Study Sheet for the Flowcharting Test

OVERALL GUIDELINE: The flowchart should be clear and easy to

read.
1. The flowchart should be drawn from top to bottom and left to right.
2. When drawing, follow the Sandwich Rule.
INPUT

INPUT
INPUT

PROCES
S

OUTPUT

OUTPUT
OUTPUT

3. Flow lines should be straight and perpendicular. They should have

arrows to show the reader where the information is going. Too many
lines are hard to followa bracket helps to clarify the picture. If two
lines cross each other, draw as if one line jumps over the other.
4. A flowchart is an auditing working paper. As such it must have a
heading of 3 lines on every page. The first line contains the name of
the company being audited. The second line contains the type of
working paper. For document flowcharting it would say Document
flowchart for Order Processing, Payroll, Sales, etc (whatever
business process or part of the business process that you are drawing).
The third line contains the fiscal year end (FYE) of the company
being audited. FYE is also the date of the balance sheet.

5. Make sure to indicate the department that contains the action being
flowcharted. Department names are inserted into headings at the top
line of the flowchart (immediately under the 3 line heading). If you
know the employee title or position, include that also. In the
document flowchart it is extremely important to identify who is doing
what, who is responsible. The order in which you place the
departments is also important as you want the flowchart to move
across the page from left to right. If you put the department names in
the wrong order, your flowchart will zig zag down the page.
6. Time sequencing can be indicated by the way in which you draw the
flowchart, or it can be lost if drawn incorrectly. Moving down the
column of one department indicates actions that are occurring
sequentially in that department. Moving horizontally across the
flowchartbetween departmentsindicates that different procedures
in different departments are occurring at the same time. This rule in
particular is frequently violated.
7. Every page of the flowchart must contain your sign off at the top right
hand corner. Sign off consists of your initials (handwritten not typed)
and date of completion of the worknot the FYE. It is imperative for
legal considerations that you sign off each page that you have
completed and take responsibility for. No sign off means no
accountability.
8. When to use the manual operation symbol? At first when you are
drawing a flowchart it will be unclear what words trigger the use of
the manual operation box. Remember that all processing on the
document flowchart is manual, meaning procedures that are done by
hand. Here are some samples: prepare a document (including the
number of copies), compare documents, check, post, review, sign,
perform calculationscalculate extensions.
9. Symbols used in the document flowchart are the:
Document

Make sure that all documents are labeled, that all copies are accounted
for, that no copies disappear, change numbers or are lost in the flowchart.
All documents must be shown from origination (or source) to termination
or final disposition.

File.
D

The comment symbol can be used with the filing symbol to describe the
type of file. Insert A (alphabetic), N (numeric), D (date) or C
(chronological) inside the filing symbol to identify the order of the file.

Manual Process

-----------

Open item

Comment

Refer to client---

PROCES
S

The comment symbol can be open on the right or left hand side. If you
want to add more words than the comment can hold, you can use notes.
Write See Note A inside the comment symbol and then place Note A at
the bottom of the page.

Input/Output
Price
List

Unlike CIS folks, accountants use this symbol to draw ledgers, journals,
and reports. A document is a single sheet of paper.

Tape (adding machine tape)

Tape

Goods
Goods

Decision
Is Credit
Approved?

Place all words inside symbols, except for any notes that you may have at
the bottom of the page.
Define any abbreviations at the bottom of the page.
Do not abbreviate the name of the document. Change the name of the
document when you think that the original description or label could be
enhanced. This gives more information to the reader of your flowchart. For

example, when a document is reviewed or approved, it becomes Approved

Invoice rather than just Invoice.
10. Sending a document does not require a manual operation symbol.
Neither does forwarding a document or filing a document. If you
account for numerical sequence before filing, then the manual
operation symbol would be used to draw account for sequence.
Accounting for numerical sequence is an important control procedure
that is done to establish completeness.
11.Connectors. Connectors are used when you have run out of space and
need to resume drawing on another pageoff page connectorsor at
another spot on the same pageon page connectors. The connectors
must match or be paired with each other using a number, symbol, or
letter. The reader follows the symbol to know where the flowchart left
and where it returns.
Connectors can also be used to send or receive something to or from a
vendor, customer, bank or any external party.