ASSESSMENT DETAILS AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Trimester T1, 2021

Unit Code HA2042
Unit Title Accounting Information Systems
Assessment Type Assessment 2: Individual Assignment
Assessment Title System Analysis and Selection
Purpose of the Students are required to:
assessment (with • Understand and explain the place of an accounting information
ULO Mapping) system in the context of the organisational structure and operating
practices (ULO 2),
• Identify, analyse, and compare different types of accounting
information systems (ULO 3), and
• Use different methodologies to evaluate various accounting
information systems (ULO 4).
Weight 30% of the total assessments
Total Marks 30 Marks
Word Limit Maximum 2,500 words
Due Date Due Date - Week 9, Friday 21st May 2021, 11:59pm.
Submission • All work must be submitted on Blackboard by the due date along with
Guidelines a completed Assignment Cover Page.
• The assignment must be in MS Word format, double spacing, 12-pt
Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with
appropriate section headings and page numbers.
• Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report and listed
appropriately at the end in a reference list using Harvard referencing
style.
• Include a minimum of ten (10) references, at least five (5) from peer-
reviewed journal relevant to the unit.

Adapted Harvard Referencing

Holmes has now implemented a revised Harvard approach to referencing:

1. Reference sources in assignments are limited to sources which

provide full text access to the source’s content for lecturers and
markers.
2. The Reference list should be located on a separate page at the
end of the essay and titled: References.
3. It should include the details of all the in-text citations, arranged
alphabetically A-Z by author surname. In addition, it MUST
include a hyperlink to the full text of the cited reference source.
For example;

HA2042 Individual Assignment – Assessment 2, T1 2021 Page 1 of 9

 P Hawking, B McCarthy, A Stein (2004), Second Wave ERP
Education, Journal of Information Systems Education,
Fall, http://jise.org/Volume15/n3/JISEv15n3p327.pdf
4. All assignments will require additional in-text reference details
which will consist of the surname of the author/authors or name
of the authoring body, year of publication, page number of
content, paragraph where the content can be found.
For example;
“The company decided to implement an enterprise wide data
warehouse business intelligence strategies (Hawking et al, 2004,
p3(4)).”

Non - Adherence to Referencing Guidelines

Where students do not follow the above guidelines:
1. Students who submit assignments which do not comply with the
guidelines may be required to resubmit their assignments or incur
penalties for inadequate referencing.
2. Late penalties will apply per day after a student or group has been
notified of a resubmission requirements.

• Students whose citations are fake will be reported for academic

misconduct

HA2042 Individual Assignment – Assessment 2, T1 2021 Page 2 of 9

 Assignment Details
Background
You are working as a junior Business Analyst in a Big Four Accounting and Management Consulting
firm in Australia. Recently, you are assigned to work with one client who owns and operates medium
sized fashion stores across all states in Australia with the head office in Melbourne. In addition, this
client also has a busy online fashion boutique business being operated by staff members in the head
office. Currently, each store has its own accounting software and monthly management reports are
manually prepared and submitted to the head office via email. As to the limitations of its’ current
traditional accounting system, the client believes that an investment in cloud-based accounting
software is needed to support the growth of the business.

Required

You are required to prepare a report to evaluate and recommend a cloud-based accounting software
for the above client. The report should include the following components:

1. Background

• Briefly describe the basic business activities involved in the revenue and expenditure cycles of
the above client. (Hint: Observe the operations of a typical fashion store which you know)
• Identify the major internal control weaknesses in these business activities.
• Discuss the possible risks associated with each of the identified control weaknesses.

2. System Requirements

• Outline the software features/ functionalities that your client should consider supporting its
business activities.

3. Software Selection

• Visit the websites of at least two (2) accounting software package vendors (e.g. SAP, MYOB,
Xero, etc.) and provide a brief description of each vendor and its products.
• Compare and contrast the features/functionalities of two cloud-based accounting software
packages offered by accounting software package vendors.
• Identify the most suitable vendor and accounting software package for your client and explain
why it is the best option.

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 Assignment Structure
The report should include the following components

1. Holmes Institute Assignment Cover Sheet

2. Executive Summary

The executive summary should be concise and not involve too much detail. It should make
commentary on the main points only and follow the sequence of the report. Write the Executive
Summary after the report is completed, and once you have an overview of the whole text.

3. Contents Page

This needs to show a logical listing of all the sub-headings of the report’s contents. Note this is
excluded from the total word count.

4. Introduction

Typically, the introduction is a short paragraph which includes background, scope and the main
points raised in the order of importance. There should be a brief conclusion statement at the end of
the introduction.

5. Main Body Paragraphs with Numbered Sub-headings

This section contains the detailed information which elaborates on the main points raised in the
introduction. Each paragraph should begin with an exact topic sentence, then supporting sentences
with facts and evidence obtained from research and finish with a concluding sentence at the end.

Body of the report should contain sections to answer the above issues and with appropriate section
headings

6. Conclusion

This section contains a logical and coherent evaluation based on a thorough and objective
assessment of the research performed.

7. List of References

Include a minimum of ten (10) references, at least five (5) from peer-reviewed journal relevant to
the unit.

8. Appendices

This section includes any additional explanatory information which is supplementary and/or
graphical to help communicate the main ideas made in the report. Refer to the appendices in the
main body paragraphs, as and where appropriate. (Note this is excluded from the total word count.)

Safe-Assign Similarity Percentage:

1. Plagiarism in any form, shape or manner is unacceptable under any circumstances and
will be dealt with according to Institute policy on plagiarism. Refer to the section below
on Academic Integrity.
2. In general, for written reports, a LOW Safe-Assign similarity percentage of 25% or
below is acceptable. Regardless of the similarity figure, all group reports must use the
correct in-text citation protocols and proper referencing rules.

HA2042 Individual Assignment – Assessment 2, T1 2021 Page 4 of 9

Academic Integrity
Holmes Institute is committed to ensuring and upholding Academic Integrity, as Academic Integrity
is integral to maintaining academic quality and the reputation of Holmes’ graduates. Accordingly, all
assessment tasks need to comply with academic integrity guidelines. Table 1 identifies the six
categories of Academic Integrity breaches. If you have any questions about Academic Integrity
issues related to your assessment tasks, please consult your lecturer or tutor for relevant referencing
guidelines and support resources. Many of these resources can also be found through the Study
Skills link on Blackboard.
Academic Integrity breaches are a serious offence punishable by penalties that may range from
deduction of marks, failure of the assessment task or unit involved, suspension of course
enrolment, or cancellation of course enrolment.

Table 1: Six Categories of Academic Integrity Breaches

Plagiarism Reproducing the work of someone else without
attribution. When a student submits their own work on
multiple occasions this is known as self-plagiarism.
Collusion Working with one or more other individuals to complete
an assignment, in a way that is not authorised.

Copying Reproducing and submitting the work of another

student, with or without their knowledge. If a student
fails to take reasonable precautions to prevent their own
original work from being copied, this may also be
considered an offence.
Impersonation Falsely presenting oneself, or engaging someone else to
present as oneself, in an in-person examination.

Contract cheating Contracting a third party to complete an assessment

task, generally in exchange for money or other manner
of payment.

Data fabrication and Manipulating or inventing data with the intent of

falsification supporting false conclusions, including manipulating
images.

HA2042 Individual Assignment – Assessment 2, T1 2021 Page 5 of 9

 Marking Criteria
Marking Criteria Weighting in Total
Grades
Briefly describe the basic business activities involved in the revenue and 2%
expenditure cycles of the above client.
Identify the major internal control weaknesses in these business 3%
activities.
Discuss the possible risks associated with each of the identified control 3%
weaknesses
Outline the software features and functionalities that your client should 3%
consider supporting its business activities
Visit the websites of at least two (2) accounting software package 5%
vendors (e.g. SAP, MYOB, Xero etc.) and provide a brief description of
each vendor and its products
Compare and contrast the features/functionalities of two cloud-based 5%
accounting software packages offered by accounting software package
vendors
Identify the most suitable vendor and accounting software package 5%
for your client and explain why it is the best option
Report Presentation and Formatting 2%
Research Quality 2%
TOTAL Weight 30%

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 Marking Rubric

Criteria Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

Marks (80-100%) (70-79%) (60-69%) (50-59%) (0-49%)
Describe the client’s An excellent A very good A good description of An adequate An appropriate
business activities description of your description of your your client’s business description of your description of your
client’s business client’s business activities. client’s business client’s business
/2 marks in total activities. activities. activities. activities.
Identify the major Identify all major Identify most major Identify most major Identify some internal Fail to identify any
internal control internal control internal control internal control control weakness for major internal control
weaknesses in these weakness for the weakness for the weakness for the the business processes weakness for the
business activities. business processes. business processes. business processes with errors and/ or business processes.
/3 marks in total with minor errors omissions
Discuss the possible Discuss all possible Discuss most possible Discuss most possible Discuss some possible Fail to discuss any
risks associated with risks associated with risks associated with risks associated with risks associated with possible risks
each of the identified each of the identified each of the identified each of the identified each of the identified associated with each of
control weaknesses control weaknesses. control weaknesses. control weaknesses control weaknesses the identified control
with minor errors. with errors and/or weaknesses.
/3 marks in total omissions.
Outline the software Present an excellent Present a very good Present a good Present a discussion on Unable to present a
features and discussion on the discussion on the discussion on features features and proper discussion on
functionalities that your features and features and and functionalities of functionalities of features and
client should consider functionalities of functionalities of accounting software accounting software functionalities of
supporting its business accounting software accounting software that your client should that your client should accounting software
activities that your client should that your client should consider with minor consider with errors that your client should
consider. consider. errors and/or and/or omissions. consider
/3 marks in total omissions.
Visit the websites of at Present an excellent Present a very good Present a good Present a description Unable to present an
least two (2) accounting description of description of description of of accounting software accurate description of
software package accounting software accounting software accounting software package vendors and accounting software
vendors (e.g. SAP, package vendors and their products with

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MYOB, Xero etc.) and package vendors and package vendors and their products with errors and/or package vendors and
provide a brief their products. their products. minor errors and/or omissions. their products.
description of each omissions.
vendor and its products
/5 marks in total
Compare and contrast Present an excellent Present a very good Present a good Present a reasonable Unable to present a
the features/ comparison of features comparison of features comparison of features comparison of features proper comparison of
functionalities of two and functionalities of and functionalities of and functionalities of and functionalities of features and
cloud-based accounting two cloud-based two cloud-based two cloud-based two cloud-based functionalities of two
software packages accounting software accounting software accounting software accounting software cloud-based
offered by accounting packages. packages. packages with minor packages with errors accounting software
software package errors and/or and omissions. packages.
vendors omissions.
/5 marks in total
Identify the most Propose a choice of an Propose a choice of an Propose a choice of an Propose a choice of an Unable to propose a
suitable vendor and accounting software accounting software accounting software accounting software proper choice of an
accounting software package based on very package based on package based on package based on accounting software
package for your client strong arguments. strong arguments. reasonable arguments. weak or inadequate package or back the
and explain why it is the arguments. proposed choice with a
best option valid argument.
/5 marks in total
Report Presentation and Report included all Report included all Report included all Report included most Report lacked some
formatting elements and was very elements and was well elements and was elements and was elements and was
well presented. Writing presented. Writing generally presented adequately presented. poorly presented.
flowed clearly and flowed clearly and appropriately. Writing Writing sometimes did Writing often did not
sections were linked sections were linked mostly flowed well and not flow clearly leaving flow clearly leaving the
very effectively. effectively. Referencing sections were linked. the paper to seem paper to seem
Referencing was was of a high standard. Referencing was in disjointed in areas. somewhat disjointed.
exemplary. English was English was used accordance with Referencing was Referencing was not
used very effectively effectively with very guidelines. English was somewhat in entirely in accordance
and was error-free. few errors present. used effectively with accordance with with relevant
few errors present. guidelines. Basic guidelines. Basic
/2 marks in total

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 English was used with English was used with
some errors present. errors present.
Research Quality An extensive amount A broad range of An adequate range of An adequate range of Little or no peer-
of high-quality quality peer-reviewed peer-reviewed journal peer-reviewed journal reviewed journal
evidence from peer- journal references and references was references was references were
reviewed journal other sources was included and used to included and used to a included and these
articles and other included and used support discussion. basic extent to support were rarely used to
sources was included effectively to support discussion. support discussion
/2 marks in total and used effectively to discussion. effectively.
support discussion.

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