Table 1: Comparison of Technology Categories: Business Administration

||**Handwritten**<br>**pro-**<br>**cess**|**Standard Software**|**Mobile apps**|**Specialized Software**|**Enterprise Resource**<br>**Planning (ERP)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Functionality|Basic<br>manual<br>tasks<br>(e.g.,<br>simple<br>book-<br>keeping, and employee<br>records).|Handles<br>fnancial,<br>accounting,<br>and<br>HR<br>record,<br>with<br>manual<br>inputs<br>or<br>built<br>in<br>functions.|Pre-designed<br>to<br>han-<br>dle fnancial, account-<br>ing,<br>and HR record.<br>Limited scale and cus-<br>tomization.|Extensive<br>specialized<br>tools for complex fnan-<br>cial,<br>accounting,<br>and<br>HR management.|Comprehensive<br>man-<br>agement of all fnance,<br>accounting,<br>and<br>HR<br>processes.|
|Integration|No.|Limited.<br>It requires<br>manual<br>processing<br>or<br>additional templates.|Good<br>integration<br>ca-<br>pabilities with limited<br>customization.|Integration<br>with<br>sys-<br>tems and customizable<br>reporting tools.|Full integration with a<br>wide range of functions<br>and customization.|
|Automation|No.|Limited.<br>It requires<br>manual scripting.|Good automation for<br>specifc processes with<br>limited scale.|High-level of automa-<br>tion within their spe-<br>cialized domains.|High-level of automa-<br>tion<br>across<br>all<br>func-<br>tions.|
|Experts ranking|1|2|3|4|5|
|Reason for Ranking|Manual processes with<br>minimal<br>functionality,<br>no automation, and no<br>integration capabilities.|Basic functionality and<br>some level of automa-<br>tion.<br>Limited integra-<br>tion capabilities.|Good functionality, in-<br>tegration, and automa-<br>tion, but limited scale<br>and customization.|High functionality, in-<br>tegration, and automa-<br>tion capabilities within<br>specialized domains.|Comprehensive<br>func-<br>tionality,<br>full integra-<br>tion,<br>and<br>advanced<br>automation.|
|Technology Example|Paper Ledger|Microsoft<br>Excel,<br>Google Sheets|QuickBooks<br>Online,<br>BambooHR|Oracle Financials, In-<br>tuit QuickBooks (Desk-<br>top), Workday HCM|SAP ERP, Oracle Net-<br>Suite|
|Cost for acquiring the<br>technology|Negligible|Microsoft<br>Excel:<br>$159.99; Google Sheets<br>(Free-$18/user/month)|QuickBooks<br>Online:<br>$30-$200/month; Bam-<br>booHR:<br>$108/month<br>for 20 employees|Oracle<br>Financials:<br>$600+/month;<br>In-<br>tuit<br>QuickBooks:<br>$1,481+/year/user;|SAP<br>ERP;<br>Oracle<br>NetSuite price varies.<br>Average ERP $1,740-<br>$9,330/month.|
|Launch year|Pre- 1900|Microsoft Excel: 1985;<br>Google Sheets: 2006|QuickBooks<br>Online:<br>2001; BambooHR: 2008|Oracle<br>Financials:<br>1989;<br>Intuit<br>Quick-<br>Books: 1998; Workday<br>HCM: 2006|SAP ERP: 1981; Oracle<br>NetSuite: 1998|
|ChatGPT ranking|1|2|3|4|5|
|ChatGPT time (task)*|5 hours|2 hours|1.5 hours|1 hour|30 min|

Sources: Product description on the websites of various companies, including Microsoft, Google, QuickBooks, Bamboo HR, Oracle, SAP, and Workday. Wood (2024) provides estimates of average costs for ERP software. The prompts for ChatGPT ranking and estimated time to perform a typical task – manage payroll and prepare financial statements – are available in the appendix.