Business Process Definitions

Locked cells

Cells that contain complex or required formulas should be locked so only spreadsheet designers can modify them

sign check

Designates if a numeric value can be positive or negative

field check

Designates the character types that are allowed in the field

limit or range check

Limit checks establish either upper or lower limits for input data, and range checks establish both upper and lower limits

size check

Limits the amount of characters input into a field

data matching

Matching multiple items, such as purchase orders, receiving reports, and vendor invoices, before processes are executed

business process analysis

Methodology that looks at an organization's business processes to improve its effectiveness and efficiency

Access and Authorization Control - standing data

Standing data should be stored in a safe location with prescribed access rights to authorized individuals who provide verification

Read-only rights

Standing data should have read-only rights for the majority of users; insert, update, and deletion rights should be designated to key personnel whose activities are segregated from users of the data

cross-footing

Testing the sum of a column of row totals to the sum of a row of column totals to verify the identical results

earnings statement

The document that accompanies an employee's paycheck, detailing earnings, deductions, and net pay.

periodic reconciliation of changes to the data

This will help verify that any changes made to the data follow the established policies and procedures, including appropriate review and approval

consistent forms

Use of consistent forms so the information gathered for each specific event is uniform

completeness check

Verification that all required data has been input. If being performed online, this may be called prompting

Bill of materials

a detailed document specifying all of the components and quantities required to manufacture a product

Paycheck

a digital or physical document that authorizes payment from the organization to the employee

voucher

a document containing a purchase order, receiving report, and a supplier invoice to verify that the invoice matches what was ordered and received

Payroll register

a document detailing the breakdown of each employee's gross pay, & all of the employees' required & voluntary deductions & their resulting net pay

production order

a document issued within a company to authorize the manufacture of a specified quantity of a given product during a provided time period

bank statements

a document provided by financial institutions that demonstrates beginning and ending balances and all transactions for a given period

sales invoice

a document sent to a customer detailing goods and services ordered along with the total cost of the order and payment instructions

supplier invoice

a document sent to the organization from the supplier detailing goods and services ordered along with the total cost of the order and payment instructions

bill of lading

a document that accompanies a shipment that provides a contract concerning the allocation of responsibilities between the seller, carrier, and customer

packing slip

a document that details the items & their quantities & is included in the shipment for verification

receiving report

a document that indicates what goods or services were received, the quantity received, the timing of the receipt and, if applicable, the corresponding purchase order

purchase order

a document that is sent by the buyer to the seller indicating the goods or services desired, the quantities and timing needs, and the agreed-upon price

trial balance

a document that lists all of an organization's accounts and their balances derived from the general ledger

Sales order

a document that lists the details of the customer order including the items or services ordered, quantity, prices, & agreed-upon timing & delivery terms

Pick ticket

a list provided to the warehouse or inventory function detailing the items and quantities that should be picked and packaged and sent to the shipping department for an order

remittance advice

a notice of payment sent by the customer to the selling organization

purchase requisition

a request generated by an individual or function requesting that goods or services be purchased by the purchasing function

general ledger

a system utilized by an organization to record all journal activities that occur

business process modeling

an effort to graphically depict an organization's business processes

Authorization

approving and or authorizing business process activities, transactions, or decisions

financial statements

balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows

referential integrity (validity) check

creates a framework so values in data entered into a foreign key field must first be entered in a corresponding table with the primary key

record keeping

data entry, recording transactions, preparing reconciliations, maintaining databases, managing and modifying accounting records and reports

system interface diagrams

demonstrate how users and functions interface with the organization's systems

organizational charts

describes the reporting structure of employees to management to establish a clear chain of command

production schedule

details the allocation of resources and time needed to manufacture each product in a specified quantity during a provided time period

hiring guidelines

developed so only competent and capable employees are hired to perform key business processes

receipt

document acknowledging the receipt of payment

time card

documents detailing the amount of time each hourly wage employee worked & should be compensated for

Review of Employee Access, Authorization, and Rights

employees may need to have their access, authorization, and rights modified if their roles and responsibilities change or if they are new to an organization

Data validation

establish validation requirements on input cells

production instructions

explains in detail the specific steps and sequences of those steps needed to accurately manufacture a product

processing control

helps protect an organization against processed data from being incomplete or inaccurate

input validation

if transactions or activities are processed in batches, it's important to determine if all items were processed & input correctly through the use of validation techniques like using record counts & reconciling input totals to batch totals

business resiliency controls

key requirements on business continuity, disaster recovery, and data backup requirements

data flow diagrams

logical flow of data through a process

management reports

may include forecasts, budgets, and balanced scorecards

process responsibility reviews

policies and procedures over reviewing various business process activities

custody of assets

possession, receipt, or creation of assets at an organization

input edit checks

preventive controls that assist in protecting the integrity of information and only allowing complete transactions to be submitted for processing

formal approval controls

proper authorization by management before execution

closed-loop verification

receives and displays information related to the input to verify accuracy

manufacturing process

recurring business activities surrounding the design, development, and production of goods

Finance and reporting process

recurring business activities surrounding the financial management of an organization

expenditure process

recurring business activities surrounding the purchase and subsequent payment for goods and services

Revenue process

recurring business activities surrounding the sale and delivery of goods and services, including the collection of payments from customers

hr and payroll processes

recurring business activities that manage the employees of an organization

Regular backups - spreadsheet

spreadsheets and their contents should have regular backup procedures

Access and Authorization Control - spreadsheets

spreadsheets should be available only to those who need to utilize them

regular backups - standing data

standing data, although not updated often, should be backed up on a periodic basis to make sure no data is lost

business processes

the activities performed by an organization to achieve a specific goal

standing data

the master files or general data files that contain long-term data that does not change often

sequence check

the process of having prenumbered documents and verifying that no documents or transactions are missing

business process management

the process that reviews & oversees the organization's approach to business process design & implementation

reasonableness test

validates the logic of input values where fields are dependent or relevant to each other

supervision

verified so that business processes are conducted according to established policies and procedures

flowcharts

visual representations of how documents and information flow through a process

change control - standing data

whenever changes are made to standing data they should be reviewed and approved by appropriate personnel prior to implementation

change control - spreadsheets

whenever changes are made to the spreadsheet they should be tracked, reviewed, and approved by appropriate personnel

business process automation

works to convert processes that are manual, repetitive, and recurring into systematic and automatic processes

process narratives

written documents that tell the story of the process