Research Question 3.

Xero’s pros and cons effect to the financial audit:

Computerized accounting software programs have made many

advancements over the years. The said advancements impacted the business
owners and accounting professionals in a way of making life easier and more
convenient in terms of tracking expenses, complying tax requirements and
evaluating company’s growth and success. Because this have become
common, there are both advantages and disadvantages to relying on a
computer accounting program.

Both advantages and disadvantages affect the financial audit. The pros of
using Xero accounting software aids in an effective and efficient way of
auditing. Those discussed above play an important role in the process of
financial audit. It aids in ease of the process to be undertaken, integrity of the
data as an output and of course, security features help in securing the data
inputs and outputs in a computerized financial audit. Such advantages help
bookkeepers and accountants perform the audit in a less hassle way and
avoid mistakes as possible. It prevents any fraudulent acts or errors that may
occur along the audit process. On the other hand, disadvantages can deter
the quality of the result. It established limitations of what the accountant can
fully do during the process. Due to the expensive price of software, it may add
up the cost incurred of the business. And because of restrictions, some
businesses may be limited to usage of the software and the credibility of the
results.

Xero can either save heaps of time, energy, and money in doing audit or it
can end up causing you more hassle than it’s worth. It may be a professional
double-entry accounting software at a very affordable price but consider all
the pros and cons of Xero before investing in it. Always ask guidance and
professional judgments from accountants in this field or to any Xero
consultants to evaluate and assess business' suitability of this software to
ensure realistic expectations to be met at the best of what the software can
offer to its users.

CONCLUSION

There are numerous accounting software choices for businesses

nowadays, and nearly all of these are utilizing the cloud space to be
successful. It’s becoming more prevalent as the software itself is cloud-based,
which is more efficient at helping users to stay organized while carrying out
standard bookkeeping functions and other accounting needs.In this paper, the
various aspects of the online accounting and the bookkeeping software called
Xero was analyzed and reviewed for understanding the accounting software.
The various features in terms of data security, data integrity and trail of
transactions were analyzed. Also, this study covers the advantages and
disadvantages of Xero accounting software and its effect in the financial audit.
This paper also focuses on the software's overall contribution in the
accounting system. Finally, the recommendation to improve the software has
been suggested for improvements in software.

Based on the foregoing discussions, the following were drawn: as to

the features of Xero accounting software in terms of: (a.) Data Security, with
its accreditation as ISO/IEC 27001:2013 compliant, and is known as the
world's top ISMS standard m, the users of Xero accounting software have the
assurance that usage of such will ensure security of inputs at all aspects. (b.)
Data integrity, the attributes of Xero accounting software such as the
upcoming Assurance Dashboard help advisors identify anomalies in a client’s
data. It also has tools like Find & Recode to help advisors fix mistakes quickly.
Thus, the software provides high integrity accounting, and protects financial
information via multiple layers of security. (c.) Trail of transaction, with the
software's recent upgrade, where its process includes the Get Accounting
Data and Journal Report features, thus providing visibility into this data,
making a system to precisely review historical security and operational
activity, improve the way data is kept, and secure authorized access to it. As
to the Advantages and Disadvantages of the software, Xero Accounting
Software is great for small to medium sized businesses as it can be accessed
by the user wherever they are and have access to the same financial data for
multiple users. Xero is a streamlined, cloud-based, and mobile-accessible
accounting software. Xero has robust features and strong accounting
capabilities, so it is no wonder that it is utilized by over a million businesses.
Since the cloud offers a particular platform for data up keeping, the data
update is always real time and guarantees numerous users working on a
project are always up to date and are supported. On the other hand, there are
also numbers of disadvantages mentioned in the discussions particular to its
processes, payments, and its support/ help centre, and other software
challenges. Thus, both advantages and disadvantages affect the financial
audit. The advantages of using Xero accounting software aids in an effective
and efficient way of auditing. It aids in ease of the process to be undertaken,
integrity of the data as an output and helps in securing the data inputs and
outputs in a computerized financial audit. On the other hand, disadvantages
can deter the quality of the result and limits what the accountant can fully do
during the process.

Xero is standing out for all the right reasons, and investing in it would be an
excellent decision on the part of any small to medium business. However,
though there is a lot to like about Xero, there are some factors to consider
before you select this accounting software for your business. It’s always smart
to research the pros and cons of any new software for your business that you
invest in, after all, the needs of a company will determine whether Xero is a
good idea and if it is best suited to the business.
RECOMMENDATION

The services that have been offered by Xero Accounting Software have won
hearts with its varied services. However, no system is perfect and some
upgrades are needed to make it way better. The current challenges and are
also considered as the drawbacks that are related with the software and its
organization are the price of the services, verification and authorization and
effective management of intermittent data connection. The pricing of the
services of Xero is a bit higher and needs modification.

Also, some cloud service providers face the issue of security. The verification
and authorization for service access are not exceptionally advanced and must
be upgraded and made multi level rather than single level. More so, the
intermittent internet connection makes the services difficult to succeed and
makes the system prone to mistakes. The company has to make the software
advance and improve and be more versatile.

In the light of the foregoing discussions and conclusions of the study,

particularly the software's drawbacks and its current challenges, researchers
outline the following recommendations: Competitive pricing or singular
payment option that helps in saving money for customers. This will not only
encourage the new consumers to go for cloud but will also deter lateral
movement. The security ought to be made multi-leveled. The multilevel
security will prevent miscreants from obtaining unauthorized access to the
system.

Moreover, updates should be incorporated to form the system more versatile

in case of intermittent connections. Xero has been criticized for the customer
support service they provide hence, researchers recommend the company on
having telephonic line which is truly fundamental for the company especially
that it deals money and accounting, not responding can be risky and can
cause issues to clients.
 Further researches are encouraged to be conducted that explore other
factors and features that will give advancement as to the services which Xero
accounting may give to its users. We encourage the development of future
studies on cloud accounting, not just theoretical, but also empirical, in order to
find out the real value of this solution. What will the future bring is essentially
dependent on the peoples’ understanding and acceptance of these
technologies (even in other fields, not only in IT). As the world’s famous writer
and thinker Spencer Johnson once said, “the only constant is change itself".

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