HI5019 - Analysing an Accounting Information System - Assignment Help

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

The first four interactive tutorials of the Strategic Information System for Business and Enterprise HI5019 T2 2022 provide sufficient background knowledge to understand accounting information systems and analyse the revenue cycle of a company. In particular, the revenue cycle is a recurring set of business activities and related information processing operations associated with providing goods and services to customers and collecting cash in payment for those sales. Information about revenue cycle activities also flows to other accounting cycles. The general ledger and reporting functions use information produced by the revenue cycle to prepare financial statements and financial reports.

The head of the accounting department of ASSIST Limited is concerned about business activities and related information processing operations associated with their revenue cycle. You recently joined ASSIST Limited. During the first week, the head of the department requested you to analyse the revenue cycle. The sales order and cash receipts procedures of ASSIST Limited are elaborated below.1

1.         Sales Order Procedures

The revenue process activities of ASSIST are initiated when a customer places an order either online, by mail or through a telephone representative. These orders are generally categorised at the department level into two types: (1) online orders and (2) offline orders. In terms of accounting theory, there is a significant difference between these two types of orders. Online orders are entered automatically by the system, mail and phone orders are manually entered. The system automatically performs an online credit check when the customer order is entered. If credit is approved, the sales process continues. If credit is denied, the process is terminated, and the customer is notified of the automatic rejection.

Conversely, offline sale orders are received via mail or through a telephone representative. In most cases, these orders are unstandardised sales [we have discussed the unstandardised orders in detail in our interactive tutorials]. The sales clerk first converts the unstandardised order into the standardised one. For this purpose, the sales representative requests the missing information, if any. When the order is received, the sales clerk checks the customer's creditworthiness from his computer terminal. Three years ago, the sales clerk requested the accounting department provide him with a list of customers whose account receivables are written off. The sales clerk is still using this information to check the customers' creditworthiness. The sales clerk is using the same procedure to check the creditworthiness of the new customers. The customer's order is rejected if the customer's credit is not verified. The sales order processing is started after the credit verification. In particular, the sales clerk records the approved standardised sales order in the sales order system through his computer terminal.

The clerk manually prepares four hard copies of each sales order for both types of approved orders (online sales orders and offline sales orders). The clerk then enters the sale into the digital sales journal from his terminal and files one copy of the sales order in the sales department. A second copy is sent to the billing department, where it is further processed. The warehouse receives the third copy. A final copy is sent to the customer as a receipt stating that the order has been received and processed.

It might be essential to note that the warehouse clerk uses the sales order as a stock release document to pick up the requested items from the shelves. The clerk then manually prepares a bill of lading and packing slip, which accompany the goods to the carrier. The warehouse clerk then accesses the computer terminal and creates a digital shipping notice for the billing department. Finally, the clerk files the stock release hard copy in the warehouse. The billing department clerk reconciles the hard-copy sales order and the digital shipping notice displayed on his or her terminal. He or she then prints two hard copies of an invoice. One copy is sent to the customer as a bill, and the other is sent to the accounts receivable department. The clerk then files the sales order copy in the department.

Upon receiving the hard copy invoice, the accounts receivable clerk creates a digital record in the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger from his terminal. The clerk then files the invoice copy in the department.

2.         Cash Receipts Procedures

The case receipt processes of ASSIST Limited can be broadly categorised into four types:

1. First, customer payments and remittance advice come into the A clerk separates the documents and sends the remittance advice to accounts receivable and the checks to the cash receipts department.
2. Second, upon receipt of the remittance advice, the accounts receivable clerk accesses the customer's account in the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger from a terminal and adjusts the balance accordingly. The clerk files the remittance advice in the
3. Third, the cash receipts clerk receives the checks and posts them to the cash receipts journal from his or her terminal. The clerk then manually prepares a hard-copy deposit slip and sends it with the cash to the
4. Finally, at the end of each day, the system prepares batch totals of all sales and cash receipts transactions and posts them automatically to the control accounts in the digital general

Required

Based on the above information, prepare a report for the chief financial officer of ASSIST Limited to evaluate their revenue cycle. In your report, you need to include the following items:

1. Processing of online and offline sales order have different accounting implications. Discuss this statement in the light of the existing revenue cycle of ASSIST
2. In the light of our discussion during interactive tutorials, describe potential internal control weaknesses in the sales order procedures and cash receipts procedures of ASSIST
3. In the light of our discussion during interactive tutorials, discuss the potential risks associated with the internal control weaknesses identified in requirement number two
4. Based on requirement number three above, what types of frauds are Hint: we have discussed different types of frauds in the interactive tutorial and lectures. Your discussion should be based on these contents.

ASSIGNMENT STRUCTURE

The report should include the following components.

Holmes Institute Assignment Cover Sheet

The Holmes Institute Assignment Cover Sheet is available at the end of menu item Assessments on the Blackboard.

Executive Summary

The executive summary should be concise and not involve too much detail. It should make commentary on the main points only and follow the sequence of the report. Write the executive summary after the report is completed, and once you have an overview of the whole text.

Table of Contents

This needs to show a logical listing of all the sub-headings of the report's contents. Note this is excluded from the total word count.

1. Introduction

Typically, the introduction is a short paragraph that includes background, scope and the main points raised in the order of importance. There should be a brief conclusion statement at the end of the introduction.

2. Main Body Paragraphs with Numbered Sub-headings

This section contains detailed information which elaborates on the main points raised in the introduction. Each paragraph should begin with an exact topic sentence, then supporting sentences with facts and evidence obtained from research and finish with a concluding sentence at the end.

3. Conclusion

This section contains a logical and coherent evaluation of the work you have performed during this assessment.

4. References

Please see the section "Assessment Design – Adapted Harvard Referencing" for the referencing guidelines.

5. Appendices

This section includes any additional explanatory information which is supplementary and/or graphical to help communicate the main ideas made in the report. Refer to the appendices in the main body paragraphs as and where appropriate. (Note this is excluded from the total word count.)

Note: The report should be grounded on relevant literature, and all references must be cited appropriately and included in the reference list.

Assessment Design – Adapted Harvard Referencing

As a pilot program, Holmes is implementing a revised Harvard approach to referencing. The following guidelines apply:

1. Reference sources in assignments are limited to sources that provide full-text access to the source's content for lecturers and
2. The Reference list should be located on a separate page at the end of the essay and titled:

References.

3. It should include the details of all the in-text citations, arranged A-Z alphabetically by author surname. In addition, it MUST consist of a hyperlink to the full text of the cited reference

For example;

Hawking P, McCarthy B, Stein A (2004), Second Wave ERP Education, Journal of Information Systems Education, Fall, http://jise.org/Volume15/n3/JISEv15n3p327.pdf

4. All assignments will require additional in-text reference details, which will consist of the surname of the author/authors or name of the authoring body, year of publication, page number of content, the paragraph where the content can be

"The company decided to implement a enterprise wide data warehouse business intelligence strategies (Hawking et al, 2004, p3(4))."

Non Adherence to Referencing Guidelines

Where students do not follow the above guidelines:

1. Students who submit assignments that do not comply with the guidelines will be asked to resubmit their assignments.
2. As per the Student Handbook, late penalties will apply each day after the student/s have been notified of the resubmission
3. Students who comply with guidelines and the citations are "fake" will be reported for academic