AB Hi-Fi revenue cycle

AB Hi-Fi is a multi-store retail business that sells products such as DVDs, CDs, mp3 players, game consoles
and TVs. In addition to these retail sales, AB Hi-Fi also sells music, games and DVDs via its website. The
narrative of the revenue cycle relating to online sales at AB Hi-Fi follows.

Process 1.0 Process the sales order

Customers browse the AB Hi-Fi online store looking for products to purchase from the product catalogue.
When they have located an item they wish to purchase they click on a ‘buy this item’ link located underneath
the item required. The computer displays a screen showing the product ID number and asks the customer to
enter the quantity of the item required. The customer keys in the quantity required. The computer then
displays a screen asking the customer if they want to continue shopping. Once the customer indicates that
they do not want to continue shopping the computer calculates and displays an order confirmation screen
containing the product ID number, product price, quantity and total cost per item for each different item
ordered, the shipping amount (AB has a standard shipping rate within Australia of $10 per delivery), and a
total for all items and shipping costs. The screen asks the customer to input their credit card and delivery
details to complete the order. The customer inputs the delivery details (name and address) and credit card
details (card number and expiry date) to the order confirmation screen. The computer assigns the next sales
order number to the transaction, then displays a screen for the customer which provides the sales order
number and confirms that the order has been completed. The computer records the sales order details in the
sales event data store. At 11 pm every evening the computer extracts details of the day’s sales and updates
the inventory levels. The computer prints a picking ticket (barcoded sales order number, items and quantities)
on the warehouse printer and produces an electronic credit card check file listing all the credit card details
(customer name, credit card number and expiry date) from the previous day’s sales.

Process 2.0 Pick, pack and ship the goods

At 8 am every morning, the warehouse officer collects the picking tickets from the warehouse printer and
picks the required goods from the shelf. If any of the goods are not available, the warehouse officer puts back
any goods they have already picked for the order and places the picking ticket in a folder on their desk
labelled ‘awaiting goods’. If all the goods are available, the warehouse officer takes the goods and the picking
ticket to the shipping department. The shipping officer scans the sales order number from the picking ticket,
and the computer displays the order on the screen. The shipping officer manually checks each item picked
against the original sales order, and the picking ticket. The shipping officer also checks the name on the sales
order against the names highlighted on the credit card status report. If the name on the order matches a
name on the credit card status report, the goods and the picking ticket are sent back to the warehouse with
a note attached indicating they cannot be shipped due to non- payment. Once they are satisfied that the
credit card payment is not invalid, and that the correct items are being shipped, the shipping officer checks a
box on the sales order to indicate that shipping is complete. The computer updates the sales order and
inventory data. The computer also prints a delivery slip for the order on a printer in the shipping department.
The shipping officer attaches the delivery slip to the goods and places them on the loading dock. Every day
at 3 pm, a carrier picks up the goods from the loading dock and delivers them to the customer.

Process 3.0 Bill the customer

The computer sends the electronic credit card check file that was produced at 11 pm to the bank’s computer
for verification. At 1 pm every day, the bank sends an electronic report via email to the accounts receivable
officer indicating the status of each of the credit card orders (valid/ invalid). The accounts receivable officer
prints out two copies of the credit card status report. The accounts receivable officer files one copy of the
credit card status report and uses a highlighter pen to mark out on the second copy the name of any
customers whose credit card was reported as invalid. The accounts receivable officer takes the highlighted
report to the shipping officer who is responsible for checking that these customers do not receive any goods.

Process 4.0 Receive and record payment

Immediately after the bank sends the electronic status report, the funds for all valid credit card orders are
transferred into the company’s bank account. The accounts receivable officer receives an email from the
bank advising them of the total amount of the funds transferred. The accounts receivable officer compares
the total in the email to the total in the credit card status report. If these totals agree, the amount is input into
the computer and the cash receipt data store is updated. If the totals do not match the problem is referred to
the accounts receivable manager for resolution.

Considine, Brett. Accounting Information Systems Understanding Business Processes, 4th Edition.
John Wiley & Sons Australia. (Considine 437)