Option 2: Conduct test as an interview
This option involves holding an interview with the candidate on Skype or by telephone.
Procedure:
Appendix 1: Case study – Houzit Pty Ltd
You have recently been appointed as the business manager of Houzit Pty Ltd, a store manager for the past three years. Houzit Pty Ltd is a 15-store retail chain located in Brisbane. Houzit is the leading homewares retailer, catering to the growing need for furnishing new and renovated dwellings in the greater Brisbane area.
The assortment on offer of bathroom fittings, bedroom fittings, mirrors and decorative items together with the recently added lighting fixtures has positioned Houzit as a leader in homewares retailing in Australia. Houzit has grown over the past five years from a single store to the current chain. Houzit prides itself on superior after sales service which has been a key reason for the continued growth in sales and corresponding profit increases. Today Houzit employs over 150 staff.
Houzit Pty Ltd is a proprietary limited company (ACN 34 765 234 02) registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission. The registered address is with Houzit’s solicitors (Langs Lawyers, 535 Queen Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000) and the principle place of business is 505 Boundary Street Spring Hill Brisbane QLD 4000.
Computer software requirement
The current accounting information system has not adequately provided sufficient analysis of revenue and expenditure and has made it difficult to make informed estimates of future profits. Estimates have relied on the ‘gut feel’ of the experienced traders on the board and of the senior managers. The board sees the need to apply more analysis to past results that they believe could be done with the introduction of state-of-the-art computer software.
Houzit Pty Ltd wants to upgrade their existing accounting system which will manage the company accounts more efficiently in the long run. They request that the new system you recommend to them to be compliant with all legislative and statutory requirements for small to medium businesses.
None of Houzit’s products are GST free however the accounting information system records the GST collected as well as the input tax credits earned on the purchases of stock and assets. These amounts are reported and paid in accordance with the business activity statement (BAS) schedule determined by the Australian Tax Office.
They have 100 fulltime and 50 part-time staff, but only 10 of the staff will have or need access to the financial system. Some staff are paid on a salary sacrifice arrangement that attracts fringe benefits tax. The staff with access to the financial system want software that is a single purchase with no ongoing license fees, and a plan to keep using if for the next 3–5 years, while the organisation continues to grow. They are anticipating that within five years they will have over 250 full-time staff, and at least 20 staff will require access to the financial system by then.
The payroll system deducts withholding tax from the employees and remits this along with the firm’s pay as you go (PAYG) instalment each quarter as reported on the firm’s business activity statement. Income tax return for the company and its annual statement is completed by the firm’s accountant. Taxes and fees due are paid by the due dates. Financial records are kept at Houzit’s principle place of business.
Houzit have just upgraded their computers and have five new desktop PCs which will be used by the finance staff. They are current (for 2011) specification machines with i5 CPUs and 4Gb RAM each, and all have Windows 7 Professional and Norton’s 360 installed with the professional version of Microsoft Office Small Business as well. Other staff will use their machines at various times, so it is important that the software requires a login to access data and that data stored by the software cannot be accessed in any other way.
Corporate details
Jim Schneider, the CEO, has asked you to prepare some financial budgets for the 2011/12 financial year as a preliminary overview of the financial year ahead. He asked you to first prepare a 12 months budget and then break it up over the four quarters. The areas he is particularly interested in seeing is: