Option #1: Input Controls and Data Processing

You have been hired by a catalog company to computerize its sales order entry forms. Approximately 60 percent of all orders are received over the telephone, with the remainder either mailed or faxed in. The company wants the phone orders to be input as they are received.

The mail and fax orders can be batched together in groups of fifty and submitted for data entry as they become ready. The following information is collected for each order:

• Customer number (if a customer does not have one, one needs to be assigned)
• Customer name
• Address
• Payment method (credit card or money order)
• Credit card number and expiration date (if necessary)
• Items ordered and quantity
• Unit price

Required: Determine control techniques to make sure that all orders are entered accurately into the system. Also, discuss any differences in control measures between the batch and the real-time processing.