MPA506 Accounting Information System Assignment

Part A: Short reflective essay (3 marks)

“Any one of the systems documentation procedures can be used to adequately document a given system”? Based on this statement write a short reflective essay on differing forms of systems documentation processes which may provide alternative perspectives on the system of interest.

Part B: Context Diagram, Flowchart, DFD and system documentation (12 marks)

Jo Kelly is the owner of Sydney Ltd (hypothetical company) and has decided to document and analyse the accounts payable process so the transition to a computerised system will be easier. She also hopes to improve any weaknesses he discovers in the system.

In the following narrative, Jo explains what happens at Sydney Ltd:

Before Sydney Ltd pays a vendor invoice, the invoice must be matched against the purchase order used to request the goods and the receiving report that the receiving department prepares. Because all three of these documents enter the accounts payable department at different times, a separate alphabetical file is kept for each type of document. The purchase orders that are forwarded from purchasing are stored in a purchase order file. The receiving reports are stored in a receiving report file. When vendor invoices are received, the accounts payable clerk records the amount due in the accounts payable file and files the invoices in the vendor invoice file.

Sydney Ltd pays all accounts within 10 days to take advantage of early-payment (cash) discounts. When it is time to pay a bill, the accounts payable clerk retrieves the vendor invoice, attaches the purchase order and the receiving report, and forwards the matched documents to Jo Kelly. Jo reviews the documents to ensure they are complete, prepares a two-part check, forwards all the documents to Xiaofei, and records the check in the cash disbursements journal. Xiaofei reviews the documents to ensure that they are valid payables and signs the checks. She forwards the check to the vendor and returns the documents and the check copy to the accounts payable clerk. The clerk files the documents alphabetically in a paid invoice file. At the end of every month, the accounts payable clerk uses the accounts payable ledger to prepare an accounts payable report that is forwarded to Xiaofei. After she is finished with the report, Xiaofei files it chronologically.

Required:

1. Preparea context diagram and a Level 0 DFD to document accounts payable processing at Sydney  (4 marks)
2. Preparea document flowchart to document accounts payable processing at Sydney  (4 marks)
3. Preparea BPD to document accounts payable processing at Sydney  (4 marks)

Note: For Part B you must use either Microsoft Visio or any other authentic software for the above required documentation processes.