The Bookkeepers Box is a small business that Michael Booker began ten years ago. It specialises in providing bookkeeping and accounting document templates for small and medium-sized businesses. These include invoices, order forms, accounting spreadsheets and policies and procedures designed for bookkeepers and accountants which they sell the rights to use for a one-off fee. They send the documents out via an online folder link. Michael has three part-time employees (Nick, Sandra and Latif). They all have similar job roles which is the creation of new templates, modifying and customising existing ones for clients and quality controlling each others work. Michael is responsible for the final review and sign off of each new piece of work. Currently, The Bookkeepers Box has created resources for more than 50 businesses, and the list is growing. Due to this growth, Sandra is being promoted to Quality Manager and will take over the responsibility of final quality checks while Michael focusses on the business side of things. She has told Michael that his system is a bit out-dated and she wants to explore new ways of working that will help the team to be more collaborative in relation to communication, file sharing and live collaboration on documents. The team currently collaborates via email a lot, phone calls and the occasional Zoom meeting once a month where they catch up about any issues, concerns or new ideas. The pandemic didnt alter their way of working as everyone has always worked remotely and the systems have been in place for the past few years. Each employee has their own personal Microsoft subscription that Michael reimburses them for. They all use their own personal computers or laptops which they are happy to do so. Latif has mentioned to Sandra that he feels there are way too many emails being sent around and wants to know if the team can start using some type of Instant Messaging or Chat system for internal communication rather than emails. He suggested switching from Zoom to Skype. Michael keeps all of his master files in a personal DropBox which he has a personal standard subscription for. He has been placing jobs lists and files needed in separate DropBox folders created for each employee. They then work on the files in the Cloud so data is not lost, and then save them and let Michael know when they are completed by updating their job sheet. Sandra now needs access to the Master folder. Michael was originally going to get Sandra a paid personal Dropbox subscription and share the master folder with her as she is currently only using the free version (which doesnt have enough space) as all of the employees have been using Dropbox like a mailbox system with Michael and files havent been staying in the employees folders once they are moved across to the Master folder. Michael is worried about giving everyone access to the Master folder in case someone deletes files and he doesnt know who it was. He trusts his employees but he doesnt know enough about how digital systems work to feel comfortable about everyone having access to everything. Then there are HR sensitive files and other confidential information about the business that he doesnt want everyone being able to access either including Sandra. The Dropbox folder currently stores about 200 gigs of data. Michael anticipates that his business will double the number of documents over the next three years. For this case study, you are going to play the role of Sandra, and it will be your job to research and recommend a digital technology solution that can make collaboration, file sharing and communication more efficient. The budget is small, and Michael has requested that the cost not exceed $1,500 per annum. The timeline is one month as Michael wants to have the new system up and running as soon as possible.

Page 2 He wants you to prepare a business case as a priority. Assume an average hourly wage of $50 per hour for employees and assume that two hours of training needs to occur with a specialist during the implementation phase which will cost $150.

Vision Statement To change the way bookkeepers and accountants manage their documentation.

Mission Statement To provide bookkeepers and accountants with a convenient and hassle-free solution to common business documentation and templates. Our values are: Core values underpinning our activities are: Ethical principles Sustainability Innovation Collaboration. Strategic Priorities To be well led, high performing, profitable and accountable. Ensure that all financial operations, performance indicators and results support the strategic direction of the business Identify new ways to do business and expand existing sources of revenue Achieve profits of at least 10% per annum. Current objectives Increase the marketing of our products and services offered to reach a larger target market Customer-centred practice, with a focus on meeting their documents template and policy needs Strengthen the skills of our people, to better support customers Drive innovation to better meet customer demands Empowering innovation and responsiveness to change Continuing to enhance the diversity of our workforce Exploring the use of technology to increase efficiency of our business.

Find digital technology solutions for The Bookkeeping Box. The following table summarises and shows a comparison of each digital technology option considered

	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3
Benefits What are the benefits of each digital technology option
Opportunities Identify at least two potential opportunities associated with each option
Disadvantages List the negative consequences of each option
Timescale Over what period will the costs be incurred and over what period will the benefits occur
Costs Summarise the costs and supporting assumptions associated with each option, including ongoing costs
Risks Provide a summary of the risks for each option that will potentially have an effect on the business
Business Requirements Does it meet all of the business requirements e.g. collaboration, file sharing, communication, budget, timeline, file storage size etc.