Question: User Acceptance Testing for New Accounting System

You are a member of the finance and accounting organization of a midsized sporting goods retailer. You are knowledgeable of all facets of your firm's current accounting systems and have been working in accounts receivable for the past three years. The firm is implementing a new cloud-based accounting system to handle general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and payroll tasks. You have been selected to plan and lead the user acceptance testing for the accounts receivable portion of the system. This will be a full-time activity for you over the next two-to-three months, and during that time, other employees will fill in to take care of most of your day-to-day responsibilities.

Review Questions

1. Outline the tasks that must be accomplished to successfully complete user acceptance testing.

2. Your normal work activities and responsibilities have not allowed you time to become familiar with this project and the new system and its capabilities. What actions would you take to get caught up quickly?

Critical Thinking Questions

1. How would you go about selecting and recruiting end users to participate in the user acceptance testing? How would you determine how many end users are needed for testing?

2. What do you think might be the biggest barriers to completion of the user acceptance testing in a timely manner?