The aim of the thesis is to assess the quality of outputs accounting agenda processing in specific programs to handle the needs of accounting entities. On the market there are countless different accounting software, although to some extent differ in several criteria. Here are two selected published accounting software, which is very different from each other. Accounting software for each entity and a necessary part of the tool for processing of accounting and the right choice is very difficult.

The purpose of this research is to propose metrics to evaluate the user interface factors that impact on the user experience of Software Accounting Applications (SAAs) used to support the accounting business activities in Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) operating in developing countries. The research commences by outlining the conceptual background that introduces the study. In the introductory chapter, the problems together with the objectives that motivate the significance of the study are presented. In the same chapter, the overall research focus and how each of the research questions are treated to accomplish the intended goals are defined. In Chapter 2, the typical accounting business activities for SMMEs operating in developing countries are investigated. Findings from the preliminary survey revealed that Pastel accounting is the commonly used SMME accounting application used in developing countries. Inventory management, cash book processing, preparation of financial statements, customer and supplier documents processing are revealed as the most prevalent SMME accounting activities. This chapter highlights the problems that inhibit the implementation and the delivery of full benefits of using these SAAs. After indentifying the SAA problems, user experience aspects of the SAA are addressed in Chapter 3. User experience (UX) is defined and existing UX evaluation criteria are discussed. The findings form the basis for choosing the applicable criteria for evaluating the User Interface (UI) factors impacting on the UX of Pastel accounting. The proposed user experience evaluation metrics are described in Chapter 4. A discussion on how the metrics are implemented and what UI aspect they measure is presented. The research design and methodology followed is discussed in Chapter 5. The chapter outlines the possible research philosophy, strategy, methods and data collecting methods. A choice is made about the appropriate approach to answer the stated research questions to satisfy the intended overall research objective. A phenomenologist, qualitative inductive approach is adopted in the study. A contextual inquiry case-study strategy is chosen as applicable to this research. Data is collected using expert reviews, user observation and subjective questionnaires. After the choice of the research techniques, the case study results are presented and analysed in Chapter 6. It is found that Pastel UI is attractive and the users are happy with the visual design of the application. The major factors that impact on Pastel accounting are its lack of 4 feedback and its complexity which makes it difficult for first time users to use the application and the paucity of the help function. After the observed findings, the conclusions and recommendations of the research are presented in Chapter 7. It has been concluded that Pastel accounting UI fails to captivate a positive user experience for first-time users; the users do not find the expected help from the Help function and are often left wondering about the status of the system and the outcome of their actions on a task. Recommendations on how designers would make Pastel user interface more helpful, easy to use, and provide adequate feedback are presented in Chapter 7.

An essential task of university administration is to monitor the financial position of its auxiliary enterprises. This is an ill-defined and complex task which often requires more administrative time and information than is available. In order to perform this task in an adequate manner a large amount of expertise is required to: (1) determine what constitutes reasonable performance, (2) define unacceptable levels of performance, and (3) suggest courses of action which will alleviate an unacceptable situation. Thorough analysis requires a substantial amount of an expert’s time. The purpose of this research is to explore the opportunities for the enhancement of the financial analysis of auxiliary enterprises through the use of expert systems. The research has included: (1) a comprehensive review of analytical techniques that can be used in financial position analysis, (2) a determination of the the applicability of such techniques to auxiliary enterprises, and (3) an assessment of their amenability to expert system development. As a part of the above described research, an expert system prototype was developed which addresses several of the above issues for one auxiliary enterprise at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. It integrates the knowledge of an expert with both accounting data from the VPI & SU accounting system and other types of data from the auxiliary enterprise operation. The system provides a comprehensive, systematic analysis of the financial position of the Tailor Shop at VPI & SU. This analysis is performed in much less time than would be required by an expert. As a result of the research conducted, it has been concluded that building such a system is possible and it can provide significant benefits to a user. However, financial position analysis requires a substantial amount of data and numerical calculations, both of which require large amounts of computer memory and computations. Therefore, designing an expert system to efficiently perform this task requires the use of a package or a language that efficiently utilizes computer memory and CPU. / Ph. D.

In this research the relationships between user information satisfaction (UIS) and user productivity were examined. Two users groups were used to test the following hypotheses: H₁_A: There is no relationship between UIS and perceptions of decision-making quality for academic department heads. H₁_B: There is no relationship between UIS and perceptions of decision-making quality for managers within the controller’s office. H₂: There is no relationship between UIS and objectively measured productivity for managers within the controller’s office. H₃: There is no relationship between UIS and a user’s length of experience with a system. H₄_A: There is no relationship between UIS and a user’s age. H₄_B: There is no relationship between UIS and a user’s sex. H₄_C: There is no relationship between UIS and a user’s level of education. Data utilized in testing the hypotheses were collected with a packet of six questionnaires mailed to the controllers of 100 universities. Usable responses were obtained from 107 of 300 controller’s office managers and 77 of 300 academic users. H₁_A, H₁_B and H₂ were tested with canonical correlation analysis. H₃, H₄_A, H₄_B and H₄_C were tested with multiple regression. The findings can be summarized as follows: 1. Satisfaction with computer processing was correlated with making better operating budget decisions for both groups and helping academic users track activities in research, grant and designated gift accounts. 2. Satisfaction with system related problem finding was correlated with elimination of steps and making jobs easier for managers, and with helping academic users track activity in research accounts, and to feel they have benefited overall from FRS. 3. Satisfaction with the linear combination of inputs and problem finding was correlated with financial transactions per full time employee equivalents (FTE), late internal reports per total internal reports and number of ledger accounts per FTE. 4. More frequent users of FRS were more satisfied. Additionally, UIS and mandatory system usage were positively correlated. 5. UIS and sex were moderately correlated. Specifically, males within the academic group were less satisfied with FRS than the females surveyed. / Ph. D.

Submitted by Elba Lopes (elba.lopes@fecap.br) on 2017-04-04T21:36:02Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Paulo Rog??rio Gomes Gon??alves.pdf: 5642577 bytes, checksum: deb01b20b62885c60e71197343469d33 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-04T21:36:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Paulo Rog??rio Gomes Gon??alves.pdf: 5642577 bytes, checksum: deb01b20b62885c60e71197343469d33 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-17 / This study sought to investigate how the strategic positioning of Accounting Organizations with the implementation of the Public Digital Bookkeeping System - SPED. For this carried out a quantitative classification, descriptive and survey, in which a questionnaire was applied to obtain the data. The results showed that 83.30% of survey participants accounting organizations opted for the generic strategy of "differentiation" (PORTER, 2004), that is, they positioned themselves in order to provide services with higher quality and invest in their organizational structures, seeking to offer superior benefits those of competitors. / Este trabalho procurou investigar qual o posicionamento estrat??gico das organiza????es cont??beis com a implanta????o do Sistema P??blico de Escritura????o Digital - SPED. Para isso realizou-se uma pesquisa de classifica????o quantitativa, descritiva e de levantamento (survey), no qual foi aplicado um question??rio para a obten????o dos dados. Os resultados demonstraram que 83,30% das organiza????es cont??beis participantes da pesquisa optaram pela estrat??gia gen??rica de "Diferencia????o" (PORTER, 2004), ou seja, se posicionaram visando prestar servi??os com maior qualidade e investir nas suas estruturas organizacionais, procurando oferecer benef??cios superiores aos dos concorrentes.