Design And Implementation Of A Computerized Sales Accounting System

Project and Seminar Material for Computer Science and Computer Engineering

Abstract

Sales accounting is often the largest priced asset of a business after the fixed asset. Keeping the stock also means keeping a tab on the realizable value, market value of all the stocks, stock in production and finished stock. This paper explores the challenges of manual accounting system for supermarkets and infers solutions to the current challenges by designing a computerized sales system which will curb the errors associated with manual method of accounting. The main method used for this research work is interview. Data were collected from 5 heterogeneous supermarkets and used as a tool for obtaining facts. The finding shows the challenges facing the manual system of stock sales accounting; the manual system requires everyday counting of items in the stock to tally with the money received. Human errors are very prevalent during counting and recording and in case of disaster like fire or flood or poor communication, all the manual stock records will be damaged and irretrievable. Based on the findings this paper highlights the possible solutions to the above problems; a computerized sales management system designed using php programming language for front end and MySQL database for data storage.

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Sales management is the process of efficiently overseeing the constant flow of units into and out of an existing stock of goods. This process usually involves controlling the transfer of units in order to prevent the stock from becoming too high, or dwindling to levels that could put the operation of the company into jeopardy (Seuring, S. 2011). Sales management is primarily about specifying the size and placement of stocked goods. It is a science primarily about specifying the shape and percentage of stocked goods. Stock management is required at different locations within a facility or within multiple locations of a supply network to protect the regular and planned course of production against the random disturbance of running out of materials or goods. The scope of sales management also concerns the fine lines between replenishment lead time, carrying costs of stock, asset management, stock forecasting, stock valuation, stock visibility, future stock price forecasting, physical stock, available physical space for stock, quality management, replenishment, returns and defective goods and demand forecasting (eCuzzy, 2006).
Computerized accounting systems are software programs that are stored on a company’s computer, network server, or remotely accessed via the Internet. Computerized accounting systems allow you to set up income and expense accounts, such as rental or sales income, salaries, advertising expenses, and material costs. They also can be used to manage bank accounts, pay bills, and prepare budgets. Depending upon the program, some accounting systems also allow you to prepare tax documents, handle payroll, and manage project costing. You can generally customize the software to meet the needs of your business. It’s important to make sure that your staff are trained and understand how to use the system correctly so that your company can successfully use your accounting. [Tara Schofield, 2018]

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The process of manually looking for the inventory available in stock and comparing with revenue made is really time consuming and cumbersome especially to the person responsible to see how many materials are in the inventory, how many materials have been ordered and received and keep the record of the time that will take for the suppliers to process orders and other various tasks included in inventory. Some other problems include:

At current, the sales inventory is managed and update on an excel spreadsheet which has been an outdated form of recording and maintaining the inventory of materials as it is really difficult to enter the data and then update the data on daily basis.
Illegal use of money cards – some managers has taken the privilege of using both credit and debit cards to steal companies money and some do not know how to use this cards thereby causing problems to the business.
One of the major loopholes of an un-computerized sales accounting system is its ability to fraud a company. This poses a problem to the management of the business
Some companies employ inexperienced managers who are not professionals in the field of computing and this will restrict the objectives of the computerized system to a certain limit.
Insufficient fund- to set up a complete computerized sales accounting system requires a huge amount of money. Some business ventures find it difficult to afford or cannot afford it.

1.2 Objectives of the Study

The main aim of this study is to design a Computerized Sales Accounting System to ascertain to manage the sales and revenue of a supermarket. The system keeps status and updates of transactions, thereby helping managerial decisions, progress level and stock taking.

Specific objectives include:

To design a computerized accounting system that solves the problem inherent in the manual system with the use of MySQL and Php
To develop a secured database for the record of stock and prices.
To implement the supply products data on the computerized inventory management system to ensure its functionality.

1.3 Scope of the Study

The aim of this research is to develop a secured sales accounting system that will be implemented within the company to help the users record the details of the stock and revenue.

The system records the product, supplier, date ordered, price and all information about the product. The information is stored in a secured database with a restricted access.

The system will enable the inventory manager to create /delete inventory, add new inventory or send alerts when the inventory levels are low in stock and will enable to track order history of vendor.

The research covers the planning, analyzing and designing phases of the system. A prototype is created which runs on a localhost sever and accessed using a browser.

1.5 Significance of the Study

Stock management, sales accounting and control are a vital tool in any business. This project is of vital importanceto business managers. Keeping accurate revenue and sales report and knowing when to place order for a new item and update current status will depend on how information processing is handled. This paper help provides such tools and helpful in management, control and effectiveness.

This thesis will be of immense help to scholars who are researching the field of computerized accounting system as it will serve as a reference point to them

1.6 Research Questions

This research work will be guided by the following research questions:

Why proposing a computerized salesaccounting system for the organization. Is it really important?
How will the proposed computer-based system affect the existing conventional system?

1.7 Limitations of the Study

Most constraint experienced during the course of writing this project is during the actual software development. PHP codes needed to develop the accounting part of the system was difficult to obtain. This made me go for available but less preferred code for the programming.

Also the detailed information about the company major operations was not an easy task to obtain.The personnel manager was a little diplomatic in answering my questions in order not to reveal information that may indent the company’s image, although I gave them my word that no such thing will happen, that did not stop me from writing and researching for detailed information.

Due to time constraint, finance and confidentiality of information, program developed covers some aspect of stock management; adding new stock, viewing sales history, monthly and yearly revenue reports. Whatever is left out is as a result of the stated limitations.

1.8 Assumption of the Study

During the process of data collection, information relating to sales management was obtained from TwinSec Supermarket Services. The information was collected from the admin staff during the course of my research. Hence, it is assumed that all the data collected are correct and contains no false information.

1.9 Definition of Terms

Stock Management:

This is all task involved in the analysis and management of stock in a company which includes adding, removing and updating stock

Inventory:

This where the history of stock are recorded for future analysis

Order:

A paid request for a particular good or service.

Goods:

A valuable material which can be exchanged for money.

Chapter Five

Conclusion and Recommendations

5.1 Conclusion

Computerized sales accounting systems are used in many business application settings but within Nigeria the use of this system has not been implemented by many organization s/companies yet which can track sales in an effective way .This research is designed to be implemented within one such company in Nigeria.

5.4 Recommendations

5.4.1 Application Recommendations:

Include more Management options for different positions in the company.
To be able to implement within other departments of the company.
Enhance the interfaces and make the application more dynamic.
Create a mobile application that can access the application.
Enhance the messages and alerts system .

5.4.2 Course Recommendation:

I suggest from my experience that the department should encourage the students from both the Computer Science and Information System to team up for senior projects .This will develop a strong blend of capabilities of the project. Also provide technical support for the students and offer the required tools and tutorials.

5.3 Future works

This research covers the enhancing of currently used inventory management system as compared to other similar systems. The future work of this research, is replacing of the current manual way of tracking inventory with a fully integrated and supported inventory management system to have a better technology and more powerful and would be more helpful for the inventory managers at the companies.