Executive Summary

The purpose of this paper is to assess the current accounting and information technology issues that the CIT Group Company is experiencing and to build an innovative solution for the off-lease transaction process. The report will concentrate on the customary transaction cycle operations, such as handling orders, financing approval, shipping, payment, and revenue collection, as well as actions related to sales, marketing, and accounting. The report will also make a brief comment on the potential effects on the expenditure and inventory cycles of implementing the specified hardware and software needs. The paper will highlight these hardware technologies, the key users, and their benefits to the company. The discussion and evaluation of the proposed implementation plan and a Recommendation of Appropriate and New Internal Controls for CIT will also be discussed in this report. The objective of this report is to give the company’s board of directors a thorough review of its current systems and suggestions for a new one that would increase the efficacy and efficiency of the off-lease transaction operation.

Discussion

Assessment of Current Threats and Their Effect on Management Information

The case study highlights several issues with the off-lease transaction process as well as the CIT Company’s present accounting and information technology systems. These issues have a big impact on management data and general company performance. Officials have been unable to efficiently manage operations, which has resulted in reduced morale, reduced flexibility, operational ineffectiveness, conflicts at work, and staff terminations due to poor operational systems (Lipaj and Davidaviciene, 2013). According to the case study, the CIT Company’s current systems are insufficiently integrated, which causes several problems that have an impact on accounting and transaction procedures. As a result, processing orders, sending packages, and billing may be delayed or mistaken due to data mismatches between the sales and accounting departments’ records of customers. For instance, the sales staff may need to verify the inventory levels to see if the items are still available after a consumer placed an order. The sales staff may need to get in touch with the warehouse staff to confirm the items’ availability if the records of stock are out of date. Hayley was unaware that the £82,125 payment for 565 computers for the University of East Wales was intended for 365 computers, with the remaining computers being routed to Venture Fitness Company by Kelvin due to the lack of a centralized database.

Additionally, it is challenging to check the progress of orders, shipments, and billing due to a lack of departmental system connectivity. For instance, Hayley observed unauthorized equipment returns to the remarketer when Kelvin was away from the office. She also noted mixed-up warehouse and lease business details and addresses in addition to the unapproved returns. Due to this problem, the PTG firm received a fax asking them to return the rented equipment, which they did and then gave to a gym. A decentralized approach also resulted in CIT sending orders to warehouses and other businesses that were not authorized. Hayley discovered that ERemarketing Company has been supplying their business with unauthorized office supplies.

The case study also draws attention to the problem of manual processing, which leads to ineffective and mistake-prone operations in the enterprise’s present system. The printing and mailing of agreements, billing information, and purchase requests, as well as the manual handling of credit authorization and payment receipts, are just a few examples of the manual processes used by the company in its off-lease transaction process. For example, under the existing setup, clients must physically sign a physical copy of the deal and mail it back to the business. The leased equipment must be returned, according to written and faxed instructions, according to PGT. The document must be sent through the mail system, which takes time and increases the possibility of mistakes like missing or incorrect information. Additionally, following her visits to the Fitness Centre and E-Remarketing, Hayley concluded that those businesses could not be suitable resellers for CIT’s equipment. Instead of employing automation, she went to Kevin’s office and placed the faxed copy of the return authorization on his desk. The sales staff must manually assess customer credit applications before sending them to the finance department for processing. Credit approvals are also done manually. A payment invoice is shown being passed by Harley to the accounting division for payments. Due to the numerous negotiations that were being run about the supplies of computing devices to businesses, confirmation of invoice