Question

Mount Pleasant Community College (MPCC) is a medium-sized academic institution that employs
about 200 full-time faculty and 250 staff personnel. There are 11,439 students enrolled at the college
for the 2014–2015 school year.
The Purchase Process. The college’s budget for purchases of equipment and supplies is about
$18,000,000 annually. Allen Lee is in charge of the Purchasing Department. He reports directly to
the Vice President of Finance for the university. Allen supervises four purchasing clerks and three
receiving personnel. The office is responsible for purchases of all equipment and supplies except
for computer equipment and software, and plant purchases or additions.
The Payment Process. The various departments across campus manually fill out hard-copy purchase
requisition forms when there is a need for equipment/supplies. Each department forwards these
forms to the Purchasing Department. If the request is for computer equipment or software, the
requisition is forwarded to the Department of Information Technology for action.
Purchase requisitions are assigned to one of the three purchasing clerks by department. For instance,
one purchasing clerk makes purchases for all university departments beginning with the letters A
through H (Accounting–History). Purchasing clerks check the requisition to make sure it is authorized, and then consult the Approved Vendor Listing to find a supplier. The clerk may contact a
supplier for pricing and product specification. Once this task is complete, the purchasing clerk
enters the purchase requisition and vendor and price information into the computer system, which
prints out a multiple part purchase order. Clerks send copies of the purchase order to Central Receiving, to the vendor, and to the Accounts Payable Department. (The university considered using EDI
for its purchases, but chose not to adopt it due to the large number of vendors used.)
When Central Receiving receives an order, a receiving clerk consults the Purchase Order file to
make sure the correct product and quantity have been delivered. The clerk also checks the product
for damage. Central receiving does not accept any overshipments. Receiving clerks forward accepted
shipments to the adjacent warehouse for distribution to the appropriate department. Clerks file one
copy of the Receiving Report, send one copy to the Purchasing Department, and forward a third
copy to Accounts Payable.

Eric Hammer is the Supervisor of Accounts Payable. Two accounting clerks report to him. He
assigns invoices to them for payment based on vendor name. One clerk processes payments for
vendors A–M and the other clerk handles payments to all vendors with names beginning with letters
N–Z. The clerks match each vendor invoice with a copy of the receiving report and purchase order
before entering it into the computer for payment by due date. There are often discrepancies among
the three documents. This requires frequent phone calls to the vendor, the Receiving Department,
or Purchasing for resolution. As a result, the company frequently makes payments late and loses out
on cash discounts.

Make a document flowchart with the information above.

Answer 1

Document Flowchart For Mount Pleasant Community College (MPCC):

Purchasing Department Department of Information Technology Central Receiving Department Accounts Payable Department Start Receiving Clerk Supervisor Various Departments Checks for Damage Invoice the vendor Purchase Requisition Receiving Report Process for Payment Yes Computer Equipment Is for Computer Equipment and software Names begins with A-M No Vendor Purchasing Clerks Accounting Clerk-A Accounting Clerk-B Price Enter Details in the system Product Specifications Enter into System Purchase Order Stop Vendor