Recommendations For Computer, Operating System, Printer, Backup Solution, And Essay For LMM Accounting. (70 Characters)

Requirements for LMM Accounting

LMM Accounting is a local start-up firm where the owner has been running a small business from home on a part time basis. The owner has now taken the next step and is going to become fully self-employed and run his business from a local business hub full time. The local business hub is where a number of small professional businesses run from a single building complex and share things like Internet access and a receptionist. The following details have been provided to you during an initial meeting with the owner Albert Benzeen:

· General accounting for small home business clients.

· The accounting software that will be used is Xero Accounting (see resource list).

· Will be involved with establishing and maintaining of trust accounts.

· General office documentation is in word and excel formats.

Albert has asked you as an IT consultant to make some system recommendations to suit his needs.

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Albert Benzeen:

‘I would like you to recommend a computer, an operating system and a printer to help me expand my business.  I will be purchasing just one computer, but I’d like to run two good flat screen monitors. This computer system will be a standalone desktop or notebook computer, and I am quite open to the most suitable operating system.

I will be purchasing the Xero Accounting solution which will handle most of my financial work, and I will forward the information for this package to you. I will also require an office suite program that can open and save in the current word and excel format files.

My existing computer system has a couple of hundred megabytes of word and excel data that will also need to be transferred to the new computer. This computer is about seven years old and is currently running Microsoft Windows XP operating system and Microsoft Office 2010.

Besides the computer itself I will need one good laser colour printer from a respected manufacturer for good quality colour printing on A4 paper. This printer will also need to act as a low volume copier, scanner, and capable of sending and receiving faxes. Printing will be its main function, and I envisage it will be doing up to 10,000 sheets per month.

The kind of work I do does not generate large file and all the files relating to the Xero Accounting package will be stored in the cloud on the vendor’s site. However I will need a backup solution for the other files, and I estimate that there would not be any more than 10Gbyte of files, even after 5 years.

As for training, I would like to know how to download and install the latest drivers for the computer and printer, and how to back up the computer.’

(End of interview)

For this Part A task, you are to produce three (3) documents that are based on the information contained in the Case Study. The first is a report to the client, the second is a training session, and the last is an installation procedure.

The report will need to cover the following items:

1. List the requirements that the client has requested, plus any that you feel are appropriate.
2. Outline the functions that are required of the computer, this will include the day-to-day tasks it needs to perform, plus the background tasks that you will need to schedule.
3. Provide a dot point of the legal requirements in regards to trust accounts and computerised systems. (Please see attached document ‘Computerised_trust_accounting_systems (1).pdf’.)
4. Research at least two operating systems from different vendors that will suit the client’s requirement. You will need to provide a comparison table within the report that will compare features, system requirements, and an appropriate office suite that will run on the operating system.
5. Research two computer hardware solutions that will match the operating system listed in Item 4. You will also need to provide a printer solution that will work with the operating systems.
6. Research and provide a backup and software security solution for the computer solutions.

Provide a recommendation of the computer package you feel will meet the client’s needs. You will also need to justify why you have selected the computer package you have recommended.

Design a quick training session that will provide training for downloading and installing the latest drivers, and how to back up the computer. This is to include time required, resources required, and a breakdown of the topics to be covered.

The following link is also included in the learning content under “Train Users & Obtain Feedback”:

List and describe the steps that will be required for the installation of the computer system and printer, including all pre-installation considerations. These steps should include from the when you receive the hardware and software from the suppliers, all the way through to commissioning, which will also include training. Please remember to cover any contingencies that may occur.

Requirements for LMM Accounting

The case study considered for this report is a local start-up firm named as LMM Accounting. This is a small local firm that runs small business on a part time basis from home itself. The owner of the company now wants to expand its business to next level by employing employees on full time basis and also wants to run his business from some local business hub. The local business hubs are defined where number of small professional businesses runs their business from a single building complex and share things like Internet access and a receptionist. This report consists of details of the business that LMM Accounting needs to set up its new business.

The requirements that are needed for setting up new business for LMM Accounting are stated below:

• A computer system (A desktop, laptop or a notebook) with an operating system
• Two flat screen monitors
• Xero Accounting Solution for storing the data
• An office program for opening as well as saving the words files and the excel files
• A good laser color printer
• Some other backup solution storing more than 10Gbyte file
• Latest drivers for printer and the computer system
• Switches and Routers for internet connection

The computer system that is to be implemented for the LMM Accounting organization should have

• An input and an output port.
• There should be storage system in the computer for storing the daily files and documents in the computer itself.
• A latest version of original office that will have word and excel. The daily report will be saved on office (Chiarini and Vagnoni  2015).
• All the latest drives that will be needed for connecting the system with printer, and other hardware should be installed in the computer system.
• The computer system should be able to be connected with the switch or router which will be needed for establishing internet connection (Redpath and Gourdie 2017).

The requirements for the trusted accounts and the computerized system are pointed below:

• All the information regarding computerized accounting system should be recorded in compiled chronological order (Laudon and Laudon 2016)
• The system should not be able to delete all the trust ledger account until the balance of the account is zero
• The computerized accounting system should not be able to amend particulars of a transaction that is already recorded.
• Reconciliation statements should be printed as mentioned under 44 section (Wyslocka and Jelonek 2015)
• The trust transfer journals and money movement records should be printed first
• Payment cash books and trust account receipts should be printed monthly at the end of each month.

Name of the operating system	Vendor	Features	System Requirements	Office
Windows 10	Microsoft	1 Giga Hertz or faster processor (Chiarini and Vagnoni  2015)	1GB RAM, 16 GB Hard Disk	Microsoft Office 365 version 16
Ubuntu Linux	Cononical	700 Mega Hertz processor	512 MB RAM, 5 GB of hard-disk space	LibreOffice

Two computer hardware solutions for Windows 10 are

• If the computer system get over heated, it is needed to check if the fan of the system is working or not. The system needs to be restarted (Hitomi 2017).
• If the computer system runs too slow in windows 10, the user needs to check the startup item or the manufacturer columns for figuring that out.

Two computer hardware solutions for Ubuntu operating system are

• Dual booting can solve the problem of hardware in Ubuntu operating system.
• To avoid hardware detection in Ubuntu, there should be proper kernel module in the system.

Backup is required for LMM Accounting system fir keeping their data save. There are many software solutions that includes data compression, encryption, accessing of files and transaction mechanism. For creating backup, some solutions are VMWare vCenter Server, NAKIVO, CloudBery and many more (Campbell-Kelly 2018). And for software security solutions, the LMM accounting organization may take help of many security providers such as Comodo, Xirrus Inspector, Random.org or ESET.

• Adobe Flash Player should be installed and updated regularly. Xero Accounting system can only run on Operating system versions older than 8. Therefore, Windows 10 would be the best choice of operating system.
• Deletion of cookies and clearing of caches should be performed regularly for the new computer package. Clearing of the cache completely will delete all the stored content completely. All the browser that will be used for Xero Accounting system stores cache settings
• MS Office should be used with DOCX for fully customizing invoices

References:

Campbell-Kelly, M., 2018. Computer, Student Economy Edition: A History of the Information Machine. Routledge.

Chiarini, A. and Vagnoni, E., 2015. World-class manufacturing by Fiat. Comparison with Toyota production system from a strategic management, management accounting, operations management and performance measurement dimension. International Journal of Production Research, 53(2), pp.590-606.

Dimitriu, O. and Matei, M., 2014. A new paradigm for accounting through cloud computing. Procedia economics and finance, 15, pp.840-846.

Hitomi, K., 2017. Manufacturing Systems Engineering: A Unified Approach to Manufacturing Technology, Production Management and Industrial Economics. Routledge.

Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J.P., 2016. Management information system. Pearson Education India.

Redpath, J. and Gourdie, J., 2017. Issues in Converting to the Xero Accounting System Platform.

Vetter, A., 2017. Integrative Advisory Services: Expanding Your Accounting Services Beyond the Cloud. John Wiley & Sons.

Wyslocka, E. and Jelonek, D., 2015. Accounting in the Cloud Computing. Turkish Online Journal of Science & Technology, 5(4).

The training session that should be provided for downloading and installing latest drivers are:

• The downloader and the installer should be provided training about basic computer concepts.
• Knowledge on computer operating systems and hardware required to set up the computer package should be known.
• The person should be provided training on Microsoft Office application software like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. This is needed because the previous files that needs to be transferred to the new computer are all either word document or excel files (Laudon and Laudon 2016). This computer is about seven years old and is currently running Microsoft Windows XP operating system and Microsoft Office 2010.
• Training regarding the methods to print on A4 size paper should be given to the operators. All the functionalities of the printer should be well understood by the operator so that the quality of printing is high.
• Training should be given regarding the rules and policies required for the Xero Accounting systems. This is because the client will be purchasing just one computer, but he would like to run two good flat screen monitors (Wyslocka and Jelonek 2015). This computer system will be a standalone desktop or notebook computer
• Training on the features of Xero Accounting solution which will handle most of financial work that will forward the information for this package (Redpath and Gourdie 2017). The client will also require an office suite program that can open and save in the current word and excel format files.
• Training about the existing computer system that has a couple of hundred megabytes of word and excel data that will also need to be transferred to the new computer should be provided to the operators.

1. A CD is inserted that came with the printer. If the CD does not work then My Computer should be opened by double-clicking on the CD drive and then click on the Setup or Install file (Hitomi 2017). After the drivers are downloaded, the downloaded setup file should be run.
2. The installation wizard is followed ad once the instruction is followed, the software is installed.
3. The printer should be tested after installation to make sure that it is working properly.
4. If CD is not provided then the software has to be downloaded for the printer from the manufacturer’s printer driver page. After the drivers are downloaded, the files can be run to install the drivers.

There are two types of installation procedure of the computer. They are custom installation and upgrade installation.

1. The Windows Setup configurations should be specified in the Windows Setup Dialog boxes.
2. Answer files setting should be answered in the WindowsPE configuration (Campbell-Kelly 2018). This will help to configure the installation behavior as well as user experience
3. The disk is configured
4. The Windows image should be copied to the disk
5. Boot information should be prepared
6. In offlineServicing the file settings should be answered.
7. The oobeSystem configuration pass should be answered
8. The content file settings from the Oobe.xml file should be applied
9. As a final step the Windows Welcome is started.