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
