The Current Problems With the Accounting Methods of Rodney Street Private Clinic

‘Rodney Street Clinic’ is a private clinic in which doctor’s see patients privately and for medical reports following injuries. Currently all fee notes for patients and solicitors are sent manually and are not registered on a computer system.

Problems with the accounting methods are that the accounts are hand-written, so not everybody may be able to read and understand writing, particularly during holidays and periods of sickness of the usual staff as the hand writing is not their own. Another problem is that all fee notes are stored in a filing cabinet. Due to this, fee notes are occasionally misfiled so it is time consuming for the staff to find them, and if a further copy is required, it has to be written out by hand again, rather than simply being photocopied. The final problem is that the system is not efficient, as documents have to be continually written up which is time consuming.

What is required is a computerised database, which is simple and efficient to use in order to control the accounts of the practice. Ideally it should also be able to flag up accounts, which are overdue, instead of the current system of having to do it “by hand”, which is time consuming and can be inefficient. The system should also be able to keep the details of fee notes sent on the database, so that if a repeat bill needs to be sent, it does not have to be typed out once more.

Video Tapes

‘Mega Movie Video Store’ is a video store, which both rents out videos and also now sells them too. Presently workers at the video store have found it difficult to remember which videos are in stock and where about they are located in the shop.

Problems with their organization is that they forget which videos are in stock and also they have no data to refer to in order to tell them this. A further problem is that they also forget where videos are located in the shop and they again have no data to refer to in order to tell them this and they rely purely on memory.

What they would like is a computerized database, which gives printouts that help them. This database would sort the files into alphabetic order and would give them the total number of videos in stock. This database would also tell them what format the items sold are in (video or DVD) and would state what shelf that particular item is located in. Ideally these printouts would be on A4 sheets and would be kept on the shop counter. Also, information on videos could be obtained from both Sunday papers and the Internet.

Second Hand Vehicles

‘Henry’s Handy Carwash’ is a firm that sells second hand vehicles. They want to advertise their firm and exactly what it does.

Problems with their organization methods at the moment are that they do not have a list of cars that are available to show their customers. This makes it more difficult and more time-consuming for them to let the customer know what is available in their store. Another problem is that they do not sort their cars by price. This therefore means that if a customer is looking for a car within a particular price range it would be time-consuming to find particular cars as it is not organized in a specific order. Further problems are that they do not have a way of sorting their cars by make, engine size or mileage. This means that if a customer was looking for a specific kind of car it would be time consuming for the staff to find that specific kind of car, which is not very professional and is disorganized.

What is required is a computerized database, which is able to list cars into various categories such as price, make, model, engine type, mileage and even colour.

Chosen Scenario

Rodney Street Private Clinic is the scenario that I have chosen to base my information technology coursework on. The reason for me choosing this scenario rather than one of the 2 others that I had available to me is that this option was more suitable and more appropriate for me to use.

The reason for this option being more suitable and appropriate for me is that I have a much better understanding of this scenario and I can relate to the problems involved a lot more than I possibly could with the others. Also this scenario is a lot closer to home than the others so it will be far easier to obtain information and evidence about it.

User requirements for chosen scenario

The current problems with the accounting methods of Rodney Street Private Clinic are:

* The accounts are hand-written, so not everybody may be able to read and understand writing, particularly during holidays and periods of sickness of the usual staff as the hand writing is not their own.

* All fee notes are stored in a filing cabinet. Due to this, fee notes are occasionally misfiled so it is time consuming for the staff to find them, and if a further copy is required, it has to be written out by hand again, rather than simply being printed as happens on computerized systems

* That the system is not efficient, as documents have to be continually written up which is time consuming.

What my user wants the system to do is:

* To design a computerised database, which is simple and efficient to use in order to control the accounts of the practice.

* The system should also be able to flag up accounts, which are overdue, instead of the current system of having to do it “by hand”, which is time consuming and can be inefficient.

* The system should also be able to keep the details of fee notes sent on the database, so that if a repeat bill needs to be sent, it does not have to be typed out once more.

System requirements for chosen scenario

In order to overcome the problems I am going to design a computerized system using such software programmes as Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. This is rather than using a manual system which uses filing cabinets. I will insert all data off written documents into computer database and then store them so that they are available to view at any time and as many copies as necessary may be printed.

I will use a font in my computerized database that is sufficiently big enough and clear enough for the user to read. This is better than having a manual system where handwriting is involved because there is then little to no chance that somebody may not be able to read the text properly.

This system should be both efficient and simple to use and it should be able to note on the database and let the user know if accounts are overdue and if fee notes need to be sent. Finally I will create a mail merge so that letters do not have to be continuously written or typed out time and time again.