Expenditure cycle definition — AccountingTools (2024)

What is the Expenditure Cycle?

The expenditure cycle is the set of activities related to the acquisition of and payment for goods and services. These activities include the determination of what needs to be purchased, purchasing activities, the receipt of goods, and payments to suppliers. Much of the input to the expenditure cycle comes from the sales cycle, where purchasing requirements are driven by the volume and type of customer orders.

Components of the Expenditure Cycle

The expenditure cycleis comprised of several distinct components, including the requisition of goods and services, supplier selection, the ordering of goods and services, their receipt, and subsequent payment for them. The full expenditure cycle contains the following activities:

  1. Determine which goods and services need to be ordered. Most goods to be ordered are needed by the production process. To do so, the system calculates the components that need to be on hand for scheduled production and subtracts out on-hand and unallocated raw materials to arrive at the amounts that must be acquired. Alternatively, if goods or services are needed for a selling or administrative function, the user fills out a requisition form that details her requirements and forwards it to the purchasing department.

  2. When goods are being purchased for ongoing production, the system will present the purchasing staff with a preliminary purchase order, using the preferred supplier stated in the inventory master file for each item to be purchased. The purchasing staff reviews and approves these orders, which are then either sent electronically direct to suppliers, or printed and mailed to them.

  3. When non-standard goods and services are being requested, the purchasing staff investigates possible suppliers, selects the best one, and issues them a purchase order.

  4. As goods are received, the receiving department accesses open purchase orders in the system and enters the quantities received.

  5. When supplier invoices are received, they are logged into the system by the accounts payable staff. The system then compares these invoices to the authorizing purchase orders and receiving information to determine whether the invoices can be paid. There can be a significant amount of manual reconciliation work at this stage. The outcome is a set of invoices that have been approved for payment.

  6. The system schedules payments to suppliers based on the predetermined payment terms with each one. When a scheduled payment date arrives, the system processes a batch of payments, which will either be in the form of electronic funds transfers or checks.

Expenditure cycle definition —  AccountingTools (2024)

FAQs

What is the expenditure cycle in accounting? ›

What is the Expenditure Cycle? The expenditure cycle is the set of activities related to the acquisition of and payment for goods and services. These activities include the determination of what needs to be purchased, purchasing activities, the receipt of goods, and payments to suppliers.

What are the 4 stages of the expenditure cycle? ›

Four Components of Expenditure Cycles

Ordering goods and services. Receiving what has been ordered. Approving the invoices presented by vendors and suppliers. Paying the invoices.

What is the basic expenditure cycle? ›

The three basic activities performed in the expenditure cycle are: (1) ordering goods, supplies, and services; (2) receiving and storing these items; and (3) paying for these items. These activities mirror the activities in the revenue cycle.

What are the types of expenditure cycle? ›

The expenditure cycle may be divided into five categories of transactions used by most governmental funds. These catergories are pre-encumbrances, encumbrances, vouchers payable, disbursem*nts, and interfund/interagency transfers.

What is expenditure meaning in accounting? ›

An expenditure represents a payment with either cash or credit to purchase goods or services. It is recorded at a single point in time (the time of purchase), compared to an expense that is recorded in a period where it has been used up or expired.

What is expenditure cycle and revenue cycle? ›

The revenue cycle, where goods and services are sold for cash or a future promise to pay cash. The expenditure cycle, where companies purchase inventory for resale or raw materials to use in producing products in exchange for cash or a future promise to pay cash.

What are the 4 categories of expenditure? ›

There are four main aggregate expenditures that go into calculating GDP: consumption by households, investment by businesses, government spending on goods and services, and net exports, which are equal to exports minus imports of goods and services.

What is the first step in the expenditure cycle? ›

First step in the expenditure cycle? Ordering of materials, supplies, and services involves what? MRP(Materials Requisition planning): Seeks to reduce required inventory levels by improving the accuracy of forecasting techniques to better schedules purchases to satisfy demands.

What are the 3 main categories of financial expenditure? ›

The three types of expenditures are Capital Expenditure, Revenue Expenditure, and Deferred Revenue Expenditure.

Which is not part of the expenditure cycle? ›

production. All of the choices above are part of the expenditure cycle except production. Production is part of conversion cycle along with planning, physical product control, and scheduling.

What is risk in expenditure cycle? ›

The following are the primary risks associated with expenditure cycle transactions: Unauthorised inventory purchase. Receiving wrong items, incorrect quantities or damaged goods. Inaccurate record keeping.

What is expenditure cycle threat? ›

THREAT: Wasted time and cost of returning unordered merchandise to suppliers. CONTROL PROCEDURES: Only accept deliveries for which an approved purchase order exists.

What is expenditure cycle flowchart? ›

The expenditure cycle flowchart helps you track the expenses and gives you a detailed and organized employee task. That means you'll be able to identify the cash spent by every person with the help of this flowchart. As for the display, it appears to be appealing and accessible simultaneously.

What is the best definition of expenditure? ›

: the act of spending (as money, time, or energy) : something that is spent.

What is expenditures in simple words? ›

An expenditure is a payment or the incurrence of a liability in exchange for goods or services. Evidence of the documentation triggered by an expenditure is a sales receipt or an invoice. Organizations tend to maintain tight controls over expenditures, to keep from incurring losses.

What are examples of expenditure in accounting? ›

Revenue expenditure refers to those expenditures which are incurred during normal business operation by the company, the benefit of which will be received in the same period and the example of which includes rent expenses, utility expenses, salary expenses, insurance expenses, commission expenses, manufacturing ...

What is the purpose of expenditure cycle? ›

The primary objective in the expenditure cycle is to minimize the total cost of acquiring and maintaining inventories, supplies, and the various services the organization needs to function.

What accounts are affected by the expenditure cycle? ›

Expenditure cycle affects financial statement accounts. It impacts all current assets, except marketable securities and accounts recievable, all plant and intangible assets and many current liabilities.

What is the difference between fixed asset system and expenditure cycle? ›

ANS: The fixed asset system processes nonroutine transactions for a wider group of users in the organization than the expenditure cycle. Further, the expenditure cycle processes routine acquisitions of raw materials inventories for the production function and finished goods inventories for the sales function.

What is difference between expense and expenditure? ›

An expense is an amount spent by a business in the process of earning revenue. Expenditure is the amount spent on acquiring an asset, goods or services etc. Q. _______ arise because of the failure to differentiate between capital expenditure and revenue expenditure and capital receipts and revenue receipts.

What are the two types of expenditures in accounting? ›

Types of expenditures
  • Capital expenditure. A company incurs a capital expenditure when it buys an asset that has a life of more than one year (non-current asset). ...
  • Revenue expenditure. This type of expenditure refers to when a company spends money on a short-term benefit (less than one year). ...
  • Deferred revenue expenditure.
Dec 20, 2022

What are the two types of expenditures? ›

Both capital expenditure and revenue expenditure are two different types of expenses incurred while running a business.

What is the final activity in the expenditure cycle? ›

The final activity in the expenditure cycle is the payment of approved invoices. The cashier reviews the voucher package, approves the payment, prepares the check for payment, and signs the check. Procurement cards provide one way to eliminate the need for accounts payable to process many small noninventory invoices.

What are the 5 major transaction cycles? ›

The basic exchanges can be grouped into five major transaction cycles.
  • Revenue cycle—Interactions with customers. ...
  • Expenditure cycle—Interactions with suppliers. ...
  • Production cycle—Give labor and raw materials; get finished product.
  • Human resources/payroll cycle—Give cash; get labor.
  • Financing cycle—Give cash; get cash.

What are the major subsystem of expenditure cycle? ›

This chapter examines the principal features of the two major subsystems that constitute the expenditure cycle: (1) the pur- chases processing subsystem and (2) the cash disbursem*nts subsystem.

What 4 spending categories make up aggregate expenditure? ›

Recall that aggregate expenditure is the sum of four parts: consumer expenditure, investment expenditure, government expenditure and net export expenditure. A key part of the Income-Expenditure model is understanding that as national income (or GDP) rises, so does aggregate expenditure.

What are the categories of expenditures? ›

The Aggregate Expenditure Approach in National Income Accounts divide expenditures in four categories: Consumption, Investment, Government Spending, and Net Exports (Exports minus Imports).

What are the two major sub cycles of expenditure transaction? ›

1. Expenditure Cycle subsystems: Purchasing/Accounts Payable, Cash disbursem*nts, Payroll, and Fixed assets. 2. Conversion Cycle Subsystems: Production Planning (planning, scheduling, and control of the physical product throughout the manuf.

Which is not an expenditure? ›

Examples of expenditures that will not be an expense in the accounting period in which the payments are made include the purchase of land for a future expansion and the principal portion of a monthly loan payment.

Which signals the start of the expenditure cycle? ›

The first step in the expenditure cycle is to order materials, supplies and services for the company.

Is cash receipt system part of the expenditure cycle? ›

Explanation: Cash receipts would be involved in the revenue cycle so it could not be included in the expenditure cycle.

Why there is a need to segregate key functions in the expenditure cycle? ›

Segregation of duties serves two key purposes: It ensures that there is oversight and review to catch errors. It helps to prevent fraud or theft because it requires two people to collude in order to hide a transaction.

What is three way match expenditure cycle? ›

A three-way matching is the process of matching purchase orders (PO), goods receipt note, and the supplier's invoice to eliminate fraud, save money, and maintain adequate records for the audit trail. Three-way matching is usually done before issuing payment to the supplier post delivery.

What documents are used in expenditure cycle? ›

Match
  • Purchase Requisition. ...
  • Purpose of Purchase Requisition. ...
  • Purchase Order. ...
  • Purpose of Purchase Order. ...
  • Vendor Packing Slip. ...
  • Purpose of Vendor Packing Slip. ...
  • Purchase Order (Blind Copy) ...
  • Purpose of Purchase Order (Blind Copy)

What are the four 4 types of revenue expenditure? ›

Types of Revenue Expenditures

Salaries and employee wages. Any overhead expense, such as salaries for the corporate office, which typically fall under selling, general, and administrative expenses (SG&A) Research and development (R&D) Utilities and Rent.

What are the major threats in the expenditure cycle? ›

THREAT: Accidental loss of purchasing data. CONTROL PROCEDURES: Regular backup of the expenditure cycle database. THREAT: Disclosure of sensitive supplier information (e.g., banking data). CONTROL PROCEDURES: Restrict access to the supplier master data.

Which system is not part of the expenditure cycle? ›

production. All of the choices above are part of the expenditure cycle except production. Production is part of conversion cycle along with planning, physical product control, and scheduling.

What are the 3 types of expenditure? ›

Expenditure
  • Fixed Expenditure: These are regular payments where the amount paid does not vary e.g. rent or mortgage payment.
  • Irregular Expenditure: This is where the timing and /or amount of spending will vary. ...
  • Discretionary Expenditure: Non-essential spending, this is spending on wants rather than needs.

What are the three main types of expenditure? ›

The three types of expenditure that a business can incur include capital expenditure, revenue expenditure, and deferred revenue expenditure.

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