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SYLLABUS
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In the current accounting world, any course in accounting systems must be computer based. Vertually all business now use computers to maintain their accounting records using any one of the dozens of available programs or individually designed programs tailored for the specific business. In chosing which program to use as the basis for this course we considered that it would be logical to base the course on the most widely used accounting program. QuickBooks has captured the major share of the small business accounting program market and is currently moving into the slightly larger company market. It will be interesting to see what the response will be from these markets to the newly introduced program (2006) from Microsoft. We will also be taking an in depth look at the number 2 program in this market "PeachTree" as well as a brief look at some of the programs more suited to larger companies.
QuickBooks has been one of the leading small business accounting systems for years. Originally, it was designed for small businesses with no accounting knowledge. But as Intuit's flagship product, it has now been updated with several new features, such as contact management, loan management, cash flow projection and a revised help function. The new version, QuickBooks 2005, shipped on September 2, 2004.
Before deciding what to include in the 2005 version, Intuit conducted extensive market research that included a product survey, visits with users to observe and interview, a conference with its ProAdvisors, and an analysis of tech support call logs, suggestion databases, and outbound calls to the user base. The changes should appeal to QuickBooks small business customers. But is QuickBooks also suitable for mid-market companies?
Target market
QuickBooks is targeted to small businesses with 1-20 employees. Customized versions of QuickBooks are also available for accountants, contractors, retail and repair businesses. The Accountants edition allows accountants to better manage their client files using Internet-based remote access. The other industry- specific systems are designed and set up specifically for those industries to manage their businesses more effectively.
QuickBooks 2005 supports five simultaneous users and includes many high-end features including multi-currency, custom fields, ability to break out financials by division or department, multiple price levels, and ability to buy, sell and stock inventory in different units of measurement. But there are maximum file sizes that might cause a problem for some companies. For example, you can have no more than 14,500 individual inventory items.
To meet the needs of larger organizations, Intuit launched its Enterprise edition in March 2003. This edition doubled the maximum number of simultaneous users to 10 and also doubled the maximum file sizes. Although the edition took off in the US, especially in the middle market, it was discontinued in Canada in July 2004. That may be because some people at Intuit considered Canada as a land of small businesses. More likely, the problem is with branding in the Canadian marketplace. QuickBooks has been held up as a small business solution, and it's difficult to change public perceptions without extensive marketing campaigns. Also, Canadians are probably more conservative and a tougher audience. According to Intuit, "The typical QuickBooks customer is a small business with 20 or fewer employees and annual revenue of less than $2 million. The ideal use of QuickBooks is to keep at least two years of detailed transactions in a data file so that you can run comparative reports and have prior-year project information."
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CONDUCT OF COURSE
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This is a very practical course. You will be spending time in the computer lab doing problems. The mid-term test will be a take-home problem and the final exam will be a take-home problem and a multiple choice test.
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