document flowcharts

7/29/2019 Document Flowcharts

1/28

2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart 1 of 138

DOCUMENT FLOWCHARTS

A document flowchart shows the flow of

documents and information among areas of

responsibility in an organization.

These flowcharts trace a document from cradleto grave and show:

Where a document comes from

Where its distributed

How its used

Its ultimate disposition

Everything that happens as it flows through the

system


2/28


DOCUMENT FLOWCHARTS

Internal control flowcharts are document

flowcharts used to evaluate the adequacy of

internal controls, such as segregation of duties or

internal checks. They can reveal weaknesses or inefficiences such

as:

Inadequate communication flows

Unnecessarily complex document flows Procedures that cause wasteful delays

Document flowcharts are also prepared in the

system design process.


3/28


This is part of the

document flowchart

from Figure 3-9 in

your textbook.


4/28


GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING

FLOWCHARTS

Lets step through some guidelines for

preparing flowcharts:

As with DFDs, you cant effectively prepare a

flowchart if you dont understand the system,

so:

Interview users, developers, auditors, and

management.

Administer questionnaires.

Read through narratives.

Walk through systems transactions


5/28



FLOWCHARTS

Identify:

Entities to be flowcharted, e.g., departments,

functions, external parties (the parties who do

things in the story) Documents or information flows

Processes

As you read through a narrative, you may

want to mark the preceding items with

different shapes (e.g., drawing a rectangle

around entities, circling documents, etc.).


6/28



FLOWCHARTS

Use separate columns for the activity of

each entity.

Example: If there are three different

departments or functions that do things in

the narrative, there would be three columns

on the flowchart.


7/28 2006 Prentice Hall Business Publishing Accounting Information Systems, 10/e Romney/Steinbart 7 of 138

What are the entities

in this flowchart?




FLOWCHARTS

Flowchart the normal course of operations,

and identify exceptions with annotations.

As much as possible, the flow should go from

top to bottom and left to right. Use standard flowcharting symbols, and draw

with a template or computer.

Clearly label all symbols. Use annotations ifnecessary to provide adequate explanation.




FLOWCHARTS

Give the flowchart a clear beginning andending. Show where each document originated and its final

disposition.

One approach you can use is to read throughthe narrative and for each step define: What was (were) the input(s)

What process was carried out

What was (were) the output(s)

Note on the next slide that the flow sequenceis input -- process output.



Identifies where input is coming from



Inputs



Process



Output tostorage



Input for

nextprocess



Process



Output




FLOWCHARTS

Every manual process should have at least

one input and at least one output.

Show all data entered into or retrieved from a

computer file as passing through a processfirst.

Do not show process symbols for:

Forwarding a document to another entity

Filing a document



Forwardinga document



Filinga document




FLOWCHARTS

Do not connect two documents except

when forwarding to another column.

When a document is forwarded, show it in

both locations.



Show forwarded

document in both

locations




FLOWCHARTS

When using multiple copies of a

document, place document numbers in

the upper, right-hand corner.



What happens to the

document numbers

as the documents

move to other

locations?




FLOWCHARTS

Show on-page connectors and label

them clearly to avoid excess flow lines.


25/28



26/28



FLOWCHARTS

Use off-page connectors if the flow goes

to another page.


27/28


Are there other off-

page connectors on

this flowchart?


28/28


FLOWCHARTS

If a flowchart takes more than one page, labelthe pages as 1 of 5, 2 of 5, 3 of 5, etc.

Show documents or reports first in the columnwhere they are created.

Start with a rough draft; then redesign toavoid clutter and crossed lines.

Verify the accuracy of your flowchart by

reviewing it with users, etc. Place the flowchart name, the date, and the

preparers name on each page of the finalcopy.