Cash receipts procedures are natural batch systems. Unlike sales transactions, which tend
to occur continuously throughout the day, cash receipts are discrete events. Checks and
remittance advices arrive from the postal service in batches. Likewise, the deposit of cash
receipts in the bank usually happens as a single event at the end of the business day.
Because of these characteristics, many firms see no significant benefit from investing in
costly real-time cash procedures.
The cash receipts system in Figure 9.4 uses direct access files and batch processing.
The technology employed in this example is used to automate traditional procedures.
The following discussion outlines the main points of this system.
Mailroom
The mailroom separates the checks and remittance advices and prepares a remittance
list. These checks and a copy of the remittance list are sent to the cash receipts department.
The remittance advices and a copy of the remittance list go to the AR
department.
Cash Receipts Department
The cash receipts clerk reconciles the checks and the remittance list and prepares the
deposit slips. Via terminal, the clerk creates a journal voucher record of total cash received.
The clerk files the remittance list and one copy of the deposit slip. At the end
of the day, the clerk deposits the cash in the bank.
Accounts Receivable (AR) Department
The AR clerk receives and reconciles the remittance advices and remittance list. Via terminal,
the clerk creates the cash receipts transaction file based on the individual remittance
advices. The clerk then files the remittance advices and the remittance list.
Data Processing Department
At the end of the day, the batch program reconciles the journal voucher with the transaction
file of cash receipts, and updates the AR-SUB and the general ledger control accounts
(AR-Control and Cash). This process employs the direct access method described
earlier. Finally, the system produces a transaction listing that the AR clerk will reconcile
against the remittance list.