3400-Flowcharting

 

A flowchart is a method for documenting and understanding the flow of a system and for identifying its control points. It is a pictorial description of how transactions flow through a system. They visually communicate procedures, controls and the sequence in which they occur. The advantages of using a flowchart to document a system are as follows:

 

1.      Flowcharts are easier and less time consuming to understand than a narrative.

2.      Flowcharts make it easier to represent flow of transactions using standardized symbols.

3.      Flowcharts are easier to update.

 

There are three rules of flowcharting as it relates to auditing:

 

1.      Prepare or update a flowchart for each audit, where practical.

2.      Identify control points.

3.      Prepare a narrative on control points.

 

Flow

Procedures and movements of documents usually begin at the left of the chart and proceed to the right.

 

Preferably, a flowchart follows a transaction from its initiation to its ultimate disposition. If a system branches in several directions, it may be preferable for the flowchart to follow only the most frequently used or most significant paths. The least significant paths in such circumstances may be covered by a subsidiary flowchart or by a narrative memorandum.

 

 

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