department retrieve the details of customer payments received in the bank account and matches them up to the details of the sales and deliveries and invoices. Any differences (customers paying the wrong amount) are manually followed up by the accounts staff.

INTERVIEWS WITH KEY STAFF MEMBERS

As part of your investigation into the sales process at Exciting Electronics, you interviewed several key staff members. The following points are extracts from your interview notes:

Business Owner:

“I am very proud of this business and how it has grown. We think we are running a profitable enterprise that meets customer needs. Our main strategic goal in the sales department is to meet customer needs and get their products to them as fast as we can. If we do this we will keep customers and be able to grow the business even further.”

Sales Director:

“I am responsible for making sure that the sales process does its job. We aim to have deliveries processed as quickly as possible. The quicker we get the products to customers the happier the customer will be. Some of our clients are corporate clients who need the products in a short time frame. Being able to respond to their needs is important to us. The customer comes first.”

Accounts Director:

“There is no doubt that sales have done a great job in growing the business, but I worry that they have done it on the back of accounts receivable. Our system doesn’t tell us the details, but I think a lot of our customers are taking a while to pay us back. It would be really helpful to know this information about our customers. We basically grant credit to anyone and hope that they can pay back. That does worry me in the mid to longer term.”

Product Manager:

“I am really amazed at the vast range of products and leading brands that we can stock. Our sales system is simple and doesn’t tell me what I would like to know about sales and product mix in sales, but I think the leading brands are selling well. We have just introduced a feature that makes customers rate their items purchased on a score out of 5. We are hoping this will help us understand product satisfaction and brand performance a bit more.”

Accountant

“I agree with the product manager and accounts director. It would be great to be able to better understand how our sales are performing across a range of dimensions. Now the system tells me total sales and that is it. If I want sales by product or sales on a particular day I must manually do the calculations. It simply takes too long. I think we are performing well, but I would like to know more and be more confident in our performance.” 

BUSINESS ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Revenue Recognition

The business recognises revenue as earned once the goods have been released for delivery to the customer.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable is the difference between sales revenue earned and cash receipts received. This is calculated at the overall level (general ledger total) and by customer (subsidiary ledger detail).

Cash Receipts from Customers

Customers make direct transfers to the business bank account for purchases. There is no direct handling of cash in the sales process.

REQUIRED

DOCUMENTATION

1. Prepare a BPMN diagram that clearly shows the main stages of the sales to cash receipts process.

ACCESS

2. Using the Access start file that is provided, your group needs to:
a. Establish the necessary primary-foreign key connections
b. Prepare a query that calculates the accounts receivable balance at 31 March 2024
c. Design two queries that you think are important for the business

EXCEL

3. Using the Excel start file that is provided, your group is to:
a. Using the DATAANALYSIS worksheet tab
i. Enter the necessary formulas so that the dataset for analysis is complete. This will require you to complete the following columns:
1. SellPrice
2. LineTotal
3. CostPrice
4. COGS
5. GrossProfit
6. CustomerSuburb
7. CustomerPostcode
8. CustomerGender
9. Distance from CBD
If you need to add any additional columns for calculations as part of your KPI and dashboard, you can do add columns at the end of the dataset.
b. In your group, determine two (2) strategically important key performance indicators for the sales process. For each KPI you should:
i. Specify the sales process goal / objective it relates to
ii. Set an objective
iii. Specify how objective will be measured
iv. Specify the expected level of attainment
v. Calculate actual performance
vi. Calculate actual proportion of attainment
c. Set up the data dashboard so that the calculation of the KPIs can be seen and the attainment of the measures can be communicated

d. Using the data in the DATAANALYSIS worksheet, prepare four pivot tables that your group thinks are important for understanding the performance of the sales process. Use these pivot tables to create pivot charts

e. Add the pivot charts to the Data Dashboard, along with two (2) slicers (timeline or general data slicers) that you think are important for interpreting the pivot tables

f. Design a lookup tool allows the dashboard user to enter a product number. Based on the productnumber the lookup tool should report:

i. Product name
ii. Product brand
iii. Total number of units sold
iv. Total revenue
v. Total COGS vi. Total Gross Profit

g. Design a lookup tool allows the dashboard user to enter a customer number. Based on the customer number the lookup tool should report:

i. Customer name (first and surname)
ii. Total purchases ($) by the customer
iii. No. of purchases
iv. Average purchase $
v. Average time to pay

REPORT

4. Prepare a report (1000 words maximum) for the business management that explains your design choices when building the queries and data dashboard. Management want to know the following:
a. What are the key questions about the sales process that the business should track?
b. Why are these questions important?
c. How do your proposed KPIs address these key questions?
d. How does your dashboard help the business understand the sales process performance and objective attainment?
e. What were the design choices you made when setting out the dashboard? How did you make these choices? What factors did you consider?
f. How did you design and test the dashboard to ensure that the inputs, calculations and outputs were correct?
[HINT: The AMPS framework may be helpful for thinking about how to structure your report and what to include]

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