Discussion Questions

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Discussion Questions

• (SO 1) How might the sales and cash collection processes at a Wal-Mart store differ

from the sales and cash collection processes at McDonald’s? Wal-Mart sells items that are pre-priced and bar coded with that price. Therefore the cash registers at Wal-Mart use bar code scanners. However, McDonalds sells fast foods that are not bar coded. The cash registers at McDonalds use touch screen systems that require a cashier to indicate the items purchased. The cash collection processes are not different. In both cases, the employee collects the cash or credit card, and returns any change.

• (SO 1) Can you think of any procedures in place at McDonald’s that are intended to

ensure the accuracy of your order? Student responses may vary, however, following are a few examples: Often, at either the drive-through or the inside cash register, the customer can see a screen that displays the items ordered. In addition, a fast food restaurant uses pre-designed slots to hold certain types of menu items.When a customer orders a particular sandwich, the person filling the order knows exactly which slot to pull the sandwich from. Each customer receives a printed receipt with the items listed and the customer can verify the accuracy.

• (SO 1) How might the sales and cash collection processes at Boeing Co. (maker of

commercial passenger jets) differ from the sales and cash collection processes at Accounting Information Systems The Processes and Controls 2e Leslie Turner Andrea Weickgenannt (Solutions Manual All Chapters, 100% Original Verified, A+ Grade) 1 / 4

Chapter 1 Solutions Introduction to AIS

Page 1-2 McDonald’s? Boeing does not sell to end-user consumers; rather, it sells to companies such as airlines. Therefore Boeing does not have stores, nor inventory in stores, nor cash registers to process sales. Boeing is more likely to maintain a sales force that visits potential customers to solicit sales. Those sales may be entered by the salesperson into a laptop computer connected to Boeing’s network.McDonald’s, on the other hand, sells to consumers, uses order input touch screens at each location, and maintains supplies of perishable food products.

• (SO 1) Are there business processes that do not in some way affect accounting

records or financial statements? There may be processes that do not directly affect accounting records (such as recruiting and hiring a new employee), but all processes have a direct or indirect affect on accounting records. All processes use resources such as material or employee time. Therefore, all processes have expenses related to those processes that will affect the accounting records.

• (SO 2) Briefly describe the five components of an accounting information system.
• Work steps within a business process that capture accounting data as the

business process occurs.

• Manual or computer-based records that capture the accounting data from

the business processes.

• Internal controls within the business process that safeguard assets and

ensure accuracy and completeness of the data.

• Work steps that process, classify, summarize, and consolidate the raw

accounting data.

• Work steps that generate both internal and external reports.

• (SO 2) Describe how sales data are captured and recorded at a restaurant such as

Applebee’s. At most Applebee’s restaurants, a server writes the order on a pad and carries that pad to a cash register. The server enters the order on a touch screen terminal. The order information is then displayed on a terminal in the kitchen. When the customer has finished the meal, the server prints a check and delivers the check to the table. The customer pays the server by using cash or a credit card. The server processes the payment on the touch screen register and returns the change or credit card slip to the customer.

• (SO 2) What occurs in an accounting information system that classifies accounting

transactions? For each business process that affects accounting records, the accounting information system must capture any resulting accounting data, record the data, process it through classification, summarization, and consolidation, and generate appropriate reports.

• (SO 2) What are the differences between internal reports and external reports

generated by the accounting information system? Internal reports are used by management to oversee and direct processes within the organization. External reports are the financial statements used by investors and creditors to make 2 / 4

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Page 1-3 decisions about investing or extending credit to the organization.

• (SO 3) What types of businesses are in the supply chain of an automobile

manufacturer? The types of businesses in an automaker’s supply chain are often manufacturers of parts used in cars. This would include manufacturers of tires, batteries, steel, plastic, vinyl and leather, as well as many other manufacturers making the thousands of parts in a car.

• (SO 3) When a company evaluates a supplier of materials, what kinds of

characteristics might be evaluated? The supplier’s characteristics that are likely to be evaluated include price and payment terms, quality, reliability of the materials, as well as whether the supplier can deliver materials when needed.

• (SO 3) How do you think a company may be able to influence a supplier to meet its

business processing requirements? A company may be able to influence a supplier by choosing only suppliers that meet expectations regarding the terms of price, quality, and delivery timing. Those suppliers that do not meet these expectations may not be used in the future. This exerts some influence over suppliers, as the suppliers will lose business if they do not meet the buyer’s requirements.

• (SO 4) Describe any IT enablement that you have noticed at a large retail store such

as Wal-Mart or Target. The most noticeable IT enablement is the use of bar coded systems on the products and how they are read by the cash registers.

• (SO 4) How do you think the World Wide Web (WWW) has led to business process

reengineering at companies such as Lands End or J.Crew? Prior to the World Wide Web, customers placed orders either on the phone or by mail. Both phone and mail orders require employees to take the order and enter it into the computer system.Using online sales, customers enter their own orders and no company personnel are needed to key orders into the computer system. Therefore, there was a major change in the number of people employed to key orders.

• (SO 4) What two kinds of efficiency improvement result from business process

reengineering in conjunction with IT systems? The use of IT systems usually leads to two kinds of efficiency improvements. First, the underlying processes are reengineered (through rethinking and redesign) to be conducted more efficiently.Second, the IT systems improve the efficiency of the underlying processes.

• (SO 5) Explain the differences between a field, a record, and a file. A field is one set

of characters that make up a single data item. For example, last name would be a field in a customer database. A record is a collection of related fields for a single entity. For example, last name, first name, address, phone number, and credit card number fields might make up a single customer record. A file is a collection of similar records. For example, all customer records together make up a customer file.

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• (SO 5) Explain why random access files would be preferable to sequential access

files when payroll personnel are changing a pay rate for a single employee. When the desired action is to access a single record, random access is preferable. If sequential access storage is used, all records must be read in sequence until the desired record is reached. On the other hand, random access allows a single record to be accessed without the necessity of reading other records. This makes it more efficient to access a particular employee record to change the pay rate.

• (SO 5) Why do real-time systems require direct access files? If transactions are to

be processed online and in real-time, it is necessary that the computer access a single record immediately. Thus, direct access files are required so the records can be accessed in real-time.

• (SO 5) Why is data contained in the data warehouse called nonvolatile? Each time

a new transaction is completed, parts of the operational data must be updated.Therefore, the operational database is volatile – with constantly changing information. However, the data warehouse does not change with each transaction.The data warehouse is only changed when periodic updates occur. The data in the data warehouse are nonvolatile because they do not change constantly.

• (SO 5) How is an extranet different from the Internet? The extranet allows access

only to selected outsiders, while the Internet is open to an unlimited number of outsiders (essentially anyone having access to the Internet). On the other hand, extranets are typically used by companies to interact with specific suppliers and customers who have been granted access to a company’s network.

• (SO 6) Prepare a list of the types of businesses that you have been in that use point

of sale systems. Student responses may vary, but would likely include department stores, grocery stores, specialty stores, restaurants, gas stations, and car washes.

• (SO 6) What do you think would be the advantages of an e-payables system over a

traditional system that uses paper purchase orders and invoices? An e-payables system should be faster and more efficient than a paper-based system. In addition, fewer processing errors should be expected from an e-payables system.

• (SO 7) Describe why enterprise risk management is important. All organizations

face risks and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) assists managers in reducing and controlling risk. ERM also involves personnel across the entire business organization, as they implement strategies to achieve the organization’s objectives.

• (SO 7) What is the difference between general controls and application controls?

General controls apply overall to the IT accounting system. They are controls that are not restricted to any particular accounting application. An example of a general control is the use of passwords to allow only authorized users to log into an IT-based accounting system. Application controls are used specifically in accounting applications to control inputs, processing, and output. Application controls are

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