Assignment brief
Unit number and title
Unit 40 – Computer Applications for Financial Management
Qualification
BTec Extended National Diploma in Business – QCF Level 3
Start date
September 2011
Deadline
March 2012
Assessor
Judith Jones
Assignment title
The uses of computer applications in financial management
The purpose of this assignment is to:
provide a framework within which the learner should:
 Be able to use software to record accounting information.
 Be able to produce information abstracted from computerised accounting software.
 Be able to analyse information from software applications.
 Be able to use computer software to present and communicate financial information.
Scenario:
You are employed by a small company called Blakes Wholesale as a finance clerk and they are looking into
the various computer applications available to manage their finances. You will need to understand the use
of accounting software to record and analyse financial information. You will be able to understand the
Sage accounting package and an exam will be taken as evidence for this knowledge. A report should be
conducted to compare the different types of accounting software available for financial management and
advice and information given to the managers on which would be the best for the business.
Task 1
The information, for a month, provided to you for Blakes Wholesale should be entered into the three
different software packages being looked at, Access – Database, Excell – Spreadsheets and Sage –
Accounting software. You will then need to produce printouts and reports for comparison. These will
provide evidence of recording three accounting
transactions using a computerised accounting system, producing information abstracted from a
computerised accounting system in a suitable format and producing analytical summaries of the
information held on a computerised accounting system
This provides evidence for P1, P2 and P3
Task 2
With the results from the first three pass criteria compare the types of software used to record accounting
information. This should an explanation of how computerised accounting systems produce summaries and
analysis of accounting information. This should include a full comparison of the printouts accessed for
expenses; income; assets; liabilities; cash; bank; invoices; credit notes; customer accounts; supplier
accounts; trial balance; profit and loss account; balance sheet; budget reports
This provides evidence for M1 and M2
Task 3
All the information collected should be used to assess the value to an organisation of using software
for financial transactions. You should look at how these results can be used in the interpretation of final
accounts (profitability, liquidity, efficiency); departmental and branch comparisons; actual currency and
percentage terms
This provides evidence for D1
Task 4
You should Be able to use computer software to present and communicate financial information which
would include: report; presentation; tables; charts; graphs; digital images; sounds; visual appeal, eg font
colour, style, size; volume of information to Interested parties who may be expert or inexpert report the
results of information held on a computerised accounting system to interested parties compare the
presentation features of the software used to communicate financial information. evaluate the
effectiveness of the presentation features of software used to communicate financial information.
This provides evidence for P4, M3 and D2
Sources of information
Textbooks
Brammer J, Cox D, Fardon M and Penning A – Active Accounting (Osborne Books, 2002) ISBN 1872962378
Cox D and Fardon M – Accounting (Osborne Books, 1998) ISBN 1872962289
Cox D and Fardon M – Foundation Accounting Tutorial (Osborne Books, 2003) ISBN 1872962815
Fardon M – Computer Accounting (Osborne Books, 2002) ISBN 1872962270
Journals
Accountancy (CCH)
Accountancy Age (VNU Business Publications)
Accounting Technician (Centurion Publishing Group)
PQ Magazine (PQ Publishing)
Websites
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/default.stm The business pages of the BBC website
http://office.microsoft.com/training Microsoft’s website for Office software, which includes training
www.accountancyage.com Accountancy news and information
www.accountingtechnician.co.uk Association of Accounting Technicians Online
www.accountingweb.co.uk Accounting website with useful articles and information about the use of IT in
accounting
www.bized.ac.uk Educational website with information about using spreadsheets in accounting
www.bized.co.uk A business education resource site
www.bizhelp24.com/index.php Help and support for businesses
www.businesslink.gov.uk Business guidance for businesses, including accounting
www.statistics.gov.uk UK Government statistics, including Retail Prices Index
www.thetimes100.co.uk The Times 100 case studies
www.tutor2u.net Educational website for business and economics
www.wikipedia.org Community editable encyclopaedia
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