release documents, and shipping notices. Customer invoicing and ledger posting are performed
by the computer system. In an actual system, the various sales order copies would
be numbered or color-coded to signify their purpose and distribution. Copies that are
used for more than one purpose, and that go to several locations, sometimes have routing
information printed on them.
After preparing the sales order, the sales clerk files one copy of it in the customer
open order file for future reference. Filling the order and getting the product to the customer
may take days or even weeks. Customers frequently contact their suppliers by telephone
to check the status of their orders. To facilitate customer inquiries, the open order
file is often organized alphabetically by customer name. Although customer name is not
an efficient primary key for accessing data, it is often used as a secondary key to crossreference
orders because customers do not always know their account numbers and may
not have copies of their invoices handy. In these situations, the customer file enables the
clerk to find the sales order and respond to the customer’s questions.
Approving Credit
The next step in the revenue cycle is transaction authorization, which involves verifying
the customer’s creditworthiness. The circumstances of the sale will determine the nature
of the credit check. For example, a seller may perform a full financial investigation on
new customers to establish a line of credit. However, once a credit limit is set, credit checking
on subsequent sales may involve nothing more than ensuring that the current sale does
not exceed the limit. In our hypothetical system, the credit authorization copy of the sales
order is sent to the credit department for approval. The returned approval triggers the
release of the other sales order copies simultaneously to various departments. The credit
copy is filed in the customer open order file until the transaction is completed.
Processing Shipping Orders
The sales department sends the stock release (also called the picking ticket) copy of the
sales order to the warehouse. This document identifies the items of inventory that must
be located and picked from the warehouse shelves. It also provides formal authorization
for the warehouse clerk to release custody of the specified assets. After picking the stock,
the clerk initials the stock release copy to indicate that the order is complete and accurate.
Any out-of-stock items are noted on the stock release copy. One copy of the stock
release travels with the goods to the shipping department, and the other is filed in the
warehouse to provide a record of the transaction.
The clerk then adjusts the stock records to reflect the reduction in inventory. The stock
records are not the formal accounting records for these assets. Assigning the warehouse
clerk asset custody and record-keeping responsibility would violate internal control. Updating
the inventory accounting records is an automated procedure that is described later.
Before the arrival of the goods and the stock release copy, the shipping department
receives the packing slip and shipping notice copies from the sales department. The
packing slip travels with the goods to the customer to describe the contents of the order.
These are either placed inside the shipping container or attached to the outside in a
special plastic pouch. The shipping notice informs the billing department that the customer’s
order has been filled and shipped. This document contains such pertinent facts as
the date of shipment, items and quantities shipped, the carrier, and freight charges. In
some systems, the shipping notice is a separate document prepared by the shipping clerk.
Upon receiving the goods from the warehouse, the shipping clerk reconciles the
physical items with the stock release documents, the packing slip, and the shipping
notice to verify the correctness of the order. This control is important because it is the
last opportunity to detect errors before shipment. The shipping clerk packages the goods,