Business Processes & Automation

Cycles

• Order to cash: credit check, shipping-to-invoice matching, invoice sequence gaps, segregate cash handling.
• Procure to pay: three-way match, controlled vendor master, duplicate checks.
• Payroll: human resources separate from payroll; approved rate changes.
• Close: journal entry approval, reconciliations.

Documentation

Narratives · flowcharts · data flow diagrams · risk and control matrices.

Automated vs manual

Automated = consistent, depends on information technology general controls (ITGCs), test once. Manual = judgment, sample over time.

Automation

• Robotic process automation (RPA): unique bot credentials, least privilege, change management, activity logs, failure monitoring.
• Electronic data interchange (EDI): authentication, encryption, control totals.
• Machine learning: model governance, data quality, human review.

Risk

Automation repeats errors at scale — bad logic or bad data affects every transaction.

Exam traps

• The three-way match compares the purchase order, the receiving report and the vendor invoice — not the payment.
• Gaps in the invoice sequence suggest unbilled shipments (a completeness problem); duplicate numbers suggest occurrence problems.
• Data flow diagrams show how data moves, not documents or controls — use a flowchart to see controls.