Accounting Software Packages used by Qantas Airlines.

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Contents:

Accounting Software Packages used by Qantas Airlines............................................................1

Contents:......................................................................................................................................2
Introduction:................................................................................................................................3
Part 1:...........................................................................................................................................3
1. The current organizational structure:....................................................................................3
2. What operational problems (e.g., inefficiency, errors) do you think the organization could
experience because of this structure?..........................................................................................4
3. What is the most likely system acquisition method— commercial software, custom
software, or ERP?........................................................................................................................5
4. Describes and prepare a system flowchart of the sales procedures for the chosen
organization (company)?.............................................................................................................5
5. Identify any control problems in the system and what sorts of fraud are possible in this
system?........................................................................................................................................7
PART 2:.......................................................................................................................................8
1. Development and adoption of the accounting software packages:.......................................8
2. The current market size:.......................................................................................................8
3. Identify the leaders in the market and what gives them the competitive advantage:...........9
4. Identify the current gaps or challenges encountered by users or customers of accounting
software/packages and make relevant suggestions and recommendations:...............................10
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................12
Reference:..................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction:

Qantas airline is one of the oldest and the most favorite airlines operating in Australia. This

airline was started in 1920 as a domestic airline and stepped into international airline services in

1935 (Eames, 2015). Being an airline industry there are many areas that need a close inspection

for regular and smooth running of the business. This report focuses on the details of the

accounting software that Qantas airlines use to keep all the details of its cargo, international,

domestic and other services up-to-date.

Part 1:

1. The current organizational structure:

The organizational structure of Qantas Airline is broadly divided into International and Domestic

airline services. In addition to this, they also provide fleet services that carry cargo and courier

packages from one place to another. Along with the mentioned services they also operate the

express ground handling services on their own as well as support other small and regional airline

services which are not capable to manage the business by themselves.

Hence, from the above it’s understood that the organizational structure of Qantas Airline is very

complicated and decentralized in nature. In order to ensure quick and effective decision-making

atmosphere within the different departments of the business, Qantas is well equipped with top

executives and managers who can handle daily business problems efficiently and effectively.

The top management is responsible to take all the crucial decisions of the business; however,

even the managers have decision making authority depending on the seriousness of the situation.

In order to make sure that all the departments and subsidiaries work in a transparent atmosphere,

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Qantas airline follows a functional organizational structure which is different for each and every

department. However, due to complex organizational structure, the decision-making process

tends to delay which can deteriorate the performance and image of the organization (Stephen P.

Robbins, 2014).

2. What operational problems (e.g., inefficiency, errors) do you think the organization

could experience because of this structure?

Being an airline industry, the operational activities involved in order to carry out business

smoothly are multiple. The main objective of each and every operational activity is to produce

quality work with maximum accuracy. Due to the complex organizational structure of the Qantas

airline, the problems that they may face are also multiple. One of the most highly faced problems

would be slow decision-making capability. Due to different hierarchy involved and the top

management being the decision making authority, the time taken to convey the problem to the

authority and again the solution from the authority to the executives can be high. Hence, the

executives below need to wait until the decision is declared by the top level management, and

due to this delay, they can miss on many new opportunities that could be beneficial for business

growth.

The other problem faced because of the complex structure can be lack of communication among

the different levels of management and the employees. This can highly result in inadequate

performance and lack of quality service deliverance to the customers. The best examples, in this

case, are – If in case the ticketing department fails to know that all the seats of the flight are

already booked, then in such cases, they may end up in overbooking the flight. This finally

results in irate customers at the airport which directly hampers the reputation of the airline

industry (Danny Samson, 2017).

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3. What is the most likely system acquisition method— commercial software, custom

software, or ERP?

In case of Qantas airline, the accounting software that is preferred for this type of multi-

operational business atmosphere is – Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). This software

efficiently helps to easily streamline all the business operations in such a way that all the

important and relevant information are smoothly circulated among the associated departments

making less room for errors and inefficiencies. ERP system is also helpful to maintain strong

database management as well as provides extra storage capacity of the data collected. This

feature is not available in any other commercial or custom software. Hence, whatever the needs

may be – requirements of raw materials, enhancing customer services, maintaining the product

quality and so on, ERP system helps an easy and efficient coordination among different

concerned departments so that all can work together with the common objective of business

growth and development.

The ERP system is well designed to perform a thorough study of the customer behavior. This

helps the Qantas airline to determine the customer preferences and patterns and make changes in

their services and products as per the customer demand. This would help the organization to gain

more exposure. ERP system nearly eliminates the chances of errors that can happen due to

miscommunications among the different department and sections involved in the business

proceedings, thus increasing the quality of services (Peng, 2017).

4. Describes and prepare a system flowchart of the sales procedures for the chosen

organization (company)?

The target audience and the development of the product and services would be the first most

features in the system flowchart of the Qantas airlines. Hence, the target audience would be as

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per the services provided, for example – in case of passenger airlines, the target audience would

be passengers who are willing to book tickets with Qantas airlines in order to move from one

place to another. Hence, the sales procedure in the above-mentioned case would start from the

stage where the customer would approach the airlines in order to understand the cost of the

airfares and the other complementary services available as compared to other competitors. Here

the convincing ability of the customer executives plays a very important role in order to make

sure that the customer is not diverted to other airlines. This can happen only if attractive

discounts and attractive offers are made available for the customers. Qantas airline can also

provide provisions to the customers by making online bookings and reservations available. On

the other hand, the flowchart for the fleet and freight sales procedure would be completely

different than the passenger flowchart (Dieter Schmitt, 2015).

Passenger Flowchart

Figure 1: Source: Adapted from (Dieter Schmitt, 2015)

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5. Identify any control problems in the system and what sorts of fraud are possible in this

system?

The control problems encountered in the airline industry with regards to the passenger airline

services can be huge. This can mainly happen due to the fake promises assured by the executives

to customers about the complimentary services. This inadequate information provided can

hamper the reputation of the organization to a great extent. The other control problem can be the

fraud activities performed by the executives who are entitled to book the ticket for the customers.

Professional hackers can misuse the account details. The third party vendor can charge more in

the greed of earning a high income. The preys that fall for such greed are usually those

passengers who are in need of urgent tickets. Even the cashiers sitting at the cash counter can

commit frauds and represent false information to the authorities. The information database of the

airline industry is very sensitive as this contains all the major information of the customers like –

name, address, account details, etc which can be used by other people for fraud and other

malpractices (Michael A. Crain, 2016).

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PART 2:

1. Development and adoption of the accounting software packages:

The airline industry is vast and wide which needs a perfect accounting software package that can

manage all the complex activities of the business in a very smooth and efficient manner. The

qualities that an ideal accounting software package should possess are –

Ideal software should accurately record all the daily details and transactions in a very systematic

manner. Accounting software should be very user-friendly for the employees which would

reduce the time consumed in performing the activities. This would also help the new employees

to get familiar with the business process and system in less time. The auto data saving capability

of the accounting software can eliminate the efforts of the employees by saving the manual

efforts of data saving. The data storage capacity of the accounting system should be vast, which

means that the organization should be ready with all the details available from the past and

present as and when required. The information extraction process should be quick and easy and

the circulation of information to different departments should be fast and efficient without any

wastage of time.

In case of Qantas Airlines, the best accounting software that can be ideal for the business is the

ERP system. This is due to the complex organizational structure. The ERP system would fulfill

all the latest technological needs of the organization and minimize the scope of errors in the cash

flow and accounting sections (Christopher S. Chapman, 2011).

2. The current market size:

Due to the growth of information technology and the development of the information systems,

the current business market has made it mandate for all the types of business to implement

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accounting software in order to make sure that the business activities are performed and recorded

efficiently. Whatever the size of business may be- small, medium or large, the accounting

software has become the most important part of the business development. In the Australian

market, the accounting software like – QuickBooks, MYOB, Xero and Reckon One are in

demand among the small and medium-sized organizations. Among these MYOB has around 35

percent of the market share which is highest that the other software available. This is then

followed by QuickBooks, Reckon One and Xero. The developments and upgrades in this

software are happening rapidly in order to hold a firm grip in the competitive market.

In case of a large organization, small accounting software cannot be used to manage the huge

daily business activities. The software like Oracle, SAP, and IFS are majorly preferred by large

business organizations. The above-mentioned software vendors provide the best accounting and

ERP solutions to their customers that can help them to carry on the business functions and other

operational activities more efficiently and accurately. This would directly help in generating

more improved quality outputs (Simpson, 2018).

3. Identify the leaders in the market and what gives them the competitive advantage:

Presently the top leaders of accounting software systems in the market are SAP business one and

Oracle. These systems are highly used by the large-scale organizations. On the other hand

accounting software systems like QuickBooks and MYOB are highly preferred by the small and

medium scale industries. With regards to large businesses, Oracle is equipped with the NetSuite

software while the SAP S/4HANA is highly in demand among the organizations having many

departments and faculties to be taken care of.

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As Qantas airline comes under large scale business with a lot of complex organizational structure

the accounting software required for this airline should be flexible, high in performance and at

the same time user-friendly.

The new software from Oracle i.e., NetSuite is high in demand as an employee of any

department using the software can change the fields and other system performance with correct

login id and password. Hence, due to this the traditional method of approaching the IT

department for each and every system issue can be eliminated. NetSuite is easily vulnerable to

additional modules as and when required in case of introduction of new business services and

can be eliminated when the business stops to provide those services. This software is the ultimate

ERP solution which provides automation of all the business activities and operations easily into a

single application. Hence, easy streamlining of the information from different subsidiary

departments is possible and the information seeker can get the details in a single go rather than

searching the information from different sources available. This easy availability of data and

business information helps the top level management to take business decisions more easily and

quickly which directly increases the brand's performance and public appreciations (Thomas L.

Wheelen, 2011).

4. Identify the current gaps or challenges encountered by users or customers of

accounting software/packages and make relevant suggestions and recommendations:

The bookings for Qantas Airlines can be done through three different options available like –

bookings at the airport, online bookings or bookings via third party vendors. This huge

diversification can end to lack of coordination between the employees sitting at the airport and

the other service providers. Issues related to the actual bookings done, airplane capacity,

fulfillment of the seats, etc can be major areas of concern. This lack of coordination and easy

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mobility of the information change the perceptions of the customers and thus the threat of

customers getting diverted towards the competitor’s increases.

Even in case of online ticketing, customers have faced problems like lags in the payment portals;

the system does not allow the payments to go through, and so on. These problems directly affect

the business performance and the profit earning capability of the organization. Inadequate

accounting software can end to irate and unsatisfied customers. Such a situation is very

threatning for the reputation of the brand.

As far as suggestions for the above problems are concerned, Qantas Airline needs to introduce

the latest accounting software for their business operations. Being one of the biggest and highly

used airlines in Australia, the software required should be very powerful and yet flexible for the

employees to use it easily and effectively. Software solution like NetSuite is the best for Qantas

Airline operations which can streamline the widespread business details in one single

application. Hence, no matter from where the tickets are getting booked (airport, online or via the

third party), the next person visiting the site or trying to book the tickets would get the latest

update about the availability of the seats. This information remains uniform across all the

departments thus keeping everyone on the same page.

The software applications like MYOB and QuickBooks are not adequate to fulfill the wide range

of requirements of a vast business like Qantas Airline. Hence, a software solution which is hi-

tech and updated as per the current technology is best for the airline industry. This not only helps

the business performance but also displays the organization's awareness and exposure to the new

developing IT industry. Well designed ERP software is the best to support the complex structure

of the organization and carry on the business activities easily (Simpson, 2018).

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Conclusion:

As implementation of all the accounting software is essential for Qantas Airline, however, the

needs and other requirements should be determined by the organization before installing the

software. This is because the investments and time required in the installation of such software

are very high. The ERP solution is the best to implement in order to achieve the efficient

productivity with fewer errors which are the base of all organizations who aim towards

development and growth of the business. The efficient software solution is also beneficial to

make sure that important information is circulated efficiently among different departments which

can maintain high transparency and smooth functional activities among all the departments.

:Reference

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Christopher S. Chapman, A.G.H.M.D.S., 2011. Handbook of Management Accounting Research.
Burlington: Elsevier.

Danny Samson, R.L.D.T.D., 2017. Fundamentals of Management with Student Resource Access
12 Month. revised ed. Melbourne: Cengage AU.

Dieter Schmitt, V.G., 2015. Air Transport System. illustrated ed. Hamburg: Springer.

Eames, J., 2015. The Flying Kangaroo: Great Untold Stories of Qantas.The Heroic, the
Hilarious and the Sometimes Just Plain Strange. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Michael A. Crain, W.S.H.C.P.G.R.Y., 2016. Essentials of Forensic Accounting. New Jersey:

John Wiley & Sons.

Peng, M.W., 2017. GLOBAL (with GLOBAL Online, 1 term (6 months) Printed Access Card).
4th ed. New York: Cengage Learning.

Simpson, T., 2018. Business Program Strategic Information Systems. Business Program
Strategic Information Systems, p.8.

Stephen P. Robbins, R.B.I.S.M.C., 2014. Management, Volume 7. Melbourne: Pearson Australia.

Thomas L. Wheelen, J.D.H., 2011. Concepts in Strategic Management and Business Policy. New
Delhi: Pearson Education India.

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