ANALYSIS
Introduction
The aim of this assignment is to design and create a computerized system that will assist Jack for his business as he currently uses a paper based system for his calculations. My initiative is to design a system so Jack can monitor his profit and cumulative profit every month to see whether he has enough income every month to pay for his over heads and continue his business.
Current System
Identifying the system
Jack currently works out his calculations on a paper based system.
Weaknesses
- Time consuming for; he may have to repeat certain things.
- Miscalculation, he may add up calculations wrong.
- Information can be too cluttered, which makes work look untidy.
- Can lose his work, will not have backed up copies.
- The current system would be harder to understand and read e.g. unreadable handwriting, missing information etc.
What a computerized system will do – (Strengths)
- It will be quicker, as you will only need to enter information once. A template will be used.
- It will be accurate, as there will be formulas used which will automatically add up calculations.
- Information will be clear and presentable.
- The system will be 100% accurate. No incorrect data will be allowed to be entered.
- The system will be user–friendly and easy to use.
Objectives of new system
- No incorrect data will be allowed to be entered.
- Must be able to add as many vegetables ...
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What a computerized system will do – (Strengths)
- It will be quicker, as you will only need to enter information once. A template will be used.
- It will be accurate, as there will be formulas used which will automatically add up calculations.
- Information will be clear and presentable.
- The system will be 100% accurate. No incorrect data will be allowed to be entered.
- The system will be user–friendly and easy to use.
Objectives of new system
- No incorrect data will be allowed to be entered.
- Must be able to add as many vegetables and view prices.
- The system must be user friendly, even to those with rudimentary knowledge of Excel.
- Must be able to calculate totals with no miscalculations.
- The system must be robust and easy to use
- The user (Jack Tomlinson) should be allowed to enter price details wherever required.
- Jack must be able to view his sales, income, expenditure, profit, loss and cumulative profit
Data Flow Diagram
Performance Indicators
- The system should be easy to use for anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Excel
- The system will have menu buttons. Clicking on them will take you to the appropriate sheet i.e. price list, order form, main menu, cash flow.
- Data entry should be made simple. So if incorrect or invalid data is entered, an error message must be displayed. This will make the system 100% accurate.
- Calculations will be 100% accurate, as I will use a lookup table.
- Jack will be able to browse his cash flow or any other worksheets by using the buttons on the main menu I will create for easier navigation.
Hardware and Software
Jack currently has no hardware or software.
I will use a Pentium PC with 256 Mb RAM and 20Mb of Hard Disk space on my user account on the college Network Hard Drive. Windows 2000 and Office 2000 are already installed on this system.
The development work will be carried out on the college network as well as my standalone PC at home. The standalone PC I will use is an AMD Athlon with 2GB RAM and has 180 GB Hard Disk Drive. All the files needed, will need to fit on a Floppy Disk, so that it can easily be transported from home to college and vice versa.
User’s Skill Level
The user will be Jack. He has rudimentary knowledge of Microsoft Excel, but the system will be user friendly and will be very easy to use. It will be impossible for him to enter incorrect data as I will be using data validation. He or any other user will not be allowed to accidentally delete/edit headings, formulas, images etc.
DESIGN
Choice of software
The system will be implemented using Microsoft Excel 2000. This software is idyllic as it includes many basic as well as advanced features which can be used in customizing the program. I have listed some below.
- Can create a blank template
- The capability to link price details entered in one workbook with another workbook through a lookup table.
- The ability to format text, alter page margins/layout, add logo’s etc.
- Formatting, to help make the user clear, where to enter data.
- Can use charting facilities
- Macros to automate various functions within the workbook.
- Auditing tools to help ensure that there are no errors in the workbook.
- Ability to protect worksheets and workbooks so that the user cannot accidentally destroy formulas or headings;
- Customized menus and toolbars.
Worksheet Design
System overview
The system will have 1 workbook and 5 worksheets. These are; Pricelist sheet, order form, cash flow, main menu and a sheet for charts/graphs. The user will open the main menu sheet and can browse through the whole workbook, via the menu buttons that I will create. This will be completed via macros, this is for easier navigation.
Brief Design
Sheet 1 – Main Menu
This sheet will act as the front end and will be selected automatically using Autoexec macro when the workbook is loaded. It will have 4 options and an image as follows:
There are 4 menu buttons, clicking them; will take you to the appropriate sheet indicated.
Sheet 2 – Price List
This is where the prices of each vegetable will be displayed for each month. It will be laid out as follows:
All cells will be locked apart from the ones where data is entered, meaning that it will be impossible to accidentally overwrite formulas, and data entry will be faster because tabbing will automatically move to the next unlocked cell. Clicking on the menu buttons at the bottom will take you the appropriate sheet. This will be done via macros.
There will be four command buttons on every sheet:
Price List – This will take you to sheet 2 (Price List) where the prices for all vegetables are
displayed.
Order Form – This will take you to sheet 3 (Order Form), this is where you order the
vegetables
Cash Flow – This will take you sheet 4 (Cash Flow), on this sheet Jack can view all his income and expenditure on every month. He can also view his profit/loss and cumulative profit.
Exit – by clicking this button, the application will close down.
Sheet 3 – Order form
This is the order form. The layout should be as follows:
To order, you tick the check box of the vegetables you wish to order, the cost of 1 selected vegetable will be displayed. Then using the drop down menu, you choose the quantity of how many of each vegetable you require. The total amount for each vegetable will be shown; this will be calculated by multiplying the price of 1 with the quantity. Grand Total will be shown at the bottom.
Sheet 4 – Cash Flow
This is the cash flow sheet. Here Jack can view his profit/loss and cumulative profit, sales and expenditure for each month. For this information he can view trends. He can work out what month has the highest sales and which has the least. He can also check whether he has enough income to pay for his overheads, to continue running the business.
Detailed Design
Main Menu
PriceList
Orderform
Cashflow
Data entry and Validation
Entering Vegetable prices
the vegetable prices will be edited by Jack only. Each cell for vegetables for each month has been validated. A minimum value has to be 0.01 or more and the maximum value has been set to 99.9.
Cash flow sheet
In the cash flow sheet the user can enter data into most cells with the exception of cells with formulas, they cannot be edited. This also makes a 100% accurate cashflow.
Macros
The following macros will be used:
Main Menu
- clicking this button will take you to the Mainmenu worksheet
Price List
- clicking this button will take you to the Pricelist worksheet
Cashflow
- clicking this button will take you to the Cashflow worksheet
Orderform
-clicking this button will take you to the orderform worksheet
Exit
- Saves and closes all open workbooks
Sales Figures
- Clicking this will take you to the Sales Figures graph on the charts/graphs sheet
Total sales
- Clicking this will take you to the TotalSales graph on the charts/graphs sheet
Security
All the worksheets will be protected so that data can be only entered into unlocked cells. However I will not attach a password to the workbook or worksheets incase Jack forgets it. Therefore the workbook can be unprotected using Tools > unprotect.
Karrar shah -
