EXPENDITURE CYCLE ACTIVITIES AND TECHNOLOGIES
This chapter assumes that the reader is familiar with the general procedures that constitute
the expenditure cycle and with the key accounting records and documents employed
in expenditure cycle transaction processing. Those who need to review this body of
material should turn to the appendix at this point, where it is presented in detail.
This section examines alternative information technologies used to support expenditure
cycle activities. The first of these is a purchases and cash disbursements system that employs batch processing and uses sequential files for storing accounting data. This type
of system is an example of an early legacy system. This approach characterizes the era of
data ownership in which files were designed exclusively for the use of a single user. Data
sharing is virtually impossible in this setting and results in a great deal of data redundancy
and data obsolescence. Second, we review the operational features of a modern
system that employs real-time processing and uses direct access files or databases. The
final example depicts a modern payroll system that uses real-time processing and database
technology.
You should recognize that space limitations prohibit a review of all possible configurations
of processing technologies, techniques, and file structures. The objective, instead,
is to present examples of fundamentally different approaches that are typically
found in practice and examine their control and audit implications.