Case Study:

Background Information:

You are at a trendy caf with your friend, Bill. Bill looks terrible and when you ask him what's wrong, he tells you he believes there is a problem with his ordering and accounts payable system which may be costing him money.

His business ATS Pty Ltd is a major provider of texts and stationery to secondary schools throughout the Southern Region. Students submit their order to ATS through their school at the beginning of the year. ATS fits the order in three steps:

The order is received from the school and entered into the ATS inventory order system.

The books and stationery required to fill the order are drawn from inventory, packed and dispatched to the student.

Payment is received from the student and processed.

Required:

1. You need to give Bill recommendations on how he can update his ordering processes, what questions would you ask him (Bill appears to be using a paperless ordering system, you can discuss a paperless or manual system).
2. After speaking with Bill it becomes obvious that he doesn't understand how accounts are processed, explain the process of ordering an item and how the transaction is recorded in the company accounts (in your conversation you will need to discuss authorisation, receipt of invoice, matching to purchase order and checking details on order and invoice).
3. What steps would you take if you found a discrepancy on the invoice?