Accounting Software User Needs Checklist and Gathering Tool 2013

USER NEEDS CHECKLIST
for Back Office Accounting (GL, AR, AP)
PURPOSE OF THIS TOOL:

The "USER NEEDS CHECKLIST" worksheets have one goal, and that is to help you identify and document in detail ALL user needs caused by missing software functionality, bad or missing information, and other causes of wasted time & effort, within your current General Ledger (GL), Accounts Receivable (AR), and Accounts Payable (AP) systems.
This checklist provides facilities for you to enter any specific needs you are aware of, and it also presents you with a list of frequently encountered needs and problems to help you identify all user needs. Facilities are also provided to capture information regarding event frequency, how much time is lost on average, and other data needed to determine how much each issue is costing your organization on average. Once all problems are documented you will have a very good list of what a new system must do, and HOW MUCH money can be saved. This will help you in many ways. First, it enables you to accurately predict what the ROI & Payback Period will be with each proposed system. Second, it serves as the benchmark for what consitutes a "fully completed system". Third, it is the foundation of a thorough "post implementation" audit, a task which should always be performed and whose results should control payments to the vendor.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Each functional area, such as Accounts Payable, is represented by a worksheet Tab. When that Tab is selected the Worksheet for that application opens to display a GENERAL problem area that enables you to record YOUR SPECIFIC PROBLEMS. This is followed by a list of common, frequently encountered problems. These problems are grouped by Business Process name. WEEKLY TOTALS are calculated and displayed at the bottom of columns G up through P. Please Note that ROW 2 in each Worksheet contains online HELP for each of columns C through P. Just click on the cell in Row 2 for the column desired. COLUMNS C, D, and E allow you to record the specific business process and task the problem is encountered in, and the cause if known. COLUMNS F allows you to record the IMPORTANCE of a given problem. Is it a minor internal irritation or a major source of waste or customer problems?
COLUMNS G and H allow you to record the AVERAGE time lost or required for each occurrence of the problem. COLUMNS I, J, and K allow you to record specific causes of problems COLUMNS O allow you to record the AVERAGE HOURLY LABOR cost for the position affected, and is used to calculate the total labor cost per week in col P. COLUMNS N and P are calculated fields and require no input.
Copyright Infotivity Technologies, Inc.
This document is for internal use only
GENERAL LEDGER ISSUES GENERAL

The first three questions are general in nature. We want to know what you think about business processes & productivity. Which of your current tasks need to be improved? When you examine your current taks, please looking for indications of: * Redundant data entry * Time spent looking for documents * Inefficiencies in general * Staff dissatisfaction with a process * Unacceptable error rates * Rising administrative costs
Process Task Description
Enter the first task that you feel is more difficult than it should be. Please enter the cause of the difficulty in the "Cause" column: Enter the second task that you feel is more difficult than it should be. Please enter the cause of the difficulty in the "Cause" column: Enter the third task that you feel is more difficult than it should be. Please enter the cause of the difficulty in the "Cause" column:
GL ACCOUNT FILE MAINTENANCE

Problems caused by the need to ADD a new GL account or sub-account: Problems caused by the need to CHANGE a GL account or sub-account:
Problems caused by the need to DELETE a GL account or sub-account:
Problems caused by the need to set-up and track accounting Period specific budget amounts for a given GL account:
GENERAL JOURNAL ENTRIES

Problems caused by the need to process a transaction for a PRIOR period: Problems caused by the need to make entries to FUTURE Periods: Problems caused by the need to make monthly RECURRING entries: Problems caused by the need to make Automatic REVERSING entries: Problems caused by the need to automatically process RECURRING entries that have a variable amout: Problems caused by entries mistakenly made to a prior period:
REPORTING & INQUIRY ISSUES

Problems or Time Lost trying to view GL Account data for a specific Source, Date, Month, or range of Periods: Problems or Time Lost trying to find and view the ORIGINAL SOURCE document for a specific entry to a given GL account: Problems and/or Time Lost when preparing a Trial Balance: Problems and/or Time Lost when preparing Financial Statements: List those reports and/or inquiries needed on a regular basis that are NOT available in the current system: How are those reports and/or inquiries being created right now? How much time is spent creating those reports and/or inquiries?
Problems caused by the need to generate reports and/or on-screen Inquiries sorted by one or more of the following: Balance Only, Summary, or Detail: Starting & Ending Account: Starting & Ending Date Starting & Ending Source Starting & Ending Period Starting & Ending Sub-Account Other criteria
OTHER REPORTING OR INQUIRY TASKS

Enter the first reporting/inquiry task that you feel is more difficult than it should be. Please enter the cause of the difficulty in the "Cause" column:
Enter the second reporting/inquiry task that you feel is more difficult than it should be. Please enter the cause of the difficulty in the "Cause" column:
Enter the third reporting/inquiry task that you feel is more difficult than it should be. Please enter the cause of the difficulty in the "Cause" column:
Infotivity Technologies, Inc.
Cause (if known)
Imp. Level
Avg Minutes Lost per Incident
Avg # Incidents per week
Caused by LACK of Functionality
Caused by System being DOWN
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
N N N N N
N N N N N
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
N N N N N
N N N N N
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
N N N N N N N
N N N N N N N
0.0
0.0
0.0
Weekly Total:
0.00
0.00
0.00
Caused by Waiting for Information
Avg TIME Lost per Week, in hours
Avg LABOR Cost/Hour
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N N N N
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N N N N
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N N N N N N
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 20.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Weekly Total:
0.00
Weekly Total:
0.00
HOURS:
LABOR:
LABOR Cost/Week
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
$0.00
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE ISSUES GENERAL

The first three questions are general in nature. We want to know what you think about business processes & productivity. Which of your current tasks need to be improved? When you examine your current taks, please looking for indications of: * Redundant data entry * Time spent looking for documents * Inefficiencies in general * Staff dissatisfaction with a process * Unacceptable error rates * Rising administrative costs
Process
CUSTOMER MASTER FILE MAINTENANCE

Problems caused by the need to retrieve customer information without knowing the Customer ID Code or Number: Problems caused by the need to import customer information from a web site: Problems caused by the need to manage a customer's branch locations.
Problems caused by the need to manage the a customer's branch location contact information Problems caused by the need to run reports or view information sorted by customer type Problems caused by the need to report or view information sorted by customer location
SALES RETURN PROCESSING

Problems caused by the need to Prepare a Return Material Authorization (RMA), i.e., authorizing the customer to RETURN a product. Process a customer RETURN with full distributions being made to GL, AR, and Inventory: Process a customer RETURN of a product purchased in a prior month with full distributions being made to GL, AR, and Inventory: Show open RMAs on the AR Aging Reports: Show open RMAs on the RMAs Outstanding Reports: Show open RMAs on the Receivers Incoming Shipments Report:

List those reports and/or inquiries needed on a regular basis that are NOT available in the current system: How are those reports and/or inquiries being created right now? How much time is spent creating those reports and/or inquiries? Problems caused by the need to generate reports and/or on-screen Inquiries sorted by one or more of the following: Customer Type: Transaction Type:
Starting & Ending Date Starting & Ending Transaction Number Starting & Ending Customer Number Return Status Other criteria How much time is lost trying to identify all the payments, credits, and debits that have been applied to a specific customer invoice?

Task Description
Cause (if known)
Imp. Level
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0 0
0.0 0.0
0 0 0 0 0
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Weekly Total:
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N
N N
N N
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N N
N N N
N N N
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N N
N N N
N N N
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N
N N
N N
0.00 0.00
N N N N N N
N N N N N N
N N N N N N
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Weekly Total:
0.00 0.00 0.00
HOURS:
0.00
Avg LABOR Cost/Hour
LABOR Cost/Week
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
32.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Weekly Total: LABOR:

$0.00
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE ISSUES GENERAL

The first three questions are general in nature. We want to know what you think about business processes & productivity. Which of your current tasks need to be improved? When you examine your current taks, please looking for indications of: * Redundant data entry Time spent looking for documents * Inefficiencies in general * Staff dissatisfaction with a process * Unacceptable error rates Rising administrative costs *
Process
VENDOR MASTER FILE MAINTENANCE

Problems caused by the need to retrieve vendor information without knowing the Vendor ID Code or Number: Problems caused by the need to run reports or view information sorted by Vendor type Problems caused by the need to report or view information sorted by Vendor location
AP VOUCHER PROCESSING
Problems encountered when processing REGULAR Vouchers:
Problems encountered when processing ADJUSTING Vouchers: Problems encountered when processing FREIGHT Vouchers: Problems encountered when processing CREDIT Vouchers: Problems encountered when processing NONAP Vouchers: Problems encountered trying to make distributions to MULTIPLE GL Accounts and/or COST CENTERS when processing any of the above voucher types:
CHECK RECONCILIATION
How much time is lost trying to reconcile all checking accounts? How much time would be saved if checks did NOT have to be manually sorted prior to reconciliation?
PURCHASE RETURN PROCESSING

Problems caused by the need to Prepare a Return Material Authorization (RMA), i.e., authorizing the customer to RETURN a product. Process a customer RETURN with full distributions being made to GL, AR, and Inventory: Process a customer RETURN of a product purchased in a prior month with full distributions being made to GL, AR, and Inventory: Show open RMAs on the AP Aging Reports:

List those reports and/or inquiries needed on a regular basis that are NOT available in the current system: How are those reports and/or inquiries being created right now? How much time is spent creating those reports and/or inquiries?
Problems caused by the need to generate reports and/or on-screen Inquiries sorted by one or more of the following: Vendor Type: Transaction Type: Starting & Ending Date Starting & Ending Transaction Number Starting & Ending Vendor Starting & Ending Vendor Number Return Status Other criteria How much time is lost trying to identify all the payments, credits, and debits that have been applied to a specific vendor invoice?

Task Description
Cause (if known)
Imp. Level
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Weekly Total:
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N
N N
N N
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N N N N
N N N N N
N N N N N
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N
N N
N N
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N
N N
N N
0.00
0.00
0.00
N N
N N
N N
0.00
0.00
N N N N N N N N N
N N N N N N N N N
N N N N N N N N N
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Weekly Total:
0.00 0.00 0.00
HOURS:
0.00
Avg LABOR Cost/Hour
LABOR Cost/Week
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Weekly Total: LABOR:

$0.00
OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE
SAVING CHECKLISTS:
Non-Mfg ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING - Identify problems in all organization processes for GL, AR, AP, Payroll, Purchasing, Inventory, Warehouse Management, Sales Order Processing, Job Cost, Quote Preparation, Point of Sale (POS), Time and Attendance (T&A)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL TEMPLATES:

RFP MASTER TEMPLATE LIST - Choose from a wide variety of Ready-to-Use RFPs and matching Vendor RFP Response (Proposal) evaluation matrices.
DEMONSTRATION SCRIPTS:
SYSTEM DEMO SCRIPT LIST - Choose from a wide variety of software demonstration scripts with full response scoring functions.
Copyright Infotivity Technologies, Inc.

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USER NEEDS CHECKLIST

for Back Office Accounting (GL, AR, AP)

PURPOSE OF THIS TOOL:

Copyright Infotivity Technologies, Inc.

This document is for internal use only

GENERAL LEDGER ISSUES GENERAL

GL ACCOUNT FILE MAINTENANCE

Problems caused by the need to DELETE a GL account or sub-account:

GENERAL JOURNAL ENTRIES

REPORTING & INQUIRY ISSUES

OTHER REPORTING OR INQUIRY TASKS

Infotivity Technologies, Inc.

Cause (if known)

Avg Minutes Lost per Incident

Avg # Incidents per week

Caused by LACK of Functionality

Caused by System being DOWN

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Caused by Waiting for Information

Avg TIME Lost per Week, in hours

Avg LABOR Cost/Hour

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 20.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE ISSUES GENERAL

CUSTOMER MASTER FILE MAINTENANCE

SALES RETURN PROCESSING

REPORTING & INQUIRY ISSUES

OTHER REPORTING OR INQUIRY TASKS

Infotivity Technologies, Inc.

Cause (if known)

Avg Minutes Lost per Incident

Avg # Incidents per week

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Caused by LACK of Functionality

Caused by System being DOWN

Caused by Waiting for Information

Avg TIME Lost per Week, in hours

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Avg LABOR Cost/Hour

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Weekly Total: LABOR:

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE ISSUES GENERAL

VENDOR MASTER FILE MAINTENANCE

PURCHASE RETURN PROCESSING

REPORTING & INQUIRY ISSUES

OTHER REPORTING OR INQUIRY TASKS

Infotivity Technologies, Inc.

Cause (if known)

Avg Minutes Lost per Incident

Avg # Incidents per week

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Caused by LACK of Functionality

Caused by System being DOWN

Caused by Waiting for Information

Avg TIME Lost per Week, in hours

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Avg LABOR Cost/Hour

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Weekly Total: LABOR:

Infotivity Technologies, Inc.

OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE