Please see attached. The directions for assignment is in detail within the file.

ACCT 326 Writing Assignment #2 OVERVIEW OF PROJECT This project requires you to evaluate a PC-based accounting system to see how the system handles recording transactions, collecting data, and generating reports and information. The accounting system you use is up to you. Several suggestions are given below. STEP 1. SELECT A SOFTWARE PACKAGE You may do this one of several ways. 1. Use Sage 50. You can download the software from the following link (http:/a.sage.com/us/about-us/education#student) 2. Use QuickBooks. You can download a trial version of the software from the following link (http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/ProductUpdates.aspx) 3. Select some other accounting software to use for the project. If you choose to use a product besides Sage or QuickBooks, it is recommended that you visit the product's web site and download a trial version or request that a trial version be sent to you via email. STEP 2. EXPLORE THE SOFTWARE Check to see if the application has a tutorial that demonstrates some of the features of the application, and if so, review the tutorial. Review any online documentation regarding how to use the application. STEP 3. TRY OUT THE SOFTWARE USING A SAMPLE COMPANY 1. The application you select should have a sample company that you can play around with. If it does not, you may need to set up a sample company, but this would be very unusual. 2. Once you are in your sample company, you must explore the sample company to determine how you can do the following. 1. Revenue Cycle (e.g. sales, collections, billing) How can you create and maintain customers? How can you create customer invoices? How can you apply customer payments? What reports can you run in order to provide you with information regarding key revenue cycle information - sales, accounts receivable, cash? 2. Expenditure Cycle (e.g. purchasing, invoicing / payments) How can you create and maintain vendors? How can you create and maintain purchases? How can you generate payments to vendors? What reports can you run in order to provide you with information regarding key expenditure cycle information - purchases, inventory, cash? STEP 4. DOCUMENT YOUR RESULTS Once you have completed your evaluation, you will need to develop a report using the following layout. The details of the report are outlined below. Make sure that you label your sections as noted below: Section I: Overview Provide a general overview of the accounting system that you are evaluating. Make sure the overview provides the reader with a general understanding of the application, including the projected purchase price and any special hardware and/or software requirements. This section should not exceed 2 pages double-spaced or 1 page single-spaced. Section II: Transactional Processing Describe how the system selected handles processing the accounting transactions and recording business activities for the revenue & expenditure transaction cycles. You should provide at least one detailed example of how one would record a specific accounting transaction/ business activity for each of the transaction cycles below. Address the following questions in this section of the report. In completing this section, you should not exceed 2 pages double-spaced or 1 page singlespaced for each transaction cycle (e.g., Revenue, Expenditure) . Section III: Your Final Thoughts In this section, you will summarize your final thoughts on the application you chose. You should include why you selected the application and how it easy or hard it will be for accountants to use it. This section should not exceed 2 pages double-spaced or 1 page single-spaced. Section IV : Appendix (no minimum page limit; appendix can be provided as an attachment to your paper) In the section, you will need to provide at least one sample report & one screen print (one from each of the transaction cycles) that will support the fact that you used and tested the system. Below each screen, provide a quick summary of the illustration Your response should not generally exceed the recommended page length for each section (excluding Section IV). Your page count does not include such items as cover page, reference page, and appendix, if provided. You will need to include at least two references and at least two in-text citations to support your paper. These references must be related directly to the topics covered in the paper. Other formatting specifics regarding this paper include: - Headings: You will need to use headings (short, brief, and centered) to separate each area of your paper. Your headings should have an appropriate title such as Final Thoughts instead of Part III. - Margins & Font Sizes: Use standard margins (minimum .5"; maximum 1.5") and standard font size (minimum 10 point; maximum 12 point) in your paper. - Writing Style: APA is the preferred writing style, but you can choose any appropriate writing style (e.g. MLA), except that all references are to be formatted via APA. Please consult the UMUC Effective Writing Center (http://www.umuc.edu/writingcenter/index.cfm) for assistance regarding choice of styles and formatting of references via APA