Accounting
Information
Systems
9th Edition
Marshall B. Romney
Paul John Steinbart
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-1
The Expenditure Cycle:
Purchasing and Cash
Disbursements
Chapter 12
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-2
Learning Objectives
1.
2.
3.
Describe the basic business activities and
related data processing operations
performed in the expenditure cycle.
Discuss the key decisions to be made in
the expenditure cycle, and identify the
information needed to make those
decisions.
Document an understanding of the
expenditure cycle activities.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-3
Learning Objectives
4.
5.
Identify major threats in the expenditure
cycle, and evaluate the adequacy of
various control procedures for dealing with
those threats.
Read and understand a data model (REA
diagram) of the expenditure cycle.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-4
Introduction

Linda Spurgeon, Alpha Omega
Electronics’ (AOE) president, asked
Elizabeth Venko, the controller, to
address the following issues:
What must be done to ensure that
AOE’s inventory records are current
and accurate?
 What can be done to ensure timely
delivery of quality components?

©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-5
Introduction
Is it possible to reduce AOE’s
investment in materials inventories?
 What must be done to ensure that
available discounts are taken?
 How could the information system
provide better information to guide
planning and production?
 How could IT be used to reengineer
expenditure cycle activities?

©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-6
Learning Objective 1

Describe the basic business activities
and related data processing
operations performed in the
expenditure cycle.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-7
Expenditure Cycle:
Main Objective


The expenditure cycle is a recurring set of
business activities and related data
processing operations associated with the
purchase of and payment for goods and
services.
The primary objective of the expenditure
cycle is to minimize the total cost of
acquiring and maintaining inventories,
supplies, and the various services
necessary for the organization to function.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-8
Expenditure Cycle:
Key Decisions




What is the optimal level of inventory and
supplies to carry?
Which suppliers provide the best quality and
service at the best prices?
Where should inventories and supplies be
held?
How can the organization consolidate
purchases across units to obtain optimal
prices?
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-9
Expenditure Cycle:
Key Decisions



How can information technology be used to
improve both the efficiency and accuracy of
the inbound logistics function?
Is sufficient cash available to take
advantage of any discounts suppliers offer?
How can payments to vendors be managed
to maximize cash flow?
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-10
Expenditure Cycle:
Business Activities

What are the three basic business
activities in the expenditure cycle?
1.
2.
3.
Ordering goods, supplies and
services
Receiving and storing goods,
supplies and services
Paying for goods, supplies and
services
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-11
Ordering Goods, Supplies
And Services

The first major business activity in the
expenditure cycle is ordering
inventory or supplies.

The traditional inventory control
method (often called economic order
quantity [EOQ]):
• This approach is based on calculating an
optimal order size so as to minimize the
sum of ordering, carrying, and stockout
costs.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-12
Ordering Goods, Supplies
And Services

Alternative inventory control methods:
–
MRP (material requirement planning)
• This approach seeks to reduce required
inventory levels by scheduling production,
rather than estimating needs.
–
JIT (just in time)
• JIT systems attempt to minimize both
carrying and stockout costs.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-13
Ordering Goods, Supplies
And Services

What is a major difference between MRP
and JIT?


MRP systems schedule production to meet
estimated sales need, thereby creating a
stock of finished goods inventory.
JIT systems schedule production to meet
customer demands, thereby virtually
eliminating finished goods inventory.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-14
Ordering Goods, Supplies
And Services
Documents and procedures:
 The purchase requisition is a
document that identifies the following:

–
–
–
–
requisitioner and item number
specifies the delivery location and
date needed
specifies descriptions, quantity, and
price of each item requested
may suggest a vendor
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-15
Ordering Goods, Supplies
And Services

What is a key decision?
–

determine vendor
What factors should be considered?
–
–
–
price
quality of materials
dependability in making deliveries
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-16
Ordering Goods, Supplies
And Services




Documents and procedures:
The purchase order is a document that
formally requests a vendor to sell and
deliver specified products at designated
prices.
It is also a promise to pay and becomes a
contract once it is accepted by the vendor.
Frequently, several purchase orders are
generated to fill one purchase requisition.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-17
Receiving and Storing Goods,
Supplies and Services
The second major business activity
involves the receipt and storage of
ordered items.
 Key decisions and information needs:
 The receiving department has two
major responsibilities:

1
2
Deciding whether to accept a delivery
Verifying quantity and quality
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12-18
Receiving and Storing Goods,
Supplies and Services
Documents and procedures:
 The receiving report documents
details about each delivery, including
the date received, shipper, vendor,
and purchase order number.


For each item received, it shows the
item number, description, unit of
measure, and count of the quantity
received.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-19
Pay for Goods and Services:
Approve Vendor Invoices

The third activity entails approving
vendor invoices for payments.
The accounts payable department
approves vendor invoices for payment
 The cashier is responsible for making
the payment

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12-20
Pay for Goods and Services:
Approve Vendor Invoices


The objective of accounts payable is
to authorize payment only for goods
and services that were ordered and
actually received.
There are two ways to process
vendor invoices:
1.
2.
Nonvoucher system
Voucher system
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-21
Pay for Goods and Services:
Improving Accounts Payable
Processing efficiency can be improved
by:
 Requiring suppliers to submit invoices
electronically, either by EDI or via the
Internet
 Eliminating vendor invoices. This
“invoiceless” approach is called
evaluated receipt settlement (ERS).
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-22
Pay for Goods: Pay
Approved Invoices
The cashier approves invoices
 The combination of vendor invoice
and supporting documentation is
called a voucher package.
 A key decision in the cash
disbursement process is determining
whether to take advantage of
discounts for prompt payment.

©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-23
Learning Objective 2

Discuss the key decisions that
need to be made in the
expenditure cycle, and identify the
information needed to make those
decisions.
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12-24
Information Needs
The third function of the AIS is to
provide information useful for decision
making.
 Usefulness in the expenditure cycle
means that the AIS must provide the
operational information needed to
perform the following functions:


Determine when and how much
additional inventory to order.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-25
Information Needs
AIS must provide the operational information
needed to perform the following functions
(con’t):
 Select the appropriate vendors from whom to
order.
 Verify the accuracy of vendor invoices.
 Decide whether purchase discounts should
be taken.
 Monitor cash flow needs to pay outstanding
obligations.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-26
Information Needs

What are examples of additional information
The AIS should provide?
–
–
–
–
Efficiency and effectiveness of the
purchasing department
Analyses of vendor performance such as ontime delivery, quality, etc.
Time taken to move goods from the
receiving dock into production
Percentage of purchase discounts taken
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-27
Learning Objective 3

Document your understanding of the
expenditure cycle.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-28
Expenditure Cycle
Reorder point
Various
departments
Request
goods
Inventory
control
Order goods
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-29
Expenditure Cycle
Back Orders
Revenue
cycle
Order goods
Purchase
order
Inventory
Needs
Production
cycle
Vendor
Receiving report
Receive
goods
Receipt of goods
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-30
Expenditure Cycle
RECEIVING
From purchasing
From suppliers
Purchase Order
Packing slip
A
Verify order,
count, and
inspect
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12-31
Expenditure Cycle
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
From
vendor
From
purchasing
From
stores
Invoice
Purchase
order
Receiving
report
Compare, review,
verify
accuracy
N
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12-32
Expenditure Cycle
Cashier
From A/P
A
Batch totals
Invoice
Receiving
report
Compare and
reconcile
Purchase
order
Disbursement
voucher
Review and
compute
batch total
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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Batch
total
12-33
Learning Objective 4

Identify major threats in the
expenditure cycle and evaluate
the adequacy of various control
procedures for dealing with
those threats.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-34
Control: Objectives,
Threats, and Procedures





Another function of a well-designed AIS is to
provide adequate controls to ensure that
the following objectives are met:
Transactions are properly authorized.
Recorded transactions are valid.
Valid, authorized transactions are recorded.
Transactions are recorded accurately.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-35
Control: Objectives,
Threats, and Procedures

Assets (cash, inventory, and data) are
safeguarded from loss or theft.

Business activities are performed efficiently
and effectively.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-36
Control: Objectives,
Threats, and Procedures

What are some threats?
–
–
–
–
–
–
stockouts
purchasing too many or unnecessary
goods
purchasing goods at inflated prices
purchasing goods of inferior quality
purchasing from unauthorized vendors
kickbacks
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-37
Control: Objectives,
Threats, and Procedures
–
–
–
–
–
–
receiving unordered goods
errors in counting goods
theft of inventory
failure to take available purchasing
discounts
errors in recording and posting
purchases and payments
loss of data
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-38
Control: Objectives,
Threats, and Procedures

What are some control procedures?
–
–
–
–
–
–
inventory control system
vendor performance analysis
approved purchase requisitions
restricted access to blank purchase
requisitions
price list consultation
budgetary controls
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-39
Control: Objectives,
Threats, and Procedures
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
use of approved vendor lists
approval of purchase orders
prenumbered purchase orders
prohibition of gifts from vendors
incentives to count all deliveries
physical access control
recheck of invoice accuracy
cancellation of voucher package
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-40
Learning Objective 5

Read and understand a
data model (REA diagram)
of the expenditure cycle.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-41
Expenditure Cycle Data
Model


The REA data model integrates both
traditional accounting transactions data
with other operational data.
What are some examples?
–
–
–
the date and amount of each purchase
information about where items are stored
vendor performance measures, such as
delivery date
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-42
Expenditure Cycle Data
Model
Partial REA Diagram of the Expenditure Cycle
Request
goods
(1, N)
Request inventory
(1, 1)
(1, N)
Fills
(1, N)
Inventory
(1, N)
Order inventory
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(1, N)
Order
goods
12-43
Expenditure Cycle Data
Model


The REA diagram models the relationship
between the request goods and order
goods events as being many-to-one.
Why?


The company sometimes issues purchase
orders for individual purchase requests.
At other times it takes advantage of volume
discounts by issuing one purchase order for
a set of requests.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-44
Expenditure Cycle
Data Model
Partial REA Diagram of the Expenditure Cycle
Order
goods
(0, N)
Order/Receive
(1, N)
(1, N)
Inventory
Receive
inventory
(1, N)
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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Receive
goods
12-45
Expenditure Cycle Data
Model

Why is there a many-to-many relationship
between the order goods and receive goods
events?



Vendors sometimes make several separate
deliveries to fill one purchase order.
Other times, vendors fill several purchase
orders with one delivery.
Sometimes, vendors make a delivery to fill
a single purchase order in full.
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-46
Case Conclusion

What are the key points that Elizabeth
Venko proposed?
1
2
3
4
5
Online terminals in each of AOE’s
departments
JIT inventory system
Use of EDI to send purchase orders to
vendors
Use of EFT as much as possible
Implementation of a relational data base
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
Accounting Information Systems, 9/e, Romney/Steinbart
12-47
End of Chapter 12
©2003 Prentice Hall Business Publishing,
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12-48