The following is a summary of the purchase process at McQuarrie Enterprises, a wholesaler of ladies clothing. Purchases are authorized and made by departmental managers. Sequential purchase orders are completed for all purchases and forwarded to the accounting department. Departmental managers may only make purchases within pre-determined limits. Personnel receiving goods do not perform any accounting functions. When receiving goods, the receivers use a copy of the purchase order and tick off the items received. A copy of this purchase order is filed in the shipping area just in case the departmental manager who ordered the goods wants to see it. 

Account distributions are recorded by the individual managers and forwarded to the accounting department, where they are entered into the accounting system. Access to the accounting records (regarding purchases and payments) is restricted, both electronically and physically, to key accounting personnel. The entry of invoices is performed and invoices are filed by vendor until the cheques are prepared. The accounting manager reviews the pre-list of cheques to be issued. The owner manager signs all cheques. If he is too busy, he may not review the supporting documentation as he rarely finds errors and he trusts his staff. A bank reconciliation is prepared monthly. However, reconciling items are recorded when the accounting staff have time. 

Required

(a) Identify control strengths in the above. For each strength identifi ed, state a test of that control that could be performed. 

(b) Identify the control weaknesses for the purchasing process at McQuarrie Enterprises. For each weakness, list the implication of the weakness (the WCGW) and make a recommendation to strengthen the control.