The Accounts Payable Clerk receives invoices from vendors. When vendor invoices are received, the Accounts Payable Clerk records the amount due in the accounts payable subledger and files the invoices in the unpaid invoices file, sorted alphabetically. Before ABC Company pays a vendor invoice, the accounts payable clerk must perform a "three-way match." To perform the three-way match, the Accounts Payable Clerk, matches the invoice against the purchase order prepared by the Purchasing Department and the receiving report prepared by the Receiving Department. Because all three of these documents enter the Accounts Payable Department at different times, a separate alphabetical file is kept for each type of document. The Accounts Payable Clerk files purchase orders in a purchase orders file. The Accounts Payable Clerk files receiving reports in a receiving reports file.

Every Friday, ABC Company pays invoices. The Accounts Payable Clerk retrieves the vendor invoice, attaches the purchase order and the receiving report, and forwards the matched documents to Sara, the Accounting Manager. The Accounting Manager reviews the documents for completeness, prepares a two-part check (an original check and a copy), forwards all the documents to Anna (the Operations Manager), and records the check in the cash disbursements journal.

The Operations Manager reviews the documents for validity and signs the checks. She then forwards the original check to the vendor and returns the documents and the check copy to the Accounts Payable Clerk. The Accounts Payable Clerk files the documents alphabetically in a paid invoice file, sorted alphabetically.

1. Prepare a Business Process Diagram to document accounts payable processing at ABC Company.