Case Study 1. Direct-Effect

Case Study 1

The company was an agency for opera singers. Before Diana was appointed, the accounts were done by a bookkeeper from the accountants on a monthly basis. This was not ideal as queries from clients could frequently not be responded to in-house. The methods for charging on disbursements as well as dealing with VAT on disbursements led to many errors on clients' invoices. Staff used PCs for word-processing, but these were stand alone machines, and there was no sharing of files. This meant that there was minimal backing up of information, and client files were not all held together.

Diana oversaw the purchase and installation of a networked computer system, with a central file server. Diana then implemented a computerised accounts system, which used control accounts for each client within the nominal ledger to hold costs for recharging. Diana introduced the production of monthly management accounts, so that the directors could monitor the performance of the company.

Diana then oversaw the recruitment of an in-house accounts and IT manager, and trained him up fully on all the new systems. The accountants enjoyed a better relationship with their client as their bookkeeper was no longer blamed for the poor situation that had developed, and they were able to audit and advise more effectively thanks to the improved information from the computerised system.