Overview of project
Project I is an assignment for system development in a 4GL environment. Even though as an accountant we are not programmers or IT professionals, we should have some knowledge of how a system is built before we start using or auditing them.
Computer applications are usually made out of two components. The part seen by the user, such as menus, are called the front end. The part which does the number crunching etc. is called the back end. In modern computing the second part is usually handled by a DBMS.
This assignment is aimed to help you understand how data is stored and processed by a DBMS in the background.
If we understand what goes on behind the scenes, the audit will be much easier.
Using MS Access (a 4GL tool), in this project we will develop a system to create invoices and other reports a business might need.
PROBLEM
Assume that you are employed as an accountant by an online appliance wholesaler. On your first day to work, the owner complains about the billing and the difficulty he has in keeping up with invoices, receivables etc. and asks you to improve the situation.
You notice that the current orders recorded on an Excel spread sheet and invoices are manually prepared by using MS Word. A copy of a recent report on receivables is given in a pdf file (see consumerinvoices.pdf). A section of the spread sheet data is posted as "invoicedata.xls" (download this spread sheet onto your PC to work on it).
In your conversations with the accounting staff, you obtain the following information:
- After orders are taken, ordered items are combined and shipped together using FedEx and UPS to retail customers in different states.
- The shipping costs of each company is determined by the weight and the distance.
- Shipping fees are collected by the wholesaler and paid to the shipping company periodically. The owner explains the difficulty she faces in determining these payments. The shipping fees are $0.19 and $0.23 per pound/mile for FedEx and UPS respectively.
- Recommended Solution: You realize the existing system can easily be converted to a DBMS application and recommend the employment of MS Access as database management system.
Required:
Using the Excel data, create and populate a database in its 3rd Normal Form. Based on this data prepare an MS Access report as shown in the PDF file.
Attachment:- Invoices.rar