Identify (1) the key controls, (2) key systems used, and (3) supporting documents in the payroll process:

When employees report to work each morning, they are required to punch a timecard to record their hours. The production manager sends this timecard information to the payroll process department on a biweekly basis. There are no supervisors at the timecard station and, as a result, management has been under the impression that some warehouse employees are clocking in for their late or absent co-workers. The production department, which is responsible for submitting the timecard information, also sends summary information to the cost accounting department. The clerk at this department uses the job ticket information to post to the various work-in-progress accounts and create a labor distribution summary, which will later be sent to the accounts payable department.

The personnel action form that is prepared in the production department is sent to the payroll department to be reconciled with timecards and authorize the payment of employees. The clerk in charge at the payroll department sends paycheques to employees and sends payroll summary information to the accounts payable department through the preparation of a payroll register.

The accounts payable department sends the summary labor distribution information to the general ledger department where it is posted. The department uses the payroll register to prepare vouchers. Two voucher copies are prepared, and the payroll register is sent to the general ledger department. One voucher is sent to the cash disbursements department and the final copy is sent with the payroll register to the general ledger department.

In the cash disbursements department, a clerk signs the cheques and sends a copy to his supervisor. The voucher sent over from the accounts payable department is reviewed and used to write an amount for the imprest account, which is then deposited in the bank. Employees cash their cheques upon receipt.