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Accounting Information Systems,: 6 Edition James A. Hall
Accounting Information Systems,: 6 Edition James A. Hall
COPYRIGHT © 2009 South-Western, a division of Cengage Learning. Cengage Learning and South-Western
are trademarks used herein under license
Objectives for Chapter 5
y Fundamental tasks performed during purchases and cash
disbursement processes
y Functional areas involved in purchases and cash
disbursements and the flow of these transactions through
the organization
y Documents, journals, and accounts that provide audit
trails, promote the maintenance of records, and support
decision making and financial reporting
y Risks associated with purchase and cash disbursements
activities and the controls that reduce these risks
y Operational features and the control implications of
technology used in purchases and cash disbursement
systems
Purchase Requisition Purchasing
1 2
PROCUREMENT CYCLE
(SUBSYSTEM)
Receiving/
Cash Disbursements Inspection
3
5
Accounts Payable
4
Goals of the Expenditure Cycle
y The goal of providing needed resources to organization
can be broken down into several objectives:
y purchase from reliable vendors
y purchase high quality items
y obtain best possible price
y purchase only items that are properly authorized
y have resources available when they are needed
y receive only those items ordered
y ensure items are not lost, stolen, or
broken
y pay for the items in a timely manner
DFD of Purchases System
A Manual Purchases System
y Begins in Inventory Control when inventory levels
drop to reorder levels
y A purchase requisition (PR) is prepared and copies to
sent to Purchasing and Accounts Payable (A/P)
y Purchasing prepares a purchase order (PO) for each
vendor and sends copies to Inventory Control, A/P,
and Receiving
A Manual Purchases System
y Upon receipt, Receiving counts and inspects the
goods.
y A blind copy of the PO is used to force workers to
count the goods.
y A receiving report is prepared and copies sent to the
raw materials storeroom, Purchasing, Inventory
Control, and A/P.
A Manual Purchases System
y A/P eventually receives copies of the PR, PO,
receiving report, and the supplier’s invoice.
y A/P reconciles these documents, posts to the
purchases journal, and records the liability in the
accounts payable subsidiary ledger.
A Manual Purchases System
y A/P periodically summarizes the entries in the
purchases journal as a journal voucher which is sent to
the General Ledger (G/L) department.
Inv‐Control or Purchases DR
Accts Payable‐Control CR
y A/P also prepares a cash disbursements voucher and
posts it in the voucher register.
A Manual Purchases System
yG/L department:
y posts from the accounts payable journal
voucher to the general ledger
y reconciles the inventory amount with the
account summary received from
inventory control
Manual Purchases Flowchart
DFD of Cash Disbursements System
Manual Cash Disbursements System
y Periodically, A/P searches the open vouchers payable
file for items with payments due:
y A/P sends the voucher and supporting
documents to Cash Disbursements
y A/P updates the accounts payable
subsidiary ledger
Manual Cash Disbursements System
y Cash Disbursements:
y prepares the check
y records the information in a check register (cash
disbursements journal)
y returns paid vouchers to accounts payable, mails the
check to the supplier
y sends a journal voucher to G/L:
Accounts Payable DR
Cash CR
Manual Cash Disbursements System
y G/L department receives:
y the journal voucher from cash disbursements
y a summary of the accounts payable subsidiary ledger
from A/P
y The journal voucher is used to update the
general ledger.
y The accounts payable control account is
reconciled with the subsidiary summary.
Cash Disbursements System
Computer‐Based Accounting Systems
y CBAS technology can be viewed as a continuum with
two extremes:
y automation ‐ use technology to improve
efficiency and effectiveness
y reengineering – use technology to
restructure business processes and firm
organization
Levels of Automating and Reengineering
Ordering
y Computer generates PR
y Purchases manually generates PO
y Computer generates PO (no PR needed)
y PO not sent until manually reviewed
y Computer‐generated PO is automatically sent without
manual review
y Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
y Computer‐to‐computer communication without PO
Expenditure Cycle Database
y Master Files • Other Files
y supplier (vendor) master file – supplier reference and
y accounts payable master file
history file
y merchandise inventory master – buyer file
file – accounts payable detail file
y Transaction and Open
Document Files
y purchase order file
y open purchase order file
y supplier’s invoice file
y open vouchers file
y cash disbursements file
Computer‐Based Purchases
y A Data Processing dept. performs routine
accounting tasks.
y Purchasing ‐ a computer program identifies
inventory requirements
y The following methods are used for authorizing
and ordering inventories:
y the system prepares POs and sends them to
Purchases for review, signing, and distributing
y the system distributes POs directly to the vendors
and internal users, bypassing Purchases
y the system uses electronic data interchange (EDI)
and electronically places the order without POs
Computer‐Based Purchases
y Other tasks performed automatically by the
computer:
y updates the inventory subsidiary file from
the receiving report
y calculates batch totals for general ledger
update
y closes the corresponding records in the open
PO file to the closed PO file
y validates the voucher records against valid
vendor files
Computer‐Based Cash Disbursements
yTasks performed automatically by
the computer:
y the system scans for vouchers currently
due
y prints checks for these vouchers
y records these checks in the check register
y batch totals are prepared for the general
ledger update procedure
Automated Batch Purchases
Automated Batch Purchases
Advantages of Real‐Time Data Input &
Processing Over Batch Processing
y Shortens the time‐lag in record‐keeping;
hence, records are more current
y Eliminates much of the routine manual
procedures, such as transcribing information
onto paper documents
y Eliminates much of the storage and shuffling
of paper documents
y Reduces data entry correction procedures
Reengineered Purchases/Cash
Disbursements
Summary of Internal Controls
General Internal Controls
y Organization controls
y segregation of duties
y Documentation
y Asset Accountability Controls
y Management Practices
y Data Center Operations Controls
y Authorization Controls
y Access Controls
Manual
Authorization Controls
y Purchases of inventory should be authorized by the
Inventory Control department, not by purchasing
agents
y Accounts Payable authorizes the payments of bills,
not the cash disbursements clerk, who writes the
checks