Page 68 - Accounting Information Systems

C H A P TER 1 The Information System: An Accountant’s Perspective 39

packaging products for the electronics and medical exists. What problems do you think resulted from this
supply industries; and paper products (for example, communication gap? What do you think you can do to
plates, cups, and napkins) for the fast food industry. help close the gap even more when you enter the
b. Although the manufacturing facilities are located workforce?
within a single complex, none of the three products
shares the same suppliers, customers, or physical 11. CHARACTERISTICS OF USEFUL
production lines.
INFORMATION
c. The organization’s functional activities include
design, production, distribution, marketing, finance, All records in a file must be uniquely identifiable in at
human resources, and accounting. least one attribute, which is its primary key. Drawing on
your general knowledge of accounting, identify the pri-
9. FUNCTIONAL SEGMENTATION mary key for the following types of accounting records.
To illustrate, the first record is done for you.
The current organization structure of Blue Sky Company,
a manufacturer of small sailboats, is presented below.
Record Type Primary Key
Required Accounts Receivable Customer Number
a. What operational problems (for example, ineffi- Accounts Payable
ciency, errors, fraud) do you think Blue Sky could Inventory
experience because of this structure?
Customer Sales Orders
b. Draw a new diagram reflecting an improved struc- Purchase Orders to vendors
ture that solves the problems you identified. If nec- Cash Receipts (checks) from
essary, you may add up to two new positions.
customers
Cash Disbursements (checks)
President to vendors
Employee Payroll Earnings
VP VP records
Production Marketing

Inventory Production Sales Financial 12. DATA ATTRIBUTES
Management Foreman Manager Manager
Drawing from your basic accounting knowledge, list
Inventory Assembly Product Cash the relevant data attributes that constitute the record
Warehouse Sales Receipts
types below. Identify which attribute is the primary key
Cost Credit Accounts for the record.
Purchasing
Accounting Approval Receivable
Accounts Payable record
Inventory Timekeeping Customer Cash
Control Billing Disbursements
Inventory record
Payroll Accounts Customer Sales Orders record
Processing Payable
Purchase Orders to vendors
Cash Receipts (checks) from customers
10. COMMUNICATIONS
Employee Payroll Earnings records
Before the mid-1970s, systems programmers and busi-
nesspeople (including accountants) did not communi-
cate well with one another. The programmers were 13. DISTRIBUTED DATA PROCESSING
criticized for using too much jargon, and the business-
Explain why an organization would choose to install a
people were criticized for not adequately expressing
distributed instead of a centralized computer environment.
their needs. Efforts have been made to overcome this
communication gap, but room for improvement still