Chapter 5

The Expenditure Cycle Part 1:

Purchases and Cash
Disbursements Procedures
Accounting Information Systems, 5th edition
James A. Hall

COPYRIGHT © 2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo,
and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license
 Objectives for Chapter 5
• Tasks performed during purchases and cash disbursement
processes
• Departments involved in purchases and cash disbursement
activities and the flow of these transactions through the
organization
• Documents, journals, and accounts that provide audit trails,
promote the maintenance of records, and support decision
making and financial reporting
• Risks associated with purchase and cash disbursements
activities and the controls that reduce these risks
• Operational features and the control implications of technology
used in purchases and cash disbursement systems
P u rc h a s e R e q u is itio n P u rc h a s in g
1 2

PR O C U R EM EN T C Y C LE
(S U B S Y S T E M )
R e c e iv in g /
C a s h D is b u rs e m e n ts In s p e c tio n
3
5

A c c o u n ts P a y a b le
4
 Goals of the Expenditure Cycle
• The goal of providing needed resources to organization
can be broken down into several objectives:
– purchase from reliable vendors
– purchase high quality items
– obtain best possible price
– purchase only items that are properly authorized
– have resources available when they are needed
– receive only those items ordered
– ensure items are not lost, stolen,
or broken
– pay for the items in a timely manner
DFD of Purchases System
 A Manual Purchases System
• Begins in Inventory Control when
inventory levels drop to reorder levels
• A purchase requisition (PR) is prepared
and copies to sent to Purchasing and
Accounts Payable (A/P)
• Purchasing prepares a purchase order
(PO) for each vendor and sends copies to
Inventory Control, A/P, and Receiving
 A Manual Purchases System
• Upon receipt, Receiving counts and
inspects the goods.
– A blind copy of the PO is used to force
workers to count the goods.
• A receiving report is prepared and copies
sent to the raw materials storeroom,
Purchasing, Inventory Control, and A/P.
 A Manual Purchases System
• A/P eventually receives copies of the PR,
PO, receiving report, and the supplier’s
invoice.
• A/P reconciles these documents, posts to
the purchases journal, and records the
liability in the accounts payable subsidiary
ledger.
 A Manual Purchases System
• 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
• A/P also prepares a cash disbursements
voucher and posts it in the voucher
register.
 A Manual Purchases System
• G/L department:
– posts from the accounts payable journal
voucher to the general ledger
– reconciles the inventory amount with the
account summary received from
inventory control
Manual Purchases Flowchart
DFD of Cash Disbursements System
 Manual Cash Disbursements
System
• Periodically, A/P searches the open
vouchers payable file for items with
payments due:
– A/P sends the voucher and supporting
documents to Cash Disbursements
– A/P updates the accounts payable
subsidiary ledger
 Manual Cash Disbursements
System
• Cash Disbursements:
– prepares the check
– records the information in a check register
(cash disbursements journal)
– returns paid vouchers to accounts payable,
mails the check to the supplier
– sends a journal voucher to G/L:
Accounts Payable DR
Cash CR
 Manual Cash Disbursements
System
• G/L department receives:
– the journal voucher from cash disbursements
– a summary of the accounts payable
subsidiary ledger from A/P
• The journal voucher is used to update the
general ledger.
• The accounts payable control account is
reconciled with the subsidiary summary.
Cash Disbursements System
Computer-Based Accounting Systems
• CBAS technology can be viewed as a
continuum with two extremes:
– automation - use technology to improve
efficiency and effectiveness
– reengineering – use technology to
restructure business processes and firm
organization
 Levels of Automating and
Reengineering Ordering
• Computer generates PR
– Purchases manually generates PO
• Computer generates PO (no PR needed)
– PO not sent until manually reviewed
• Computer-generated PO is automatically
sent without manual review
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
– Computer-to-computer communication without
PO
 Expenditure Cycle Database
• Master Files • Other Files
– supplier (vendor) master file – supplier reference and
– accounts payable master file history file
– merchandise inventory master – buyer file
file – accounts payable detail file
• Transaction and Open
Document Files
– purchase order file
• open purchase order file
– supplier’s invoice file
– open vouchers file
– cash disbursements file
 Computer-Based Purchases
• A Data Processing dept. performs routine
accounting tasks.
• Purchasing - a computer program identifies
inventory requirements
• The following methods are used for
authorizing and ordering inventories:
– the system prepares POs and sends them to
Purchases for review, signing, and distributing
– the system distributes POs directly to the vendors
and internal users, bypassing Purchases
– the system uses electronic data interchange (EDI)
and electronically places the order without POs
 Computer-Based Purchases
• Other tasks performed automatically by the
computer:
– updates the inventory subsidiary file from
the receiving report
– calculates batch totals for general ledger
update
– closes the corresponding records in the
open PO file to the closed PO file
– validates the voucher records against valid
vendor files
Computer-Based Cash Disbursements
• Tasks performed automatically by the
computer:
– the system scans for vouchers currently
due
– prints checks for these vouchers
– records these checks in the check
register
– 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
• Shortens the time-lag in record-keeping;
hence, records are more current
• Eliminates much of the routine manual
procedures, such as transcribing information
onto paper documents
• Eliminates much of the storage and shuffling
of paper documents
• Reduces data entry correction procedures
Reengineered Purchases/Cash
Disbursements
Summary of Internal Controls
 General Internal Controls
• Organization controls
– segregation of duties
• Documentation
• Asset Accountability Controls
• Management Practices
• Data Center Operations Controls
• Authorization Controls
• Access Controls
 Manual
Authorization Controls
• Purchases of inventory should be
authorized by the Inventory Control
department, not by purchasing agents
• Accounts Payable authorizes the
payments of bills, not the cash
disbursements clerk, who writes the
checks
How do these controls change in a CBAS?
 Computer-Based Authorization
Controls
• Authorizations are automated.
– programmed decision rules must be debugged
• Automating inventory in EDI and JIT
– faulty inventory model can lead to over-purchasing
or under-purchasing
• Cash disbursements may automate check
printing and signing.
– programming logic must be flawless
– automated signing only below a dollar threshold
 Traditional Segregation of Duties
• Warehouse (stores)
• Inventory control
• Accounts payable
• General ledger
• Requisitioning
• Purchases
• Purchases returns and allowances
• Cash disbursements
 Manual
Segregation of Functions
• Custody of the asset, inventory, by the
Warehouse must be separate from
recordkeeping for the assets by the
Inventory Control.
• Custody of the asset, cash, by Cash
Disbursements must be kept separate
from recordkeeping for the asset by A/P.
How do these controls change in a CBAS?
 Computer-Based Segregation
of Functions
• Extensive consolidation by the
computer of tasks traditionally
segregated
– computer programs authorize and
process purchase orders
– computer programs authorize and issue
checks to vendors
 Manual
Supervision
• Within the expenditure cycle, supervision
is of highest importance in the Receiving
department, where the inventory arrives
and is logged in by a receiving clerk.
Need to minimize:
– failures to properly inspect the assets
– theft of the assets

How do these controls change in a CBAS?

 Computer-Based Supervision
• Automation often leads to a collapsing of the
traditional segregation of duties.
– requires greater supervision
• Supervision takes on new aspects as
technology advances.
– electronic monitoring
• Supervision because more difficult as the
workplace becomes more sophisticated.
– employees may have advanced IT training
 Manual
Accounting Records
• Must maintain adequate records for:
– accounts payable
– vouchers payable
– checks
– general ledger
– subsidiary ledgers

How do these controls change in a CBAS?

 Computer-Based
Accounting Records
• Accounting records rest on the reliability and
security of stored digitalized data.
– Accountants should be skeptical about the accuracy
of hard-copy printouts.
– Backups - the system needs to ensure that backups
of all files are continuously kept
• Most automated systems still have a lot of paper
documents.
– This is good for audit trail purposes but is often
inefficient.
– As the system becomes increasing paperless,
maintaining an audit trail becomes more difficult.
 Manual
Access Controls
• Access to:
– inventories (direct)
– cash (direct)
– accounting records
(indirect)

How do these controls change in a CBAS?

 Computer-Based
Access Controls
• Magnetic records are vulnerable to both
authorized and unauthorized exposure
and should be protected
– must have limited file accessibility
– programs must be safeguarded and
monitored
 Manual
Independent Verification
• A/Payable dept. verifies much of the work done
within the expenditure cycle.
– PR, PO, receiving reports, and suppliers’ invoices must
be checked and verified by A/P.
• G/Ledger dept. verifies:
– the total obligations recorded equal the total inventories
received
– the total reductions in accounts payable equal the total
disbursements of cash

How do these controls change in a CBAS?

 Computer-Based
Independent Verification
• Automating the accounting function
reduces the need for verification by
reducing the chances of fraud and error in
the expenditure cycle.
• However, the need for verification shifts to
the computer program and the
programmers where fraud and error may
still be present.