Axia Consultants RFI RFP Accounting: Software Efficiency

Important software efficiency criterion

Below is a list of the top 20 essential criterion for reliability, efficiency and ease of use for business software. If you are about to select new business software such as Accounting, BI, CRM, Payroll o

System reliability — good software should:

1. Be totally reliable and consistently perform the required software functions

2. Provide internal system controls to ensure accuracy, integrity and completeness eg data input and accuracy checks, validation, authorization

3. Maintain full records eg to:

· trace any transaction item

· provide a full audit trail

· provide a full record of all balances and transactions

4. Support manual control procedures eg control reports

5. Provide system security via multiple, configurable passwords / levels of security

6. Provide backup and restore facilities for programs and data

7. Support your organization, by running over your (chosen) network, database and hardware platform(s)

Operational efficiency — good software should:

8. Provide configurable automation of system and business workflow processes

9. Require data to be entered only once, with no re-keying

10. Have configurable parameter / table facilities

11. Provide easily configurable data import programs

12. Operate quickly and efficiently, with acceptable system performance

13. Enable real time and / or batch processing

14. Support the number of concurrent system users you require, at peak processing / enquiry times, with no degradation of system performance

15. Support your chosen operational set up eg whether using SaaS, running a Shared Service Centre, single or multiple sites

16. Have a vendor warranty as to the software specification and performance

17. Run on industry standard hardware

18. Run with hardware independent operating system

Ease of use — good software should be:

19. Easy to learn, with:

· standard system commands

· colour coding

· on-screen help facilities

· clearly written user / system documentation

20. Easy to use, with:

· full access to all system functions, subject to individual user security profile(s)

· straight forward system navigation

· short cut keys, pull down menus, scroll backwards and forwards

· tailorable menus, screens, reports

· multi-tasking ie multiple applications / windows open at a time

· on-screen prompts and messages that are clear and helpful eg requesting input, identifying input validation errors or processing errors