Flowcharting Symbols 

jcaluag@ateneo.edu

Symbol Name  Symbol  Definition  Notes 

Terminator  Signifies start/end of process  Only houses ​Start ​and ​End 

 

Preparation  Declaration of variables  Goal is to make flowcharting 

Only if variables are 
present 
“X = Profit, Y = Expenses”  easier moving forward to lessen 
  what to write 
Process  An action made by user or  Focus is the action 
background  Ex: ​Print profit 
 

Data  Anything that goes in and out of  Focus is the person/ object 
the process  Ex: ​User reads profit 
 

Decision  Conditional scenarios for TWO  Make sure to always include the 
or more options  possible choices, default is 
True ​or ​False 
 

Connector  Teleporters  Only needed if the space is not 

enough to keep the top-down 
  rule 

Flowrays  Guides where the next step will   

  be