Integrative case S&S Inc.After work

Integrative case S&S Inc.
After working for several years as a regional manager for a national retailing organization, Schott Parry decided to open his own business. Susan Gonzalez, one of his district managers, has also wanted to go into business for herself. Together they formed S&S, Inc., to sell appliances and consumer electronics devices. Scott and Susan decide to pursue a “Clicks and Bricks” strategy. They began by renting a large and attractive building in a busy part of town but planned to add an electronic storefront as well.
Scott and Susan each contributed enough money to see them through the first six months of business. They estimated that they needed to hire 10 to 15 employees – 3 or 4 to stock the shelves, 3 or 4 customer sales representatives, and 4 to 7 checkout clerks. They plan to begin hiring these employees within the next two weeks.
Scott and Susan plan to hold the grand opening of S&S in five weeks. As they review what remains to be done to meet that deadline, they realize that they have not yet made the following important decisions:……

The grand opening of S&S, Inc. is two weeks away. Scott Parry and Susan Gonzalez are working long hours to make the final arrangements for the store opening. Most of the employees have already been hired; training is scheduled for next week.
Susan has ordered what she thinks will be an adequate amount of inventory for the first month. The store is being remodeled and will have a bright, cheery décor. All seems to be in order – all, that is, except the accounting records.
Like many entrepreneurs, Scott and Susan have not given as much thought to their accounting records as they have to other parts of their business. They recognize that they need qualified accounting help and have hired a full-time accountant, Ashton Fleming. Scott and Susan think Ashton is perfect for the job because of his three years of experience with a national CPA firm. Ashton is looking forward to working for S&S because he has always wanted to be involved in building a company from the ground up.
During Ashton’s first day on the job, Susan shows him where she stored the invoices for the inventory she purchased. Scott explains that the sales staff is paid a fixed salary plus commissions and that all other employees are paid hourly rates. Employees are paid every two weeks, with their first paychecks due next week. Susan then pulls out several folders and hands them to Ashton. Once contains the documentation on their bank loan, with the first payment due several days after the grand opening. The other folders contain information on rental payments, utilities, and other expenses. Susan tells Ashton that she and Scott know little about accounting and are relying on him to help them decide how to run the accounting end of S&S. She adds that the only thing they have done so far is to open a checking account for S&S and that they have kept the check register updated to monitor their cash flow.
Ashton asks Scott what accounting software the company is using. Scott replies that with all challenges they have had in opening up S&S, he and Susan have not had time to tackle that aspect yet. Scott adds that he and Susan did begin to look at some of the popular packages but quickly realized that they did not know enough about accounting to make an intelligent choice. Scott then tells Ashton that his first task should be to purchase whatever accounting software he thinks will be best for S&S.
After Scott leaves, Ashton feels both excited and a little nervous about his responsibility for creating an AIS for S&S. Although Ashton has audited many companies, he has never organized a company’s books and is unsure how to go about it. A million questions run through his head.