ACCTING2503 · Accounting Systems And Analytics
Introduction to Systems Development & Systems Analysis
This chapter is the front half of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) — the structured, repeatable process organisations follow to build or replace an accounting information system. You learn the five SDLC phases (with planning and behavioural change running through all of them), how projects are planned with PERT and Gantt charts, how a build is screened on the five feasibilities (TELOS), how to manage the human resistance to change, and what happens in phase one — systems analysis, where the accountant defines information and control requirements. It is examinable in Test 1 and is a favourite essay-plan and case topic in the closed-book final.
What this chapter covers
- 011. Why organisations develop new systems — user/business change, technology, process improvement, competitive advantage, ageing systems and integration
- 022. The SDLC — five phases: systems analysis, conceptual design, physical design, implementation & conversion, operations & maintenance
- 033. Two whole-life-cycle concerns — planning and managing the behavioural aspects of change run through every phase, they are not steps
- 044. Players in the SDLC — steering committee, project team, systems analysts (pivotal), programmers, management and users
- 055. Two plans — master plan (steering committee, long-range) vs project-development plan (project team, one build)
- 066. Planning tools — PERT (critical path = longest path = minimum duration) and Gantt charts (schedule and progress)
- 077. Feasibility (TELOS) — Technical, Economic, Legal, Operational, Scheduling; plus payback, NPV and IRR for the economic test
- 088. Behavioural aspects — why people resist, the three forms (aggression, projection, avoidance) and how to prevent resistance
- 099. Systems analysis — five steps, data-gathering methods, the three go/no-go points and the accountant's role
PERT: find the critical path and the minimum project duration
- +1List the complete paths through the network. There are two routes from start to finish: A then B then D, and A then C then E.
- +1Total the duration of each path. A-B-D = 3 + 4 + 5 = 12 weeks; A-C-E = 3 + 2 + 3 = 8 weeks.
- +1The critical path is the LONGEST path, because every activity on it must finish before the project can. So the critical path is A-B-D = 12 weeks, which is the minimum time the whole project can take.
- +1The other path A-C-E needs only 8 weeks, so it carries 12 - 8 = 4 weeks of slack. A delay on B or D pushes the finish date; a delay on C or E of up to 4 weeks does not.
Key terms
- Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
- The five-phase framework for building or replacing a system: systems analysis, conceptual design, physical design, implementation & conversion, and operations & maintenance.
- Systems analyst
- The pivotal SDLC role — determines the organisation's information needs and writes the specifications that programmers build the software from.
- Master plan vs project-development plan
- The master plan is the steering committee's long-range, prioritised list of all projects; the project-development plan is the project team's people, hardware, software and budget for one build.
- PERT and the critical path
- PERT models a project as a network of timed activities; the critical path is the longest-duration route, and its length is the minimum time the whole project can take.
- Gantt chart
- A horizontal bar chart with activities down the left and time across the top — good for showing the schedule and tracking progress, but weak at showing dependencies.
- Feasibility (TELOS)
- The five dimensions assessed at each go/no-go point — Technical, Economic, Legal, Operational and Scheduling; a positive NPV alone is not feasibility.
- Payback, NPV and IRR
- The economic-feasibility tests — payback = cost / annual net savings; NPV = present value of benefits minus cost (positive = feasible); IRR = the rate giving NPV = 0, compared to a hurdle rate.
- Resistance (aggression, projection, avoidance)
- The three behavioural forms of resistance to change — attacking or sabotaging the system, blaming it for unrelated problems, and ignoring it in the hope it goes away.
Introduction to Systems Development & Systems Analysis FAQ
Is the critical path the longest or the shortest path?
The longest. Every activity on the critical path must finish before the project can, so its total duration is the minimum time the whole project can take. Activities on shorter paths carry slack. Calling it the shortest path is the most common exam reversal.
What are the five SDLC phases, in order?
Systems analysis, conceptual design, physical design, implementation & conversion, and operations & maintenance. Planning and managing the behavioural aspects of change are not phases — they run through every phase.
What is the difference between the master plan and the project-development plan?
The master plan is long-range and authored by the IS steering committee — it prioritises all proposed projects. The project-development plan is for one project and authored by the project team — it covers the people, hardware, software and budget. Scenarios test both the author and the scope.
What does TELOS stand for and why does it matter?
Technical, Economic, Legal, Operational, Scheduling — the five feasibility dimensions assessed at each go/no-go point. It matters because a positive NPV (economic feasibility) does not make a system viable; case marks come from spotting the non-economic feasibilities a business case quietly breaks, and students most often forget Legal or Operational.
What is the accountant's role in systems analysis?
The accountant is a user whose requirements drive the design. They specify information, reporting and reconciliation requirements, ensure internal controls, auditability and compliance are designed in, and help evaluate cost-benefit feasibility. Answering only 'records transactions' loses marks.
How is this topic examined?
In Test 1 as case-based multiple-choice, and in the closed-book final as essay-plan and case questions — for example 'assess the feasibility of this proposal' or 'explain the purpose of systems analysis and the accountant's role'. Support each answer with theory, managerial relevance and an example.
Exam move
Learn the SDLC as an ordered spine and hang everything off it: the five phases in sequence, with planning and behavioural change running underneath all of them. Drill the two numeric moves until they are automatic — the PERT critical path (total every route, take the longest, read off the slack) and the economic feasibility tests (payback, NPV, IRR) — because they are reliable easy marks. Then build the clean distinctions the examiner loves: master plan vs project-development plan, PERT vs Gantt, NPV (against zero) vs IRR (against a hurdle rate), and the three forms of resistance. For the case questions, practise the pattern of computing the number, stating the verdict, and then hunting the non-economic feasibility the scenario breaks. Keep one revision card per concept with a definition, the one distinction it tests, and a one-line example, and rehearse full timed answers in the revision week before the end-of-semester exam period.
