Create flowchart and use swim lanes for Purchasing Process

A purchasing clerk receives a purchase requisition from one of the company departments. They review the requisition and request pricing and availability from an authorized supplier. If the item is available and priced correctly, the purchasing clerk completes a purchase order and sends it to the supplier. If it is not available, they notify the requesting department.

The warehouse clerk receives purchases daily from a variety of shipping companies, such as UPS and FedEx. The warehouse clerk inspects the received goods and compares the packing slip with the purchase order. If there is a problem or the documents dont match, they notify the purchasing clerk who follows up with the supplier. If they do match, the item is received into the warehouse and forwarded via an intracompany courier to the requesting department. The warehouse clerk updates the purchases file to show that the items were received.

The accounts payable clerk receives an invoice from the supplier for the items purchased. They do a three-way match to make sure the invoice matches the received purchases and the original purchase order. If they dont match, the clerk follows up with the supplier to resolve the discrepancy. If they do match, the accounts payable clerk updates the purchases file with the amount due and forwards payment information to the cash disbursements clerk.

The cash disbursements clerk prepares electronic fund transfers or checks to cover the days payments and forwards them to the treasurer for approval. The treasurer compares the checks with the purchases file, signs the checks or approves the transfers, and sends them to the supplier. Any rejected checks are sent back to the cash disbursements clerk to redo.

At the end of the month, the accounts payable clerk reviews the bank statement and updates the purchases file with completed payments.