Page 89 - Accounting Information Systems

60 PART I Overview of Accounting Information Systems

the hard-copy customer order and is labeled accordingly. The bucket-shaped symbol represents a manual
process. In this case, the clerk in the sales department prepares four copies of the sales order. Notice that
the clerk’s task, not the clerk, is depicted. The arrows between the objects show the direction of flow and
the sequence of events.
By transcribing each fact in this way, we systematically construct a flowchart. See how the second and
third facts restated below add to the flowchart in Figure 2-19.
2. The clerk sends Copy 1 of the sales order to the credit department for approval. The other three copies
and the original customer order are filed temporarily, pending credit approval.
3. The credit department clerk validates the customer’s order against hard-copy credit records kept in
the credit department. The clerk signs Copy 1 to signify approval and returns it to the sales clerk.
Two new symbols are introduced in this figure. First, the upside-down triangle symbol represents the
temporary file mentioned in Fact 2. This is a physical file of paper documents such as a drawer in a filing
cabinet or desk. Such files are typically arranged according to a specified order. To signify the filing sys-
tem used, the file symbol will usually contain an ‘‘N’’ for numeric (invoice number), ‘‘C’’ for chronologi-
cal (date), or ‘‘A’’ for alphabetic order (customer name). Secondly, the parallelogram shape represents the
credit records mentioned in Fact 3. This symbol is used to depict many types of hard-copy accounting
records, such as journals, subsidiary ledgers, general ledgers, and shipping logs.

FI G U R E FLOWCHART SHOWING STATED FACTS 1, 2, AND 3TRANSLATED INTO VISUAL SYMBOLS
2-19

Sales Department Credit Department Warehouse Shipping Department

Customer Sales
Order 1

Customer
Order
Check Credit
Credit
Records
Prepare
Sales
Order
Signed Sales
Order 1
Customer
Order
Sales
Order 4
Sales
Order 3
Sales
Order 2
Sales
N Order 1
Signed Sales
Order 1