Orbits—Comprehensive Case

(Prepared by Jaime Hesser, William Levien, and Rachel Sapir, Lehigh University)

In 1997, J.D. Orbits opened a cell phone accessory manufacturing plant named Orbits.

Although the company began its operations at the local level with only 40 employees, 3 vendors, and 5 main customers, it experienced rapid success. By 2001, gross sales tripled and the enterprise expanded its customer, vendor, and employee base, and it now serves all major cell phone manufacturers. The success of Orbits is attributed to retention of talented employees and solicitation of large accounts.

Employees: Currently, Orbits has a total of 120 employees.

Executives: J.D. Orbits is the top executive.

In 1999, he hired four people to serve as executive directors.

Executive Directors: The directors provide the independent verification control function by monitoring operating procedures. They are also responsible for the sales forecast and production schedule.

Sales Representatives: Sales representatives are crucial to the growth of Orbits. The company retained 10 members of the original staff and hired 30 more to represent the company.

The Orbits sales representatives visit customer sites and take orders over the phone or receive orders online.

Office Personnel: Twenty people serve as office personnel to facilitate the paperwork involved in manual processes. Most of these employees work in the office facility, but a small portion work in the company warehouse. These individuals ensure that the inventory control account is properly measured.

Production Staff: Fifty people work on the manufacturing processes. This figure includes testers, maintenance staff, individuals who operate machinery, and individuals who transport goods to the warehouse.

Customers: Orbits sells to the outlet stores of distributors of Verizon, MCI, Cingular, and AT&T cellular phones in the tri-state area.

Materials and Suppliers: Manufacturing handsfree cell phone devices requires a number of different materials, none of which are made in-house.

Orbits purchases most parts from 25 vendors.

The more complex components used in the manufacturing process are purchased through contracts with vendors. Premade circuitry and software (games), the microphone, and the battery pack are purchased. Everything else is assembled in the plant. Parts that are required to assemble the antennae, buttons, facade, and the wiring are relatively inexpensive. These components are made of either plastic or rubber.

The raw materials are purchased from vendors according to price without a formal contract.

PPE (Fixed Assets):

Equipment: Plastic molding machine, button stamping machine, robotics assembly machines Buildings:

Office Facility: Occupied by executives, sales representatives, office personnel, and programmers Warehouse: Stores finished goods (awaiting sale or ready to ship), occupied by parts of office personnel and production staff Factory Building: Occupied by production staff Purchases System The purchasing/inventory department prepares a purchase requisition when inventory levels drop below a predetermined reorder point.

One copy of the purchase requisition is sent to AP, where the AP clerk files it in the AP pending file. A multipart purchase order is prepared for each vendor. One copy of the PO is sent to AP, where it is filed in the AP pending file and two copies are sent to the vendor.

One PO and the purchase requisition are used to update the inventory records and then are filed in the closed purchase order file. The receiving department inspects and counts the goods arriving from the vendor and prepares the receiving report. One copy of the receiving report is sent with the inventory to the raw materials storeroom, and another copy is sent to the purchasing/inventory department, where it is filed. Another copy is sent to the AP department, where it is filed in the AP pending file. The final copy is filed in the receiving department. Once the AP department receives the purchase requisition, purchase order, and receiving report, the firm records the liability in the purchases journal and posts it to the supplier’s account in the AP subsidiary ledger. The purchase requisition, purchase order, and receiving report are transferred to the open AP file.

The AP clerk summarizes the transactions in the purchases journal for the period and prepares a journal voucher for the general ledger department. The general ledger department receives an account summary from the purchasing/inventory department and the invoice from the vendor. The clerk posts to the inventory and AP control accounts.

Payroll System Production Employees who work on the production floor are required to clock in and out on a computer every day while a production manager supervises. The production manager uses the information from the computer to compile time cards and job tickets. Time cards are a record of the total time an employee works, and job tickets are a record of the amount of time each worker spends on a specific job. Job tickets are sent to the cost department, and time cards are sent to the payroll department.

Cost The cost department uses the job tickets to allocate labor and manufacturing overhead costs to the work-in-process (WIP) account.

Payroll The payroll department receives the time cards and uses them to update the employee payroll records. The payroll department also prepares employee paychecks and creates a payroll register. The payroll register shows gross pay, overtime pay, net pay, and commission.

A copy of the payroll register is sent to the AP department, and the paychecks are signed and sent to employees.

Accounts Payable The AP department uses the payroll register to create a cash disbursements voucher. The voucher and the payroll register are sent to the cash disbursements department.

Cash Disbursements The cash disbursements department uses the payroll register and the cash disbursements voucher to write a check for an imprest payroll account. The check is signed and sent to the bank in an amount equal to wages payable.
General Ledger The general ledger uses the cash disbursements voucher to update payroll. The voucher is then filed.
Fixed Asset System The acquisition, maintenance, and disposal of fixed assets demand special attention. Purchasing a fixed asset is much different from purchasing supplies for normal operations. Fixed assets are a larger investment for the company, and they are bought for long-term use. They also decrease in value as they expend their useful life, and their maintenance relies on a depreciation schedule. Executives must approve disposal of a fixed asset. It is possible for the sale of a fixed asset to result in a gain or a loss.
At Orbits, the purchasing/ordering department is responsible for monitoring the needs of user departments. Ordering determines if a user department needs a new fixed asset based on the estimated remaining useful life of the current asset and/or the ability of the asset to generate revenue/increase productivity. In certain circumstances, such as obsolescence or necessity, ordering will approve direct requests from user departments.
Acquiring a Fixed Asset Ordering Department The ordering department clerk creates a purchase order and sends a copy to the vendor.
(When the vendor receives the order, they send an invoice to the AP department. The vendor sends the fixed asset and a packing slip to the ordering department.)
Accounts Payable Department The AP department receives a copy of the vendor invoice and places it in the AP pending file.
Paying for a Fixed Asset Ordering Department The vendor ships the fixed asset and the packing slip to the ordering department. When the fixed asset is received, the ordering department creates a receiving report. The receiving report and the packing slip are sent to the AP department.
Accounts Payable Department The receiving report is placed in the AP pending file with the vendor invoice. When the payment is due, the records are pulled from the AP pending file, a cash disbursement voucher is created, and the AP subsidiary ledger is updated. The voucher is sent to the cash disbursements department, and the invoice and packing slip are filed. A copy of the receiving report is sent to the fixed asset department.
Fixed Asset Department At Orbits, the records of all fixed assets are kept in the fixed asset department. This department designates the method of depreciation and also estimates the salvage value and useful life. In turn, they create a depreciation schedule, a disposal report, and a record of physical location.
Cash Disbursements Department The cash disbursements department is responsible for paying the vendor the amount that is recorded on the cash disbursements voucher.
After the cash disbursements voucher is received, a check is prepared and sent to the vendor. The cash disbursements voucher is sent to the general ledger department.
General Ledger Department After the general ledger department receives the cash disbursements voucher, accounts are updated, and the document is filed.
Maintaining a Fixed Asset The fixed asset subsidiary ledger and the general ledger are updated throughout the useful life of the asset based on the depreciation schedule. Depreciation adjustments are made by debiting depreciation expense and crediting accumulated depreciation. Accumulated depreciation is a contra account, and it reduces the value of the fixed asset.
Disposing of a Fixed Asset There are a number of ways to retire an asset that is no longer useful to the company. Fixed assets can be sold, scrapped, or donated. In each case, the fixed asset account and the corresponding accumulated depreciation account must be eliminated. A gain or a loss on the disposal should also be recorded, and it will appear on the income statement. To record a disposal, accumulated depreciation is debited, and the fixed asset is credited (loss/gain may also be debited/credited).
Sales Order System A customer places an order with an operator, who puts the order information in the order form. The sales order is filed in a database. A stock release, invoice, ledger copy, packing slip, and a shipping notice are all printed. The invoice and ledger copy are sent to billing, where the prices and information are added from the database, and the sales journal is updated via a user terminal. The invoice is then sent to the customer, and the ledger copy is sent to AR. The stock release is then sent to the warehouse, where the goods are picked and the stock records are updated in the database at a terminal. The stock release is sent to shipping, where it is reconciled with the packing slip, the shipping notice and bill of lading are prepared, and the shipping log is updated.
The shipping notice is filed, and the bill of lading, product, and packing slip are then sent to the customer. The stock release is sent to AR, where it is reconciled with the ledger copy from billing. There the general ledger, AR, and inventory records are updated at a terminal, and a management summary is produced.
Cash Receipts System The mail room receives the customer’s check along with the remittance advice. The checks are sent to the cash receipts department, and the remittance advices are transferred to the accounts receivable department. The cash receipts department records the cash receipts in the cash receipts journal. The clerk then prepares a bank deposit slip and transfers the checks and two copies of the deposit slip to the bank. After the funds are deposited, the bank returns a deposit slip to the cash receipts department, where it is reconciled with cash receipts and AR batch totals. The accounts receivable department reviews the remittance advices and updates the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger and the general ledger from a terminal and then files the remittance advices in the department.
Required:

a. Create a data flow diagram of the current system.

b. Create a document flowchart of the existing system.

c. Analyze the internal control weaknesses in the system. Model your response according to the six categories of physical control activities specified in SAS 78.