Computer Information System

Computer Information System Brief

Kudler Fine Foods operates in La Jolla, Del Mar, and Encinitas California providing gourmet meats, cheese, produce, wine, and deserts to the community. Kudler Fine Foods offers its customers a selection of fine foods from around the world as the company takes pride in providing the finest epicurean delights (Apollo Group, Inc., 2013).

The review of Kudler Fine Foods determined the company's needs to strengthen accounting practices and fix the technological weaknesses found with the technology and computer systems. This brief will discuss the key business and accounting information needs strengths and weaknesses of Kudler's current computer system and technology use, explain the opportunities Kudler has in terms of technology and provide suggestions, and evaluate the threats Kudler may encounter with the current systems.

Computer System

Kudler Fine Foods success depends on the systems three stores have in place. As each store sells meat, bakes goods, produce, cheese, wine, and dairy products, the computer system must allow managers and employees of the company to track inventory, sales, spoilage, and consumer purchasing trends.

The current computer system in each store is accessible 24 hours a day, and the owner is responsible for training the employees to ensure each employee understands the daily operating system. The decision to have the owner train the employees strengthens each employee to have the proper understanding of the computer system resulting in the daily operations therefore, continuing to run smoothly during heavy traffic times and future growth. Management of Kudler Fine Foods needs to remember employee training is important as the company advances and implements new technology or technological advancements to the systems already in place.

Accounting Data and Technology

Kudler Fine Food's provides a variety of food selections resulting in products accounted for daily. Currently, the data and inventory is accounted for with the point of sale (POS) terminals in the stores. The use of POS terminals to complete the sale of customer's purchases, records the sale of each item, the quantity sold, taxes, prices, and the transaction total. The terminals capture the data of each transaction and rely on servers or other computers to continue the transaction processing (O'Brien & Marakas, 2008).

The current system in place provides various functions for managers to run sales reports are beneficial for ordering inventory and determining what products may not be as popular as others. The downside of the current system, it does not do its job of meeting the needs of the company because the system is outdated. The growth of Kudler Fine Foods to three stores cannot be handled by the POS system as the system cannot accommodate the owner's needs for present and future transactions and mapping. The POS system in each store does not communicate with one another resulting in more work for managers therefore, the owner have to travel to the stores to ensure the stores employees and managers are meeting the needs of the owners and company. Each POS system is a stand-alone system providing essential information in the store and does not allow the owner to access inventory, sales information, and accounting information remotely.

Therefore, to maintain a successful business and keep up with customer demands and growth, Kudler Fine Foods must update the POS system so that it can be accessed reportedly and so that each store can talk to each other to reduce spoilage, increase sales, and track trends more easily.

Security

The possibility of expansion is threatened because of the out-of-date POS system and lack of security measures taken by the company. Kudler's current system is password protected and has the capability to be backed up; however, financial information is still in jeopardy. The implementation of a new POS system or accounting system can easily remedy the security situation by adding more security and protection to the financial data, accounting data, and transaction data.

Another area of concern is customer credit card information. Kudler Fine Foods needs to implement additional security to address the risk of the possibility of employees or outside sources obtaining customer credit card and checking information. To ensure customers information is kept private and secure, the company should implement employee passwords, employee identification numbers, restrict the number of employees allowed to access specific information and transactions, and place specific barriers on Internet access. Limiting employee's Internet access