The initial post needs to include at least one outside resource/relevant researc
The initial post needs to include at least one outside resource/relevant research (per the Initial Post criteria on the Grading Rubric) to support important points (noting you need an in-text citation and a corresponding end reference in APA 7th edition format). Don’t forget, if you need help with APA 7th edition, see the APA 7th Edition Formatting Resources module…or ask me for assistance…
Once you have selected a case study, you need to construct one (1) initial post. The initial post must be a minimum of 300 words. So, ideally, you would have a well-balanced post with each answer being approximately 150 words (i.e., 150 words for Question #1 and 150 words for Question #2 for a total minimum word count of 300 words).
Group Case Study #2 (Chapter 4)
Entrepreneur Employing Mobile Enterprise Apps
Australian-based entrepreneur Nathan Tuckwell runs three, coffee based companies including
The Bean Doctor, which sells and services coffee machines; Mighty Fine Coffee, which makes
and sells fresh roasted coffee including automatic re-order subscriiptions shipped directly to
customers in both Australia and New Zealand; and Waffle Co., a café, dessert parlor that serves
breakfast and lunch along with fresh roasted coffee.
The three businesses are quite busy and generate lots of sales and expense transactions. Nathan
needed some way to capture, record, and use all this data in his day to day decision making.
Through research and by speaking with other small business owners, Nathan learned about
Square, QuickBooks Online, and Synch with Square, all mobile apps for small businesses. He
decided to try these apps to manage Waffle Co.
Square and QuickBooks Online are cloud based applications which means that to use the
application you go to the Internet and access a secure website hosted by a third party. Thus, the
small business can avoid large, up-front investments for computer hardware on which to run the
software. Users pay a small monthly access fee to cover the cost of using the software and on-
going support and upgrades.
Square is a point of sale solution that captures cash, credit card, and gift card payments; applies
discounts and issue refunds; keeps track of sales and inventory, and provides sales reports by
customer, item, or time of day. These reports enable users to know what items are selling well
and what items are not doing so well. It also helps business owners to get to know customers
better by knowing how much they spend, their favorite items, and how frequently they visit the
cafe. Because Square records sales by item, it is possible to obtain reports on current inventory
and update inventory quantities in bulk—which is helpful when adding new inventory.
QuickBooks Online is an accounting software package designed to track income and expenses
for small businesses. With this data, you are able to manage expenses and track cash flow. The
first thing you see when you sign in is QuickBooks Online home page called a dashboard that
shows an overview of account balances, income and expense totals and charts, and tasks that
need to be done.
Sync with Square Imports Square sales transactions into QuickBooks. At the end of each day,
every sale recorded in Square is automatically imported into QuickBooks as an invoice and
payment. Once the transactions are imported, it is possible to view the sales, refunds, taxes, tips,
and discounts that were processed with Square. Details of the invoice—such as the item and the
quantity sold, applied discounts, shipping costs, and taxes paid—are also recorded. Fees, such as
bank deposit fees and transaction fees charged by Square, are also imported to accurately reflect
each account.
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Nathan quickly figured out how to link these three programs so that the café transactions were
automatically loaded from Square into his QuickBooks account using the Sync with Square app.
Now manual data entry is almost entirely eliminated and reconciling Nathan’s books is easy with
deposits, payments, refunds, and fees automatically matched against his bank statement. Based
on the success of using this software for Waffle Co., Nathan has implemented it for Mighty Fine
Coffee and The Bean Doctor. He can log onto the QuickBooks Online dashboard to see all the
information he needs to run his business and make data driven business decisions that have
helped him generate more profits and reduce loss. Accurate, timely data is important for any
business but especially crucial for a company that sells perishable items.
Group Case Study #2 Questions – Answer Both
1. Xero and Zoho Books are two other small business accounting applications that can
support the import of transactions directly from Square. Do research online to evaluate
these in terms of cost, ease of use, functionality, and support compared to QuickBooks
online. Which option do you believe is the best for a small business? Why?
2. What advantages are associated with using cloud-based apps? What potential issues
could arise of which the user must be wary?
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