# Patent

## Title
Accounting system

## Abstract

An accounting system includes client modules pre-configured for client use, which can be used without client configuration. Each client module has interface forms for entering transaction records. Pre-assigned transaction category codes are stored on a storage medium. Code selectors are entered through use of the transaction entry forms. A client chart of accounts allows selection of an account for association with transaction records. Accounts are predetermined by the clients or in accordance with accounts of trading types prenominated by the clients. Each account includes a unique account identification and description prescribed by the client or generally adopted by traders in the trading type. Each category code is pre-specified as taxed/non-taxed, and as expenditure/income. The system can obtain information on tax liabilities of the transaction records through prompts associated with transaction category codes that have tax liabilities, and extracts the entered information for tax liabilities of the transaction.

## Background
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
THIS INVENTION relates to an accounting system for processing transactions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For many years, operators of small and medium enterprises (SME) have been performing manual bookkeeping work for transaction records. The books containing the transaction records are then given to the operators' accountants for preparing accounts statements and tax returns.
Recent changes in taxation law, especially the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which requires businesses to collect GST in any transaction that attracts this tax and to submit periodic Business Activities Statements (BAS), have made manual bookkeeping tasks extremely complex. Consequently, SME operators, in general, have resorted to use a computerised accounting system to enter transaction records so that the records can be processed for generating reports for their accountants and the tax authority.
To use the computerised accounting system effectively and to produce accounts reports that are acceptable to accountants and the tax authority, the operators not only have to learn basic computer skills, but also accounting terms and procedures employed in their accounting application software and taxation liabilities appropriate for their businesses.
The application software must also be configured to suit accounting practices of individual SME operators. That means the operators must acquire the necessary knowledge in accounting practice and tax law in order to configure the application software to use the accounting procedures and tax liability options that suit their businesses.
The application software is intended for general use and employs common accounting terms for transactions. Consequently, the SME operators can no longer use the transaction item descriptions they have adopted for their manual bookkeeping system. This represents a major disadvantage for most of the SME operators who now must spend time familiarising with new accounting terms that they are unfamiliar of. Transaction entry errors often occurs when using unfamiliar terms to enter transaction records. The errors can be very difficult to trace and correct.
With the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST), the computerised accounting system has become more complicated for the SME operators as they must now act as collection agents for the GST. To set up the accounting system for generating BAS, SME operators must configure the application software with appropriate tax liabilities of goods and services that attract GST and other taxes. These requirements place heavy burdens on SME operators. In addition, many of them do not have sufficient knowledge to determine which transaction items attract GST and which do not. They also do not have the necessary knowledge to allocate transactions in order to correctly report the GST, Pay As You Go (PAYG) Withholding and PAYG Installments in the BAS.
Periodically, the entered transaction records need to be reconciled with bank records. The reconciliation process is not generally understood by SME operators, and is time consuming.
The known computerised accounting system is for processing accounts reports only. It would be desirable to use information obtainable from transaction records to perform management related functions.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to alleviate or to reduce to a certain level one or more of the aforementioned prior art disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect therefore the present invention resides in an accounting system including at least one client module for use by a client. The at least one client module has transaction entry means for entering transaction records, pre-assigned transaction category codes being stored on a storage medium, means for selecting a pre-assigned category code to associate with a transaction record to be entered through the transaction entry means, and a client chart of accounts for selection of an account to which the transaction record is to be associated, the accounts being predetermined by the client or in accordance with accounts of at least one trading type prenominated by the client. Each of said accounts include a pre-allocated unique account identification and an account description which is prescribed by the client or generally adopted by traders in said at least one trading type, and each of said category codes is pre-specified as a taxed or non-taxed, and as an expenditure or income transaction type.
In another aspect therefore the present invention resides in an accounting system including at least one client module for use by a client. The at least one client module has transaction entry means for entering transaction records, and means for obtaining information relevant to tax liabilities of the transaction records. Said information obtaining means has one or more prompts associated with each of a plurality transaction category codes that have tax liabilities, and is arranged to present the associated one or more prompts for entering information relevant to tax liabilities when one of said category code is nominated for a transaction to be entered, and to extract the entered information for allocating tax liabilities of the transaction.
Preferably, said one or more prompts are in the form of one or more leading questions for the client to enter said relevant tax liability information in a designated location(s), and the at least one client module is arranged to extract the entered information at said designated location(s) and apply a tax liability determination procedure which is specific for the or each extracted information from said designated location(s).
It is preferred that the at least one client module has report generating means arranged to access the entered transaction records for generating accounting reports. More preferably, the report generating means includes a report selection arrangement for selecting any one of a number of accounting reports for generation.
In preference, at least one of said taxed category codes is pre-allocated to taxation segments for a taxation report, being one of the accounting reports. More preferably, said taxation report is a Business Activity Statement (BAS) that complies with the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Where a taxed category code having a variable taxation allocation is entered, it is preferred that a window with appropriate prompts for specifying amounts to be allocated is presented entering the amounts.
Said at least one trading type may include trading activities involving the provision of goods and/or services relating to any class of business. Examples of the business classes are accountancy, hardware retail and wholesale, electrical goods and repair services, plumbing supplies and services, health care goods and services, mechanical repair services, transportation goods, etc.
It is further preferred that the category codes include a category for wages and the wage category is associated with a wage account in said client chart of accounts. Accordingly, the system according to the present invention also functions as payroll package.
The system may have storage means for storing the transaction records and is arranged for accessing bank statement records over a communications network. The at least one client module may have reconciliation means for reconciling said stored transaction records with the bank statement records.
Preferably, the system includes at least one adviser module having report generating means being arranged to access transaction records transferred from the at least one client module for generating accounting reports and management reports. More preferably, the report generating means includes a report selection arrangement for selecting any one of a number of accounting and management reports for generation.
The system may also include an administration module for administering said at least one client module, and the administration module and the at least one client module are arranged for communication over a communications network, The administration module has a master chart of accounts from which the client chart of accounts is extracted, and chart generating means for generating said master chart of accounts in accordance with a user's determination. It is preferred that the client chart of accounts is locked so that the account identifications and the account descriptions therein can not be altered.
It is further preferred that the administration module has a transaction code generating means for generating the transaction codes as specified by the user.
The system may have a number of client modules in communication with the administration module. Each of the client modules has a unique client reference and is adapted to transfer sales orders and/or purchase orders through the administration module. Each of said sales orders and/or purchase orders including a client reference of a purchasing client module and a client reference of a supplier client module. The administration module may have a coordination unit arranged to use the client references to transfer a purchase order from the purchasing client module to the supplier client module and to transfer a subsequently received invoice from the supplier client module to the purchasing client module. It is preferred that payment of the invoice is also transfer through the administration module so that the coordination unit has a record that the invoice has been settled.
Accordingly, the system of the present invention can store transaction information between suppliers and purchasers. The coordination unit can thus be arranged to automate purchase orders when stocks for transactions are below predetermined levels.
Preferably, the or each said client module is associated with an adviser module which is also arranged to be in communication with the administration module so that the transaction records of the associated client(s) can be accessed remotely.
The at least one client module may be a cash book module or an accrual module or a combined cash book and accrual module, or a payroll module or a point of sale module, or any combination of two or more of said modules.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In order that the present invention can be readily understood and put into practical effect the description will hereinafter refer to the accompanying drawings which illustrate non limiting embodiments of the present invention and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the accounting system according to the present invention;
FIGS. 2A and 2B are flow diagrams showing steps in configuring a cashbook module for the system of FIG. 1;
FIGS. 3A and 3B schematically show the procedure in locating client databases in the system of FIG. 1;
FIGS. 4 to 4B are interface forms for entering payment and receipt; FIG. 4C shows an example of a transaction table with transaction information entered in the interface forms shown in FIGS. 4 to 4B;
FIGS. 5 to 5C are flow diagrams of steps in creating a client module;
FIGS. 5D to 5Q are interface forms for creating and maintaining client modules;
FIG. 5R is report listing available headers for accounts;
FIG. 5S is a report of selected accounts;
FIG. 6 shows operational steps in creating and maintaining accounts files;
FIG. 6A shows the operational steps of the script manager;
FIGS. 6B to 6F are some interfaces for the steps shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 7A shows the client verification procedure in the client module;
FIG. 7B is a flow diagram of steps in the Payment Entry and Receipt Entry options;
FIG. 7C shows examples of the procedures for prompting the user to provide information for the Receipt Entry option;
FIG. 7D shows examples of the procedures for prompting the user to provide information for the Payment Entry option;
FIGS. 7E and 7F show the steps in accounts reconciliation;
FIG. 8A is an interface form for receipt entry;
FIG. 8B is an interface form for payment entry;
FIGS. 8C to 8S are interface forms with prompts for entering information for Receipt Entry and Payment Entry, and for accounts reconciliation;
FIGS. 8T to 8Y are some examples of reports that are available;
FIG. 9A in an example of the main interface for the general ledger;
FIG. 9B is a flow diagram of options available in the general ledger;
FIG. 9C shows the steps in processing GST components to the general ledger;
FIGS. 9D to 9F are examples of some of the general ledger reports;
FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing steps for online transfer of a purchaser order and a supplier invoice through the administration module;
FIG. 10A shows steps in a standard cost process;
FIG. 10B is an overview of an embodiment of an accounts accrual system;
FIGS. 10C to 10F show procedures for the debtor related operations of the accrual system;
FIG. 10G shows the procedure for a purchase order;
FIG. 10H shows a procedure for credit payment;
FIGS. 10I to 10N show the procedures for an extended point of sale system.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring to the drawings and initially to FIG. 1 there is shown an accounting system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system 10 has a number of client modules 12 operating on computers, a number of advisor modules 13, and an administration module 14 operating on a server computer system 14 which may be arranged as shown in FIG. 33. The server system 14 and an administrator unit 16 are connected in a local area network. The client module 12 is connected to the server system 14 through the World Wide Web including the Internet 18. As can be seen some of the advisor module 13 can be formed of a group of networked computers.
The adviser modules 13 can access the server system 14 to transfer information to the server system 14 for configuring the client module 12 and to retrieve transaction information of the associated client module 12.
Typically, each of the client modules 12 include a cashbook module, and the advisor module 13 of a client module 12 is managed by a professional accountant who advises the accounting procedures and tax liability options that are appropriate to the client. Each of the advisor modules 13 would also be provided with account descriptions that the client is familiar with. To request the administration module 14 to configure or edit a client module 12, the accountant can use the adviser module 13 to transfer the client's account requirements to the administration module 14. The information provided to set up the master chart of accounts would include any private percentage to be applied to an account and if so which ledger account the private portions are to be allocated. The accountant would also advise the following where applicable:

    
    
        Cash or Accrual BAS reporting
        Small food retailer percentage
        Predominant Long Term Commercial Accommodation
        New Motor Vehicles purchased before 23 May 2001
        Hire purchase start before 1 Jul. 2000
        Hire purchase new motor vehicle before 23 May 2001
        Particulars of predetermined GST status (eg Property lease)
        Bank reconciliation
    
    


The account requirements provided by the accountant are used to set up a master chart of accounts for the client. From the master chart of accounts, the accounts for use by the client are identified for generating a user chart of accounts.
If the client does not use an accountant he/she can either provide the required information for configuring a user chart of accounts or simply nominate a trading type of his/her business-activities and the administration module 14 would automatically configure a default user chart of accounts based the known account configurations of most businesses in the same trading type.
FIG. 2A shows the flow of information between a client who wishes to configure a client module 12, an advisor (accountant in this case) module 13 and the administration module 16. As can be seen, the client and the accountant exchange information regarding the client's account requirements and the accountant accordingly uses a journal maintenance unit 20 to create a general journal for this client. In this respect, the client can provide his/her own descriptions of accounts that are familiar to him/her by using the requester 22 and/or scripter 24.
The accountant then uses a requester unit 22 of the advisor module 13 to select the appropriate accounts from a master chart of account to be configured for a client chart of accounts having the account descriptions that are familiar to the client. The administration module 14 on receiving the request from the account creates a client database for the client chart of accounts and configures a client module 12 using the client chart of accounts having the account descriptions that are familiar to the client. Accordingly, when delivered the client can simply install and use the client module 12 without the labourious and error prone tasks of configuring the client module 12 and determining tax liabilities of the accounts. The client module 12 is also set up to communicate with the administration module 14 over a communications network such as the World Wide Web (WWW) 18.
The client module 12 has a scripter unit 24 for initiating a request to edit the description of any account in the client chart of accounts. The request to edit is either transferred directly to the administration module 14 (where an advisor module 13 is not linked to a client module 12) or to the advisor module 13 for registering at the advisor module 13 before forwarding to the administration module 14 for editing the account.
In FIG. 2B, the client module 12, the advisor module and the administration module 14 are arranged to communicate over a communications network including the WWW 18 so that the administration module 14 is directly responsive to any request from the client module 12 or the advisor module 13.
FIG. 3A shows the procedure for a client module 12 to locate the server computer of the administration module 14 where its accounts records are stored. The system 10 uses a communications service which allows its networked modules 12 and 13 to make remote procedure calls (RPC) to the server computer of the administration module 14. Uses of the RPC may include enumerating Users and Databases, and accessing other information not available via the client database, including information from the administration module 14 and/or the administration database. In addition, RPC allows potentially sensitive database or other operations onto the server and away from the client modules 12 and the advisor modules 13, such that sensitive information is never sent over the network.
RPC uses HTTP or HTTP over SSL for communication and uses an obscure port for its Server endpoint. Clients can determine the address and port of this endpoint by using DNS SRV (Service Location) lookups for _eclatrpc._tcp.eclat.net.au.
To locate its accounts records on the administration module 14, a client module 12 do the followings:
1. Enter the client module name (for Example, Barry's Big Bins might be barrysbigbins). This will be referred to as the IDB Name.
2. Append The IDB Name to system Domain Name. (ie barrysbigbins.eclat.net.au. This will be referred to as an IDB DNS Name.
3. Using RFC, the system 10 attempts to determine a list of possible servers to connect to. In particular, a record such as _database._tcp.barrysbigbins.eclat.net.au should return 1 or more Address Records specifying valid Accounting Servers, as shown in FIG. 3A.

4. The client can then select and connect to a Database Server to access its records using the IDB Name.

At this point, the client module 12 has all the information required to make a connection to the administration module 14 to locate its accounts records. The client can make a connection to the server of the administration module 14 in the following way:
5. The client retrieves the Hostnames, IP Addresses, and Ports of Suitable Servers (This information is returned from DNS SRV Queries—Above)
6. Check weighting and priority from the SRV reply. Select the server with the lowest Priority and Weighting. If multiple servers are returned with the same Priority and Weighting (ie a Cluster) randomly select one of these records. If only one record is returned we must use it.

7. The client makes a suitable connection to an IP Address/Port pair.

8. Once the connection is established, the client MUST authenticate using their SYSTEM credentials.

An advisor module 13 such as that of an account may have permission to control 1 or more Client Databases. As a consequence, the module 13 should enumerate all databases to which they have access, and allow the account to select a particular database.
The following set of procedure steps describes how the account can enumerate the client databases:
1. Using RFC and the DNS Name: _eclatrpc._tcp.eclat.net.au, a list of potential RPC Servers can be found.
2. Client randomly selects 1 server from the list of RPC Servers. This selection may be prioritized or weighted.
3. Client Makes a request to an RPC server (ie/_eclat_bin/catalbgList/?)
4. RPC Backend Server processes the request and builds a response
5. Client receives the response, and can now process or parse the response, as shown in FIG. 3B.
Each client module 12 a transaction database with the following transaction fields:











Field
Description







Record ID
A unique identifier for an entire transaction


Client ID
The client ID for which this transaction 



occurred (optional)


Trading type
ID of types of normal business activities of 



client


Product ID
The product ID for this row in the transaction 



(optional)


Invoice ID
The invoice ID for this row in the transaction 



(optional)


Quantity
The quantity of items sold (optional)


SPU
(reserved for later use)


Original Invoice Total
The original amount on the invoice (optional)


Amount Owing
The amount left owing on the invoice (optional)


Payment Total
The total amount for this transaction


Tran Head Entry
Is this row the header row for the transaction


Payee Name
The payee name for the transaction


Payment Type
The payment method


Payment Type Details
Any extra details about the payment method, 



i.e. Cheque number


Paid To
Describes the payee info field


Payee Info
Describes the payee


Source Payment
The source accounts description


Reference
Extra information on the payment method


Receipt To
What module does the payment/receipt go to


Receipt Details
Extra information about the receipt


Locked
Has this transaction been reconciled?


Accounting Method
Which module does the transaction belong to?


Overwrite
(reserved for later use)


Bank Branch
The branch number for the bank account


Bank Department
The department number for the bank account


Branch
The branch number for the destination account


Department
The department number for the destination 



account


Entry Date
The date of the transaction


Age
How old is the transaction?


Period
Which period (financial month) does the 



transaction belong?


Type
Is this a payment, a receipt or a general journal 



entry


Amount
What was the amount of the row for


Description
The destination accounts description


Amount Withheld
The amount that was withheld


Interest
The amount of interest


Principal
The amount of principal


Stamp Duty
The amount of stamp duty


Voluntary Agreement
The amount that was due to a voluntary 



agreement


Instalment Amount
The instalment amount


GST Amount
The amount of GST


Items Sold
The amount that was due to items sold


GST Paid
The amount of GST that was paid


Pre 28
The amount that was attained before 28 May 



2000


TFN Amount Withheld
The amount withheld from the tax file number


AW Amount Withheld
(reserved)


Margin Amount
The margin amount for this account


Capital
The amount of capital gains tax


Taxed Other
The amount of taxed other


Input Taxed
The amount of input tax


Input Tax Sales
The amount of input tax due to sales


No GST
The amount of no GST


Private
The amount that was private


Non GST Reportable
The amount that is NON GST Reportable


GST
The amount of GST


GST Suspense
The amount of GST in suspense


Wage Clearing
The amount of PAYG Withholding


Wage Clearing (2)
The amount of other withholdings


ABN Withhold
The amount withholding from the ABN


GL Amount
The general ledger amount


Export Supply
The export supply amount


GST Free
The GST free amount


GST Pre
The amount of pre GST


Tax Supply
The amount of tax supply


Instalment Income
The amount of instalment income


Account ID
The destination account ID


Account Header ID
The destination account header ID


Outstanding
Is the row outstanding?


Tran Code
What was the Code of the destination account?


Private Use Only
Is this row a sub row that is used for GST 



balancing purposes


Suspense Moved
Has the suspense been moved to NON GST 



reportable









Each client module 12 also has a client chart of accounts with the following accounts fields:











Field
Description







Branch
The branch number for this account


Department
The department number for this account


COY
The company number (reserved)


Account ID
The account id of this account



in the form of XXXX.XXXX


Account Description
A 40 character description for the account


Debit/Credit
Is this account a DEBIT or CREDIT account


Post
Is this account a posting account


End Of Year
This field determines what is done with



the data after the financial year


Comments
Any comments for this account


GST Split
The private portion percentage for this account


Group ID
The entity ID that this account belongs to (0 = all)


SP Status
Is this account a bank account


Retention
The retention account ID


Code
The E or I code that applies to this account


Extended Code
An extended code for miscellaneous



account options i.e. CA = Capital


Open Status
Is this account an open status account


Credit Total
The opening credit on this account


Debit Total
The opening debit on this account


Saved Total
Used to temporarily store current balances



for each account


Must Select
This field is 1 if this account must be selected



when its entity is selected


Selected
Is this account selected for use


Taxed Acquisition %
The taxed acquisition percentage that



applies to this account


Source
Is this account identified as a source



account in requester


New Account ID
If this account is a new account from



requester what is its ID









The system 10 uses account category codes for identifying transaction categories. In this embodiment, the following category codes are employed.














Code
Description
Type








E01
General
Expense



E02
Wages
Expense



E03
Non-Reportable
Expense



E04
GST Paid Up Front
Expense



E05
Included Stamp Duty
Expense



E06
Loan
Expense



E07
Hire Purchase - [ACCRUALS]
Expense



E08
Hire Purchase - [CASH]
Expense



E09
Motor Vehicle Registrations
Expense



E10
GST Free
Expense



E11
Voluntary Agreement
Expense



E12
Input Taxed
Expense



E13
Private NON Deductible
Expense



E14
Airfare Tax
Expense



E15
Taxed Acquisition
Expense



E16
(reserved)
Expense



E17
(reserved)
Expense



E18
GST Suspense
Expense



E19
(reserved)
Expense



E20
(reserved)
Expense



I01
General
Income



I02
Small Food Retailer
Income



I03
NON Reportable
Income



I04
Export Supply
Income



I05
Input Taxed
Income



I06
Tax Supply
Income



I07
Pre Jan. 7, 2000
Income



I08
GST Free
Income



I09
Long-term Accommodation
Income



I10
Predominately LTCA
Income



I11
Margin Scheme
Income



I12
TFN Withholding
Income



I13
(reserved)
Income



I14
GST Suspense
Income



I15
LTCA Input Taxed
Income



I16
Cost of Goods Sold
Income



I17
(reserved)
Income



I18
(reserved)
Income



I19
(reserved)
Income



I20
(reserved)
Income









Shown below are examples of some accounts in a master chart of accounts and a client chart of accounts for a butcher:










Master chart for accounts for Sales trade









Account ID
Acc Descript
Description





1100.0000
Sales
Header


1100.1000
Sale of goods to customers
General with Instalment Income


1100.1001
Sales to Australian 
General with Instalment Income



customers



1100.2000
Sale second hand goods
Tax Supply with Cost of Good




Sold


1100.2001
Sale of new goods
General with Instalment Income


1100.2002
Sale 2nd hand goods 
Tax Supply with Cost of Good



costing over $300
Sold


1100.2003
Sale 2nd hand goods 
Tax Supply with Instalment



costing under $300
Income


1100.2004
Sale 2nd hand goods from 
GST Suspense with Instalment



global pool
income


1100.3000
Sale of goods on 
General with Instalment Income



consignment



1100.3001
Sale of new goods on 
General with Instalment Income



consignment



1100.3002
Sale 2nd hand goods on 
Tax Supply with Cost of Goods



consignment
Sold


1100.4000
Small food retailer sales
Small Food Retailer with 




Instalment Income


1100.4001
Sale of pet food
Tax Supply


1100.4003
Sale of fresh meat
GST Free









Client chart of accounts for a Butcher—Sales Trade














Account ID
Acc Descript
Description








1100.0000
Sales
Header



1100.4001
Sale of pet food
Tax Supply



1100.4003
Sale of fresh meat
GST Free









FIG. 4 shows an example of using a client's description of an account (insurance general in this case) for an E05 category code transaction. When the first row in the Amount field is selected, the client module 12 retrieves and shows details of the relevant transaction as shown in FIG. 4A. FIG. 4B shows the details of the Amount in the second row.
Each client module 12 applies an appropriate tax formula to calculate tax liabilities of a transaction. The following table lists some of the tax formulae:











Field
Formula







GST
GSTFromInclusive(CalcExPerc(txtsdTaxedAcq.Value,



GSTSplit), GSTMargin)


TaxedOther
CalcExPerc(txtsdTaxedAcq.Value, GSTSplit)


No GST
CalcExPerc(txtsdGSTFree.Value, GSTSplit)


Private
CalcPerc(txtsdTaxedAcq.Value, GSTSplit) +



CalcPerc(txtsdGSTFree.Value, GSTSplit) +



CalcPerc(txtsdStampduty.Value, GSTSplit),


GL Amount
iOrigAmount − (CalcPerc(txtsdTaxedAcq.Value,



GSTSplit) + CalcPerc (txtsdGSTFree.Value,



GSTSplit) + CalcPerc(txtsdStampduty.Value,



GSTSplit))


Non GST
txtsdStampDuty.Value


Reportable









Each client module 12 is arranged to generate transaction reports of selected transactions. Using the FIG. 4 transactions, the module 12 can generate a report as shown in FIG. 4C.
FIG. 5 shows the steps applied in the requester unit 22 for creating a client database of a client module 12 using the relevant fields as shown below.











Field
Description















General Client Information








Full Name
Full Name of Client


Trading Name
Trading Name of Client


Address
Clients Address


Phone Number
Clients Phone Number


ABN
ABN of related business


Licence Type
This option allows the Accountant to select 



which version of the program they wish to use, 



they have the option of Multi Users or Single 



User. This option determines whether or not 



they are allowed to have multiple users using 



their database at a time


Reporting Method
Reporting method for client, two option Cash or 



Accruals


Year
The financial year that this database is intended 



for







AS Variables








Company/Fund Deferred 
ATO provided figure for the client


Value



PAYG Commissioner 
ATO determined instalment rate


Rate



Fringe Benefit tax 
Accountant determined fixed fringe benefit 


instalment value
amount


GST Free Rate
Small business GST Free concession







Modules to Include In Package








Cashbook (base system)
General Cashbook/General Ledger system - this 



must be included


Accruals
Accrual accounting system including inventory


Achievement Model
Business management model


Assets
Resource Management


Budget
Financial Forecasting


Manufacturing Process
Standard and Variance Analysis


Point Of Sale
Point of Sale Incorporating both Retail and 



Wholesale


Provisions
Accrued Expenses


Payroll/Personnel 
Personnel Management


System








Step 3 Fields


Entity Components








Club or Association
(self explanatory)


Company
(self explanatory)


Consolidation 
(self explanatory)


Adjustment



Manufacturing Account
Includes accounts used for manufacturing 



purposes


Partnership
(self explanatory)


Sole Trader
(self explanatory)


Superannuation Fund
(self explanatory)


Trading Account
Includes accounts used for trading purposes


Trust Discretionary
(self explanatory)


Trust Unit
(self explanatory)







Partner Fields








ID
A unique identifier for the partner, this field is 



automatically


User Name
A user name for this partner


Name
The full name of this partner


Share
The shared percentage of profits that this partner 



is distributed


Comments
Any comments associated with this partner







Step 6 Fields (Section 1)


Reconciliation Details








Account
Selected bank accounts for this reconciliation 



entry


Description
Type of item


Amount
The amount for the reconciliation entry


Reference
Reference point for this reconciliation entry







Step 9 Fields (Submission)


Email Settings








Username
The clients Username for their SMTP server 



authentication


Password
The clients password for their SMTP server 



authentication


SMTP
The clients SMTP server for their ISP


SMTP Port
The clients SMTP port number for their ISP


Email Address
The clients full reply email address









Appendix E—Account Editing Fields













Account Editing Fields









Field
Description
Editable





Branch
The branch number for which this account
No



belongs



Department
The department number for which this
No



account belongs



Account ID
The account ID number of this account
No


Acc Descript
The description that the client
Yes



will see for this account



Private %
The private portion allocated to other accounts -
Yes



double click the row to change this field



Comments
Any comments associated with this account
Yes











Field
Description










Step 6 Fields (Section 2)


New Account Details - Header Information








Type
The type of the new account from the list


Name
A descriptive name for the new account


Header Account
The header account for which this new



account should belong


DebitThe opening debit



amount on the account1



CreditThe opening credit



amount on the account2








New Account Details - Private Portions








Description
A description for the reason



of the private percentage


Percentage
The percentage that should be allocated



to the destination account


Destination Account
The destination account for which



this private portion should be allocated







Account Setup Fields


Account Selection Fields








Setup
Has this account been set up yet, the



user cannot submit until all accounts



have been set up.


Branch
The branch number of this account


Department
The department number of this account


Account ID
The account id for this account


Description
The name of this account


Account Type
The type of set up that is



required for this account







Account Codes Used In Setup Form








E07
Hire Purchase (Accruals)


E08
Hire Purchase (Cash)


E03
Non Reportable Expense


I15
Predominant LTCA (Input Taxed)


I10
Predominant LTCA (5.5%)









The steps of the requester unit 22 are described in more details in FIGS. 5A to 5Q. FIG. 5R shows parts of an example of the Available Accounts report, and FIG. 5S shows parts of an example of the Selected Accounts report.
FIG. 6 shows the steps taken by the administration module 14 in creating and maintaining client databases, and in responding to the requests from the requester unit 22. The administration module 14 thus provides the option of opening an existing client database for viewing or maintaining through step 26, the option for a registered advisor (accountant) to create new client modules and to maintain client account databases through step 28, and the option of creating a new client module 12 in responding to a request from the requester unit 22 though steps 30 and 32. In all options, a script step 34 is entered in which the administration module 14 will perform the tasks of opening the existing accounts file named in the step 26, or to create a new client accounts file as requested by the requester unit 22 in the steps 30 and 32.
When creating a new client accounts file, the administration module 14 checks for whether accounts details for the new file are provided in the request and if not, whether there is a specified trading type in the request. If accounts details are present, the module 14 extracts the relevant information from the provided accounts details for incorporation into the new file. If the accounts details have not been provided and there is a specified trading type, the module 14 selects default accounts details for the trading type for incorporation into the new file. Where neither accounts-details nor a trading type are provide, the module 14 prompts the requester for the required information.
A script maintenance step 36 is entered for performing accounts file maintenance tasks as illustrated in FIG. 6A. Any of the following accounts fields can be added, edited or deleted as illustrated in steps 38 to 46.











Field
Description















Account Fields








Branch
The branch ID number for which this account belongs


Department
The department ID number for which this account belongs


COY
The company number for this account (reserved)


Account ID
The account identification number, the sub account number 



of this number will default to XXXX, clicking the ( . . . ) 



button inside this field will allocate it with the next 



available number for that header account.


Acc Descript
A short (1-40 chars) description of the account


DR_CR
This field should be DEBIT or CREDIT


Post
Does this account get included in the financial reports


EOY
There are four options for this field:



RETAIN - Will carry the closing balance to the Retention 



account at the end of the financial year



HOLD - This account will hold its closing balance at the 



end of the financial year



ZERO - This account must have a balance of 0 at the end of



the financial year, eg. Don't Know Or Not Listed accounts



CLEAR - This account will automatically clear its balance 



at the end of the financial year


Comments
Any comments relevant to this account


GST Split
The Private Portion for this account expressed as a 



percentage


Group ID
What entity this account belongs to, see Appendix C


SP Status
Is this account a source account


Retention
The account where the closing balance is to be retained. 



See EOY above


Code
A code which determines how the information is stored for 



the transaction that occur when this account is used as a 



destination account, see Appendix D for a complete listing.


Code Ex
A code which determines any extended properties of this 



account, see Appendix E for a complete listing.


Open Status
Does this account require an opening balance


CR Total
Opening credits on this account


DR Total
Opening debits on this account


Saved Total
This field is used internally for reports to store a temporary 



balance for the account


Must Select
Does this account have to be included if its relevant entity 



is included as part of the project


Selected
Is this account selected to be included in the project


TA 
This stores the Taxed Acquisition Percentage


Percentage



Source
Determines if the account CAN be a source account, i.e. 



should it be listed in requester as part of the source account



listing


Acc ID
A number that determines a unique identifier for this NEW



account







Setup - Account Changes Fields








New Account 
The new account name for this accounts


Name









In step 48, additional information that is relevant to an account detail is presented in order to alert the user of the appropriate detail to be entered. FIG. 6D shows examples of the additional information.
In step 50, the interface as shown in FIG. 6B is used to enter client details for the client module. Below are some of the client details:











Field
Description















Owner Details Section








Username
The clients user name


Company
The clients company name


Phone
The clients phone number


Password
The administration password for the database


Serial Number
This generated field is the code needed to install


E-Mail
The clients e-mail







Company Details








Full Name
The full name of the clients company


Trading Name
The trading name of the clients company


Address
The address of the clients company


ABN
The ABN of the clients company


GST Percentage
The GST percentage for the clients business


Residency Rate
The long term commercial accommodation rate for 



the clients business


Accountant Version
This option is checked if the database is for an 



accountant


Template Version
The major version number of the database


Template Sub 
The minor version number of the database


Version








Accountant Details








E-Mail
The E-Mail address for the accountant to which this 



client belongs


Trading Name
The trading name for the accountant to which this 



client belongs


Phone
The phone number for the accountant to which this 



client belongs


Server Host Name
The name of the server for the live version (Phase 2)


IP Address
The IP Address of the server for the live version 



(Phase 2)


Server Logon Name
The initial logon name for the live server (Phase 2)


Server Logon Passy
The initial logon password for the live server 



(Phase 2)


Server Port
The port to use when connecting to the server 



(Phase 2)


Server Version
The minimum version number of the server that the 



database expects


Update OBs
This option should be checked if the opening balances 



need to be updated when the project is first opened in 



ECLAT









The step 52 allows the accountant to set up a new client module 12 and to add the account details to a template database, and any of the account details can be declared private and edited as illustrated in steps 54 to 58.
The step 60 is for maintaining reconciliation entries as shown below:











Field
Description















Reconciliation - Main Entry








Recon ID
An automatically filled field which represents the ID



number for this reconciliation



The company number for this reconciliation



(reserved)


Recon Start
The starting date for the reconciliation


Recon End
The ending date for the reconciliation


Recon Acc Name
The account for which this reconciliation is for


Closing CR Balance
The closing credit balance for the reconciliation


Closing DR Balance
The closing debit balance for the reconciliation


OS Balance
The amount outstanding


Opening Balance
Opening balance


Closing Balance
Closing balance


Ledger Balance
Ledger balance







Reconciliation - Sub Entry








Payment
Amount of the payment


Receipt
Amount of the receipt


Date
Date of the balance


Reference
Reference information


OS
Hidden Field - Is this entry outstanding


Entry ID
A unique identifier for this entry









The group identification field in the account fields may be any of the followings: Group IDs












ID
Description
















0
Always included


1
Club or Association


2
Company


3
Consolidation Adjustment


4
Manufacturing Account


5
Partnership


6
Sole Trader


7
Superannuation Fund


8
Trading Account


9
Trust Discretionary


10
Trust Unit









The accounts codes has the following extensions identified as the “Code Ex” field in the accounts fields:











Account Codes










Code
Description






CA
Indicates whether the transactions for this account will be




capital on the business activity statement



CG
Cost of Goods Sold



II
Indicates whether the transactions for this account will be




instalment income on the business activity statement



NA
There is no extended functionality for this account



OB
Opening Balance (Private/Journal Use)



OI
Performs the same functionality as NA









A debugging process is used to debug and test the client module 12 before packaging for delivery to the client.
When the client receives the new client module 12 it can be installed on his computer and the module 12 is ready for use without the usual need to set up accounts and to allocate tax liabilities that is common in the prior art. Moreover, he needs not to learn new accounting terms as the account descriptions are the ones he is familiar with.
When the client module 12 such as a cash book module is set to operate, the module 12 performs a security check with the steps as shown in FIG. 7A unless the security check procedure is disabled for this client. If the client is allow to continue, a main interface is presented for selection of any one of the operation options. For examples, the “Receipt Entry” and “Payment Entry” options when selected would present the interfaces as shown respectively in FIGS. 8A and 8B. The module 12 can be operated in either a client mode or an accountant (advisor) mode. If the client mode is operating, When operating in the client mode the module 12 opens a local accounts database file for use and checks for opening balance update flag for performing the update operation when this flag is checked.
FIG. 7B shows the operational steps for both the “Payment Entry” or the “Receipt Entry” options as respectively shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. When in the “Receipt Entry” operation, a set of prompts appear such as the ones shown in FIG. 8C for the client to provide appropriate information for calculating tax liabilities of the transaction. FIG. 7C shows the steps for some of the prompts. Note that all the codes for the prompts are based on the I codes of the accounts codes. Embodiments of the receipt prompts are as follows:
Receipt Questions











Field
Description















Amount withheld for failing to provide ABN (FIG. 8D)








Will a compliant Tax 
Check box asking if a tax invoice will be 


Invoice be Provided?
provided, if it is provided you do not need to 



specify the Amount Withheld


Amount Withheld
Entry field for the amount which was withheld


Invoice Total
This is the total of the transaction







Amount withheld for failing to provide a Tax File Number (FIG. 8E)








TFN Withholding?
Entry field for the amount which is withholding



to your TFN


Total
This is the total ledger amount of the transaction







Tax Information (FIG. 8E)








How much is taxable
Entry field for the amount which is taxable


supply?
supply


How much is PRE Jan.
Entry field for the amount which is pre Jan. 7,


7, 2000?
2000


How much is export
Entry field for the amount which is export


supply?
supply


How much is GST Free
Entry field for the amount which is GST free


supply?
supply


How much is input
Entry field for the amount which is input taxed


taxed?



Amt Withheld for failing
Entry field for the amount for failing to provide


to provide ABN?
an ABN


Calculated Total
This is the total of all other entry fields


Original Total
This is the total of the transaction







Long-term Commercial Accommodation (FIG. 8F)








How much from guests 
Entry field for the amount which was from 


who have stayed less
guests who have stayed less than 28 days


than 28 days?



Original Total
This is the total of the transaction









FIG. 7D shows some of the prompts for the “Payment Entry” operation and an example of the interface for the payment prompts is illustrated in FIG. 8G. Note that all the codes for the payment prompts are based on the E codes of the accounts codes. Embodiments of the payment prompts are as follows:










Pay Questions








Field
Description










Amount Withheld (FIG. 8H)








What is the amount 
This is where the user types in the amount 


withheld?
withheld


Calculated Total
This is the total of the transaction







Vehicle Details (FIG. 8I)








How much is third 
This is where the user types in the amount that 


party?
was for third party


How much is 
This is where the user types in the amount that 


registration?
was for registration


Calculated Total
This is the total of the transaction







Payment Including Stamp Duty (FIG. 8J)








How much is stamp 
Entry field for the amount paid that was stamp 


duty?
duty


How much is Taxed 
Entry field for the amount paid that was taxed 


Acquisition?
acquisition


How much is GST Free?
Entry field for the amount paid that was GST free


Calculated Total
This is the total of the transaction







Airfare Expenses (FIG. 8K)








How much is airfare tax?
Entry field for the amount paid that was airfare


How much is Taxed 
Entry field for the amount paid that was taxed 


Acquisition?
acquisition


How much is GST Free?
Entry field for the amount paid that was GST free


Calculated Total
This is the total of the transaction







Taxed Acquisition (FIG. 8L)








How much is Taxed 
Entry field for the amount paid that was taxed 


Acquisition?
acquisition


How much is Non 
Entry field for the amount paid that was non 


Taxed Acquisition
taxed acquisition


How much is PRE Jan. 
Entry field for the amount paid that was before 


7, 2000?
Jan. 7, 2000


How much is other?
Entry field for the amount paid that does not 



belong in any other fields


Original Amount
This shows the entire amount for the current item


Calculated Total
This is the total of the transaction







Loan Details (FIG. 8M)








How much is interest?
Entry field for the amount paid that was interest


How much is principal?
Entry field for the amount paid that was principal


How much is stamp 
Entry field for the amount paid that was stamp 


duty?
duty


Calculated Total
This is the total of the transaction







Hire Purchase Details (FIG. 8N)








How much is interest?
Entry field for the amount paid that was interest


How much is principal?
Entry field for the amount paid that was principal


How much is stamp 
Entry field for the amount paid that was stamp 


duty?
duty


Calculated Total
This is the total of the transaction







Gross Wage (FIG. 8HO)








What is the amount of 
Entry field for the amount paid that was tax 


tax withheld?
withheld


What is the amount of 
Entry field for the amount paid that was other 


other withholdings?
withholdings


Calculated Total
This is the total of the transaction







Voluntary Agreement (FIG. 8P)








How max tax withheld?
Entry field for the amount paid that was tax 



withheld


Calculated Total
This is the total of the transaction







Instalment with all GST Paid up Front (FIG. 8Q)








How much is stamp 
Entry field for the amount paid that was stamp 


duty?
duty


How much is GST?
Entry field for the amount of GST on the 



transaction


Instalment amount?
Entry field for the instalment amount


Calculated Total
This is the total of the transaction









Referring now to FIG. 8R which shows an interface for the bank reconciliation operation. The steps for the reconciliation operation are shown in FIG. 7E and FIG. 7F.
The client module 12 has a report operation wherein the client can select any of a number of reports to be displayed or printed. FIG. 8S shows an embodiment of an interface for configuring the module 12 to display a report for payments. As can be seen, the client can select a source account and nominates the period of weeks for the report. Where applicable, the report can be limited to payment transaction activities of a department or branch. FIG. 8T is an example showing parts of the payment report. Other examples are FIG. 8U for a Pay As You Go (PAYG) report, FIG. 8V for a Summary report, FIG. 8W for a GST audit report, FIG. 8X for a BAS statement report and FIG. 8Y for an accounts balance report.
The system 10 has a general ledger unit 20 for each advisor accountant module 13. The ledger unit 20 has a main interface as shown in FIG. 9A. The operational steps of the ledger main interface are shown in FIG. 9B. The main interface has a journal edit option for the accountant to edit a selected journal entry as shown in steps 80 and 82. A journal report option in step 84 allows details of the journal entries to be reported as shown in FIG. 9D. FIG. 9E shows a GST audit report generated by selecting the step 86 option. Account opening balance reports as shown in FIG. 9E are produced through step 88. A delete function 90 is provided for deleting the current journal entry.
FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of the system 10 where the administration module 14 is also a transaction coordinator, and is arranged to transfer purchase orders from client modules 12 of clients wishing to place orders for products to be supplied from known suppliers who are also using the client modules 12 for transactions. The suppliers on receiving the purchase orders convert them to sales orders and then take steps to obtained the ordered products from warehouses or to place production orders. Delivery and transportation are then arranged for delivery of the products. Invoices are also generated and transferred to the coordinator 14. When the clients ordering the products have finally received them, they will flag that to the coordinator 14 and to add the products to inventory. In time, remittances would be sent to the accrual coordinator 14 for making payments to the suppliers.
FIG. 10A shows a standard cost process which is used by the client (cashbook) modules 12 of the system 10 shown in FIG. 10 for checking variances between standard costs and actual costs of products.
FIG. 10B is an overview flow diagram of an accrual arrangement of the system 10. As can be seen, a user can select any of the operations connected with a customer list, an inventory, reports and transactions. When the transactions operation is selected, the client mules 12 can perform operations relating to debtors invoice generating, credit note generating and payments. Transaction balance is also calculated by adjustments thereof.
FIG. 10C shows the operational steps for the invoice generating operation for ordered products. The invoice generating operation on receiving a “create Invoice” selection displays an interface from which a customer for invoicing can be selected. The products ordered by this customer are then selected from a product list with their unit price. Any discount arrangement for this customer is also retrieved. The module 12 then extracts GST payable for the products and determines the delivery address from the customer list. If the ordered products are for an overseas destination, GST is not applied. The general ledger is then updated with the net sale value and where applicable allocated with the discount and the GST. Costs of sale are then posted to the general ledger and the inventory before saving the invoiced values to the module 12.
FIG. 10D shows the steps of an debtor payment operation.
FIG. 10E shows the steps of a debtor credit note operation. The steps include selecting and displaying the invoice for making adjustment, updating the inventory if the product is returned, and adjusting prices and quantity. The general ledger is also adjusted in respect of costs of sale, GST and net sale value. For overseas destinations, the export orders are reallocated. If the goods are for local delivery then the GST is readjusted before ouputting a debit note.
FIG. 10F shows the steps in a debtor sales order operation. This operation allows an operator to select a customer making the order and to select the products and quantity thereof for delivery by a specified method and date. The system checks for availability of the ordered products. If available, a products pick list is created followed by a delivery docket for dispatch. If the ordered products are not available then a back order is created.
FIG. 10G shows the steps of a purchase order operation.
FIG. 10H shows the steps of a creditor payment operation.
FIG. 10I shows an embodiment of the system 10 arranged for use as an extended point of sale. As can be seen the system 10 has some client module 12 functioning as customers and some functioning as suppliers. When a customer module 12 is used to make a purchase, the client selects products for the order as shown in FIG. 10G. The customer module processes the selected products to build a purchase order with the customer's global identifier created as shown by the steps in FIG. 10L. The purchase order is sent to the administration module 14 for processing as shown in FIG. 10J. The module 14 extracts relevant information from the purchase order and forwards the order to the supplier module 12 identified in the order. The supplier module 12 on receiving the order coverts it into a sales order and processes it as shown in FIG. 10F. A tax invoice is then raised and sent to the administration module 14. The invoice includes the supplier's global identity.
The administration module 14 extracts relevant details from the invoice and locate the customer module 12 for sending it to the customer. See FIG. 10K.
When the customer module 12 receives the invoice, it performs a checking step for a match with the purchase order. GST details of the purchased products are extracted from a product list for updating the general ledger.
As shown in FIG. 10M, any of the supplier modules 12 can build a product availability list and send it to the administration module 14 for processing it in a manner for access by the customer modules 12 as shown in FIG. 10N.
Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the present invention many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as herein set forth in the following claims.

## Claims

1. An accounting system, comprising:
a plurality of client modules;
an administration module for administering said plurality of client modules; and
at least one adviser module associated with at least one of said plurality of client modules,
the administration module being adapted for installation on an administration computer server and each client module being configured by the administration module to operate according to configuration information and generated for installation on a client computer unit(s) remote from the administrator computer server,
the administration module, the plurality of client modules and the at least one adviser module being arranged for communication over a communications network,
the administration module having
i) requesting means arranged to receive from at least one of the at least one adviser module and a user, accounts configuration information for configuring a requested client module and, where nominated, to associate an adviser module with the requested client module,
ii) scripting means arranged for the user and adviser module to script and edit an account description for association with a nominated account and a description for association with an accounts item within said nominated account,
iii) information obtaining means arranged to present on the requesting adviser module and a requesting client computer unit prompt messages relevant to an entity type category and a business type category nominated by at least one of the requesting adviser module and the user and to extract information provided to the prompt messages for inclusion into the configuration information,
iv) a master chart of accounts from which client accounts with matching entity type category and business type category contained in the configuration information are extracted, and
v) accounts generating means for generating the requested client module configured with at least one client chart of accounts in accordance with the extracted accounts;
each one of the plurality of client modules having transaction entry means for entering transaction records, pre-assigned transaction category codes being stored on a storage medium, means for selecting a pre-assigned category code to associate with a transaction record to be entered through the transaction entry means, and at least one client chart of accounts for selection of an account to which the transaction record is to be associated,
the accounts being predetermined by the information provided to the prompt messages in consideration of at least one of tax liability options for transactions and in accordance with accounts of the entity type category and the business type category prenominated in the configuration information,
each of said accounts including a pre-allocated unique account identification and an account description which is prescribed by at least one of the adviser module, the user, and generally adopted by traders with matching entity type category and business type category, and each of said category codes being pre-specified in the configuration information as one of a taxed and non-taxed category, and as one of an expenditure and income transaction type,
the administration module having a suppliers database containing client modules nominated as suppliers of certain product types and arranged for any client module to access the suppliers database for selecting a supplier of a product type and being arranged to present, upon selection of a supplier client module, a list of products of the selected supplier client module, and a coordination unit arranged for coordinating transaction activities between a purchasing client module and a supplier client module,
each client module being allocated with a unique client reference and each product of a supplier client module having a product reference associated with the client reference of the supplier client module, and each client module being adapted to access the suppliers database at the administration module and select at least one product of a selected supplier client module and to transfer a purchase order for the selected product(s) through the coordination unit to the selected supplier client module, the purchase order including the client reference of the purchasing client module, the client reference of the supplier client module and the product reference(s) of the selected product(s), the supplier client module being adapted to extract the client and product references in the purchase order for incorporation into a sales order.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said business type category including trading activities involving the provision of goods and services relating to any class of business.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein each client module having means for obtaining information relevant to tax liabilities of the transaction records, said information obtaining means having at least one prompt associated with each of a plurality transaction category codes that have tax liabilities, and being arranged to present the associated at least one prompt for entering information relevant to tax liabilities when one of said category code is nominated for a transaction to be entered, and to extract the entered information for allocating tax liabilities of the transaction.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein said at least one prompt is in the form of at least one leading question for prompting the client to enter said relevant tax liability information in a designated location(s), and the client module being arranged to extract the entered information at said designated location(s) and apply a tax liability determination procedure which is specific for extracted information from said designated location(s).

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the client module having report generating means arranged to access the entered transaction records for generating accounting reports.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the report generating means including a report selection arrangement for selecting any one of a number of accounting reports for generation.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein at least one of said taxed category codes is pre-allocated to taxation segments for a taxation report, being one of the accounting reports.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein said taxation report is a Business Activity Statement (BAS) that complies with the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein where a taxed category code having a variable taxation allocation is entered, a window with appropriate prompts for specifying amounts to be allocated is presented for entering the amounts.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the category code is associated with a wage account in said client chart of accounts.

11. The system according to claim 1, further having storage means for storing the transaction records and is arranged for accessing bank statement records over the communications network.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the client module having reconciliation means for reconciling said stored transaction records with the bank statement records.

13. The system according to claim 1, wherein said at least one adviser module having report generating means being arranged to access transaction records transferred from an associated client module for generating accounting reports and management reports.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the report generating means including a report selection arrangement for selecting any one of a number of accounting and management reports for generation.

15. The system according to claim 1, wherein the client chart of accounts is locked so that the account identifications and the account descriptions therein cannot be altered by the user.

16. The system according to claim 1, wherein the administration module having a transaction code generating means for generating the transaction codes as specified by the adviser.

17. The system according to claim 1, wherein the coordination unit is arranged to use the client references to transfer a subsequently received invoice for the sales order from the supplier client module to the purchasing client module.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein record of payment of the invoice is transfer through the administration module so that the coordination unit communicates to the supplier client module a record that the invoice has been settled.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein storage means being arranged to store transaction information between suppliers and purchasers, and the coordination unit being arranged to automate purchase orders when stocks for transactions are below predetermined levels.

20. The system according to claim 1, wherein each said plurality of client modules is associated with said at least one adviser module so that the transaction records stored in the client module of the associated client(s) can be accessed remotely.

21. The system according to claim 1, wherein the client module is one of a cash book module, an accrual module, a combined cash book and accrual module, a payroll module, a point of sale module, and any combination of two or more of said modules.