FIGURE 2.9 Peachtree “Business Status Center” Page from Peachtree by Sage Premium Accounting 2010
(©2009 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Screen shot from Peachtree by Sage Premium Accounting
2010 reprinted with permission. Sage, the Sage logos, Peachtree, and the Peachtree logo are the registered
trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc.)Chapter 2 • Computer Systems 37particularly for smaller, personal, and departmental sys-
tems—is now done by users such as you who are not in
the formally constituted IS organization. This has
occurred because companies have hired more knowledge-
able, more computer-oriented employees who have taken
advantage of powerful, affordable desktop computers and
relatively easy-to-use software tools that made it possible
for interested, but not expert, users to carry out significant
software development. These tools include the fourth gen-
eration languages and the query languages associated with
database management systems, both of which will be dis-
cussed later in this chapter. This trend toward user appli-
cation development will continue, in our view, with many
of you becoming involved in software development early
in your careers.
Of course, not all internal software development is
done—or should be done—by users. The IS organiza-
tions (or consulting companies or software vendors)
continue to develop and maintain the large, complex
applications as well as applications that apply to multiple
areas within the organization. The IS organizations
employ the same tools used by end users, but they also
have other tools at their disposal. Chapters 8 to 10
explore the various ways in which applications systems
are developed or procured.
An Example of an Application Product
To continue our look at applications software, we will con-
sider one commercial software product to handle the
accounting functions of a smaller business. There are, of
course, many other accounting products available for
purchase, as well as commercial products in a wide variety
of other categories.
Our example product is Peachtree by Sage Premium
Accounting 2010 (Sage is based in the United Kingdom),
with a retail price of $500 for a single-user version. This
product has all the features that a small to midsized busi-
ness would need, including general ledger, accounts receiv-
able, accounts payable, inventory, payroll, time and billing,
job costing, fixed asset accounting, and analysis and report-
ing tools. The Peachtree “Business Status Center” page,
illustrated in Figure 2.9, provides a concise, integrated way
for the business to review key financial information. The
“Business Status Center” page displays up-to-date informa-
tion on such categories as vendors to pay, top customers for
the last 12 months, year-to-date revenue, and account
balances. Other features built into Peachtree Premium
Accounting include the ability to create and track sales
orders and back orders, maintain an audit trail, track inven-
tory items by detailed attributes, create departmentalized