Accounting Information Systems: A Business Process Approach

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Accounting Information Systems A Business
Process Approach

• Chapter Seven Understanding and Designing Forms

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Exhibits 7.1, 7.2, 7.5

• Tables 7.1 - 7.11

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Exhibit 7.1  Documenting Form Design In this
chapter, we introduce several techniques that you
can use to clearly communicate the design of your
forms to others on the development team and to
end-users Example of the Documentation Purp
ose Documentation Need for forms Documents
the need for a form for each event. Table 7.2
and Exhibit 7.2 Use case diagram Lists
forms and users. Figure 7.7 Form
layout Provides a visual representation of the
various form Figures 7.4A and 7.4B, elements.
7.5, and 7.6 Form design Describes the content
and organization of a form in Exhibit 7.2
and template erms of tables, queries, and
relationships. This part of Table 7.3 the
documentation is the bridge between the
forms design and its implementation using a
DBMS. The form design template is similar to the
report design template used in Chapter 6. Use
case While the form layout is a static
representation of the Exhibit 7.2
and description rm elements, the use case
focuses on behavior. In Table 7.4 particular,
it shows how the end-user interacts with the
form interface during data entry. Input
controls are documented.
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Exhibit 7.2  Templates Used for Documenting Form
Designs  Panel A Identify Form
Template. Purpose To document decisions as to
need for forms. Name of table(s) in
which Event data are recorded, if any Input
form required? Maintain manager Manager Yes Make
sale Sales, Sales Detail Yes Deposit Deposit
Yes Input forms are not created for query or
reporting events. Panel B Form Design
TemplateContent and Organization. Purpose To
document the content and organization of a
designed form. Title on Form Deposit Form Type of
Form Single-record entry form Data
Table Deposit Manager 1. Attribute recorded in
tables Deposit, SSN, Date, Amount 2. Attribute
displayed but not Last_Name, First_Name   
modified 3. Foreign keys that link this SSN   
table to the others used in    the form (if
any) Format Attribute Names and Calculations
Used Main form D Deposit, SSN, Date,
Amount M Last_Name, First_Name Subform (for
main form/subform format only) Formulas for
calculations Attributes displayed but not
modified are commonly used for confirmation.
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Exhibit 7.2  Templates Used for Documenting Form
Designs (Concluded) Panel C Data Item Controls
Template. Purpose To document the controls
associated with individual data items in a
form. Data Item Control Features Deposit Comput
er-generated SSN Computer-generated based on
log-in Date Current
date is default date Panel D Use Case
Description Example. Purpose To describe user
interaction with a form and input
controls. 1. The user selects the Enter Deposit
option from the menu.   2. The system displays
the Enter Deposit Form. 3. The system displays a
Deposit. etc.
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Exhibit 7.5  Revenue Cycle for H J Tax
Preparation Service  (This exhibit provides data
for several Focus on Problem Solving boxes.) H
J Tax Preparation Service offers a variety of tax
services. Information about these tax services is
provided in the following Tax Service Report Tax
Service Report Year-to-Date Service Service
Description Fee Revenues 1040 Federal
Individual Income Tax Form 1040 100 120,000 (l
ong form) Sch-A 1040 Schedule A (itemized
deductions) 50 51,000 Sch-B 1040 Schedule B
(interest dividend earnings) 50 53,300 Sch-C 10
40 Schedule C (sole proprietorship) 110 84,000 S
tate State Income Tax Return 80 81,000 Corp Cor
porate Income Tax 30 (per hr.) 103,000
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Exhibit 7.5  Revenue Cycle for H J Tax
Preparation Service (Continued) The company is
interested in developing an automated system for
recording services rendered and billing clients.
Except for the tax software used to prepare the
tax return, the current system is manual. A
description of the companys revenue cycle, up to
the point of collection, follows. A client calls
the office to inquire about tax services. The
secretary sets an appointment for the client to
meet with an accountant. The client meets with an
accountant and decides on the tax services that
will be needed. The accountant then prepares a
Service Request Form indicating the agreed-upon
services. An example follows Service Request
Form Request 104 Accountant Jane Smith Client
Robert Barton Date 2/10/03 Service Service
Description Fee 1040 Federal Individual Income
Tax Form 1040 (long form) 100 Sch-A 1040
Schedule A (itemized deductions) 50 Sch-B 1040
Schedule B (interest dividend
earnings) 50 State State Income Tax
Return 80   Total 280
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Exhibit 7.5  Revenue Cycle for H J Tax
Preparation Service (Concluded) The client gives
a copy of the Service Request Form to the
secretary. For new clients, the secretary takes
the client information (e.g., Client_Name,
Address, Contact_Person, Telephone) from the
client and records it on a Client Form. She files
the client form along with a copy of the Service
Request Form in a client folder. A part of the
Client Form is shown here Client Form Client
1001 Client Robert Barton Address 242 Greene
St., St. Louis, MO Telephone [phone] The
accountant obtains information necessary for
preparing the returns from the client (e.g.,
income and deductions). The information is
entered into Mega-Tax, a tax software product
used at the company. The recording and storage of
tax information is handled by the Mega-Tax
software and is separate from the rest of the
revenue cycle. The company is not planning to
integrate the tax preparation software with the
rest of the revenue cycle. Thus, in this case,
you can disregard the recording of detailed tax
return information. When the tax return is
finished, the accountant gives the tax return to
the secretary. She writes the services provided
and the charges for each on an invoice, with the
total amount due shown at the bottom. She then
notifies the client that the return is ready.
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Table 7.1  Tables Used in ELERBEs Order
Processing Application Panel A Inventory
Table Quantity_ Quantity_ ISBN Author Title
Price On_Hand Allocated 0-256-12596-7 Barnes In
troduction to Business 78.35 4,000 200 0-127-351
24-8 Cromwell Building Database
Applications 65.00 3,500 0 0-135-22456-7 Cromwell
Management Information Systems 68.00 5,000 50 0-
146-18976-4 Johnson Principles of
Accounting 70.00 8,000 250 0-145-21687-7 Platt I
ntroduction to E-commerce 72.00 5,000 40 0-235-62
400-6 Rosenberg HTML and Javascript
Primer 45.00 6,000 0 ISBN unique international
standard number assigned to the book Price
standard selling price Quantity Allocated
quantity of books committed to customer orders
but not yet shipped Panel B Customer
Table Customer Name Address Contact_Person Phon
e 3450 Brownsville C.C. Brownsville,
TX Smith 956-555-0531 3451 Educate,
Inc. Fairhaven, MA Costa 508-888-4531 3452 Bunker
Hill C.C. Bunker Hill, MA LaFrank 617-888-8510 P
anel C Order Table Order Order_Date Customer
Status 0100011 05/11/2003 3451 Open 0100012 05/1
5/2003 3451 Open 0100013 05/16/2003 3450 Open
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Table 7.1  Tables Used in ELERBEs Order
Processing Application (Concluded) Panel D
Order_Detail Table Order ISBN Quantity 0100011 0
-256-12596-7 200 0100011 0-146-18976-4 150 0100012
0-135-22456-7 50 0100012 0-146-18976-4 75 0100012
0-145-21687-7 40 0100013 0-146-18976-4 35 0100013
0-256-12596-7 100 ISBN number identifying the
book Quantity quantity ordered Panel E
Shipment Table Ship Order Ship
Date S114 0100011 05/12/2003 S115 0100012 05/16/20
03 Panel F Shipment_Detail Table Ship ISBN Quan
tity S114 0-256-12596-7 200 S114 0-146-18976-4 150
S115 0-135-22456-7 50 S115 0-146-18976-4 75 S115
0-145-21687-7 40
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Table 7.2 Events and Forms for ELERBE, Inc. Name
of table(s) Input in which data
are form Event recorded, if any required? Form
Name Respond to customer none No inquiries Take
order Order, Order Detail Yes Order Entry Pick
goods none No Ship goods Shipment, Shipment
Detail Yes Enter Shipment Bill customer Invoice
Yes Enter Invoice Collect cash Cash
Receipt Yes Cash Receipt Maintain
customer Customer Yes Customer Maintenance
Maintain inventory Inventory Yes Inventory
Maintenance Maintain inventory
Inventory Yes Inventory Price prices
Maintenance
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Table 7.3  Content and Organization of Order Form
for ELERBE, Inc., shown in Figure 7.6 Title on
Form Order Form Type of Form Multi-table form
with main form/subform Data Table Order
(O) Order_Detail (OD) Customer (C) Inventory
(I) 1. Attribute Order, Order_ Order,
ISBN, recorded in Date, Quantity tables Custome
r, Status 2. Attribute displayed Customer_N
ame, Title, Author, but not modified Customer_
Address, Unit Price Contact_Person, Ph
one 3. Foreign keys Customer Order that link
this table ISBN to the others used in the form
(if any) Format Attribute Names and Calculations
Used Main form O Order, Order_Date, Customer,
Status. C Customer_Name, Customer_ Address,
Contact_Person, Phone. Calculation Total of
Extended Price, Sales Tax. Subform (for OD
ISBN, Quantity. I Title, Author, Unit
Price. main form/subform Calculation Extended
Price. format only) Formulas for
calculations Status should be recorded as
open Extended Price Quantity x Price Total of
Extended Price Sum (Extended Price) Sale Tax
5 x (Total of Extended Price)
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Table 7.4 Use Case Description of Record Customer
Order with Internal Controls for ELERBE,
Inc. Activity Record Customer Order Control  
1. The order entry clerk selects the Record
Customer Order option from the
menu.  2. The system assigns a new Order and
displays it. Computer- generated
value  3. The system displays the current date as
a default for the Default    
Order_Date.  4. The order entry clerk enters the
Customer in the Look-up    computer
system. Feature 5. The computer checks to
see if the Customer is valid. Record che
cking 6. The system displays other customer
information (e.g., Confirmation    
Contact_Person, Address).
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Table 7.4 Use Case Description of Record Customer
Order with Internal Controls for ELERBE, Inc.
(Concluded) Activity Record Customer
Order Control For each product
ordered 7. The order entry clerk enters the
ISBN. Look-up feature 8. The computer system
checks to see if the ISBN is valid. Record
checking 9. The computer displays product details
(e.g., Author, Confirmation    
Description). 10. The order entry clerk enters
the Quantity. 11. The system checks whether the
clerk has entered a Format check,     numeric
value and whether inventory is available. Valida
tion rule 12. The system calculates the
Extended_Price (Price x Quantity). Computer-
generated value 13. The system calculates the
Order_Total and displays it. Computer- ge
nerated value 14. The system prompts the order
entry clerk to review the Accept/Reject    
order details and to accept/edit/reject the
order. 15. The order entry clerk accepts the
order. 16. The system records the order. 17. The
system updates the Quantity_Allocated.
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Table 7.5 Events and Forms for Fairhaven
Convenience Store   Name of table(s) in
which Input form Event data are entered, if
any required? Maintain manager Manager Yes Ma
intain inventory Inventory Yes Make
sale Sales, Sales Detail Yes Deposit
cash Deposit Yes
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Table 7.6 Content and Organization of Manager
Maintenance Form (Single-Record Form) Fairhaven
Convenience Store   Title on Form Manager
Maintenance Form Type of Form Single-record
form Data Table Manager 1. Attribute recorded
in tables SSN, Last_Name, First_Name, Address
, File_Stat, Exemptions 2. Attribute displayed
but not modified 3. Foreign keys that link this
table to    the others used in the form (if
any) Format Attribute Names and Calculations
Used Main form SSN, Last_Name,
First_Name, Address, File_Stat,
Exemptions Subform (For main form/subform format
only) Formulas for calculations
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Table 7.7 Input Controls and Use Case Description
for Manager Maintenance Form Fairhaven
Convenience Store  Panel A Manager Maintenance
FormData Item Controls Data Item Control
Features SSN Format checks (number with nine
digits) Last_Name Format checks (certain
characters, such as punctuation, not
permitted) First_Name Format checks (certain
characters not permitted) Address Format checks
(certain characters not permitted) File_Stat Look
-up feature Exemptions Format checks (must be
number), validation rule (should be less than
maximum number of exemptions possible) Panel B
Manager Maintenance FormUse Case Description 1.
The owner selects the Maintain Manager
Information option from the menu. 2. The
system displays the Manager Maintenance Form. 3.
The owner enters an SSN. 4. The system
verifies that the SSN is in the correct
format. 5. The owner enters the Last_Name,
First_Name, and Address. 6. The owner selects a
filing status from a drop-down list. 7. The
owner enters the number of exemptions. 8. The
system verifies that the number of exemptions is
less than the maxiimum number of exemptions
possible. 9. The system asks the user to review
the data entered and accept. 10. The owner
reviews the data and saves the record.
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Table 7.8 Content and Organization of Deposit
Form (Single-Record Form) Fairhaven Convenience
Store Title on Form Deposit Form Type of
Form Single-record form Data Table Deposit
(D) Manager (M) 1. Attribute recorded Deposit,
SSN,    in tables Date, Amount 2. Attribute
displayed Last_Name, First_Name    but not
modified 3. Foreign keys that SSN    link this
table to    the others used in    the form (if
any) Format Attribute Names and Calculations
Used Main form D Deposit, SSN, Date,
Amount M Last_Name, First_Name Subform (for
main form/subform format only) Formulas for
calculations
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Table 7.9 Input Controls and Use Case Description
for Deposit Form Fairhaven Convenience
Store  Panel A Deposit FormData Item
Controls Data Item Control Features Deposit C
omputer-generated serial number SSN Computer-gen
erated based on user log-in Last_Name Confirmatio
n First_Name Confirmation Date Default Amount
Validation rule Panel B Deposit FormUse Case
Description 1. The manager selects the Enter
Deposit option from the menu. 2. The manager
enters his username and password. 3. The system
obtains SSN based on username. 4. The system
displays the Enter Deposit Form. 5. The system
displays a Deposit. 6. The system displays the
current date. 7. The manager enters the amount of
the deposit. 8. The system asks the user to
review the data entered and accept. 9. The
manager reviews the data and saves the record.
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Table 7.10  Content and Organization of
Sales/Cash Receipt Form Fairhaven Convenience
Store Title on Form Sales/Cash Receipt Form Type
of Form Multi-table data entry (Main
form/Subform) Data Table Sales_Detail (SD) Sales
(S) Manager (M) Inventory (I) 1.Attribute
recorded Sale, Product, Sale, Date, SSN,  in
tables Quantity, Price Payment_Type, Account
2.Attribute displayed Last_Name Description,
 but not modified Price (default) 3.Foreign
keys that Product SSN  link this table to
the Sale  others used in the  form (if
any) Format Attribute Names and Calculations
Used Main form S Sale, Date, SSN,
Payment_Type, Account. M Last_Name. Calculatio
n Total Subform (for main SD Product,
Quantity, Price. I Description,
Price. form/subform Calculation Extended
Price format only) Formulas for
calculations Extended Price Quantity x
Price Sales Tax 0.05 x Sum (Extended
Price) Total Sum (Extended Price) Sales Tax
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Table 7.11 Input Controls and Use Case
Description for Sales/Cash Receipt Form
Fairhaven Convenience Store  Panel A Sales/Cash
Receipt FormData Item Controls Data
Item Control Features Sale Computer-generated
serial number Date Default is current date,
validation rule (e.g., dates must be within the
current period) SSN Determined by computer from
username entered at time of log-in For each
item purchased by customer Product Scanned,
referential integrity Price Default from
Inventory Table Description Confirmation Quantity
Format checks, validation rule (e.g.,
Quantity should not exceed 999) Extended
Price Computer-generated Amount Computer-generate
d Sales Tax Computer-generated Payment_Type Drop-
down box requiring selection of one of three
choices cash, check, or credit card Account
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Table 7.11 Input Controls and Use Case
Description for Sales/Cash Receipt Form
Fairhaven Convenience Store (Concluded) Panel B
Sales/Cash Receipt FormUse Case
Description  1. The manager starts a session by
entering his username and password.  2. The
system obtains his SSN from the Manager Table
based on his username.  3. The manager selects
the Record Sale option from the menu.  4. The
system displays the Date (current date).  5. The
system assigns a unique Sale. For each item
purchased by customer  6. The manager enters the
Product by scanning the bar code on the
product.  7. The computer system checks to see if
the Product is valid.  8. The system displays
other inventory information (e.g., Description
and Price).  9. The manager enters the Quantity
of each item purchased. 10. The computer checks
to make sure that a number has been entered and
that it does not exceed the maximum
number allowed (validation
rule). 11. After all the items have been entered,
the system computes the Total. 12. The system
then computes the Sales_Tax. 13. The manager
enters the Payment_Type (e.g., cash, check, or
credit card). 14. The manager then enters payment
details (e.g., Account) in the computer system.