Question

5 (SO 6) Putnam Sound, Inc. (PSI) is a manufacturer of stereo speaker systems. The company prepares special journals and subsidiary ledgers for its revenue, expenditures, payroll, and conversion processes. For administrative processes, however, journal vouchers are created for the related general ledger entries. Steve Jamison is the accounting clerk who has responsibility for preparing journal vouchers.

Journal vouchers are prepared on preprinted forms; however, these forms are not prenumbered. Steve records a sequential journal voucher number on each form that is prepared. This procedure is in place because of the large number of journal vouchers that are typically voided each period at PSI. Because of the nonrouting nature of the underlying processes, it is not unusual for a journal entry to be revised once or twice before it is actually recorded.

Journal vouchers are posted to the general ledger on a biweekly basis. Once a journal voucher has been posted, Steve records it in a voucher log. This log is simply a chronological listing of all journal vouchers written that allows Steve to account for the numerical sequence of vouchers.

On a bimonthly basis, Steve reconciles the subsidiary accounts to their control accounts in the general ledger and verifies that the general ledger is in balance.

Required:

Describe the internal control strengths and weaknesses of PSI's general ledger accounting processes. For any weaknesses, suggest an improvement.

Answer 1

The internal control strenths ofPSI's general ledger accounting processes are mentioned below:

- Vouchers are created for general ledger entries resulting in adequate documentation.

- Reconciliation of subsidiary accounts to their control accounts is done to check that the general ledger is in balance.

The weaknesses of the system are mentioned below:

- The journal vouchers are not prenumbered, thus an entry can be passed by somone and not be noticed by Steve.

- It is possible to alter a journal entry more than once.

Thr improvements to correct these weaknesses are mentioned below:

- The journal vouchers should be prenumbered.

- If a journal entry has to be altered, approval should be taken from the top management.