| Course | AC314 Accounting Information Systems and Enterprise Risk Management |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 3 |
| Paper type | Data flow diagram |
| Length | About 610 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Accounting |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for AC314 Unit 3
Where an Order Lives Between the Call and the Cash: A Unit 3 Data Flow Diagram Set for a Wholesale Nursery
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
AC314: Accounting Information Systems and Enterprise Risk Management
Unit 3 Data Flow Diagram
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Stillbrook Nursery and its system are composite; the textbooks and article cited are real.
Context Diagram
One process, 0, Stillbrook sales system, sits in the center. Four external entities surround it, each drawn as a square:
1. Garden centers and landscapers: send orders and payments; receive delivery tickets, invoices and statements.
2. Home-improvement chain: receives deliveries and sends a nightly file of register scans and a weekly remittance for scanned plants.
3. Lockbox bank: sends a daily file of checks received.
4. General ledger system: receives summarized sales, receivables and cash entries.
A data flow diagram shows how data moves and where it rests, not who does the work or in what order, which is why it has no departments, decisions or document copies (Romney & Steinbart, 2018).
Level 0 Diagram
The single process opens into five numbered processes, each a rounded rectangle with a verb phrase:
1. 1.0 Take orders: receives customer orders; reads the customer master and plant availability; writes open orders.
2. 2.0 Pull and deliver: reads open orders; receives field scans; writes delivery data to open orders; sends delivery tickets to customers and deliveries to the chain.
3. 3.0 Bill customers: reads delivered open orders and the customer master; writes the receivables file; sends invoices.
4. 4.0 Apply payments: receives the lockbox file; reads and updates receivables; sends cash entries to the general ledger.
5. 5.0 Reconcile chain scans: receives the chain's scan file and remittance; reads delivery data for chain stores; writes receivables and a shrink record; sends sales entries to the general ledger.
Four data stores, each an open-ended rectangle: D1 Customer master, D2 Plant availability, D3 Open orders, D4 Accounts receivable.
Every flow is labeled with the data it carries, such as "customer order" or "scan file," and every flow into or out of a store connects to a process, never directly to an entity or another store.
Level 1 Diagram for Process 5.0
Process 5.0 earns its own level because it is where the chain's data meets Stillbrook's, and every plant that dies, is stolen or is never scanned shows up only as a difference between those two records.
1. 5.1 Load scan file: receives the chain's nightly file; writes D5 Chain scans.
2. 5.2 Match scans to deliveries: reads D5 and delivery data in D3 by store and plant number; writes matched quantities.
3. 5.3 Invoice scanned plants: reads matched quantities and price list; writes D4.
4. 5.4 Age unscanned plants: reads unmatched delivery quantities; writes D6 Unscanned inventory at chain stores, with days since delivery.
5. 5.5 Record shrink: reads D6 for plants past the agreed sell-through window; sends shrink entries to the general ledger.
Balancing Check
Inputs and outputs of 5.0 on the level 0 diagram, the scan file, remittance, delivery data, receivables, shrink and sales entries, all appear on the level 1 diagram, and no new external flows were added. Balancing between levels is the main test of a correct set (Hall, 2019).
What the Diagrams Show
D6 is the important addition. Without a store for plants delivered but not yet scanned, Stillbrook has no record of inventory it still owns at the chain's stores. A survey of accounting educators and practitioners found data flow diagrams and flowcharts still among the documentation methods most used to describe systems, which is why the course asks for both (Bradford et al., 2007).
References
Bradford, M., Richtermeyer, S. B., & Roberts, D. F. (2007). System diagramming techniques: An analysis of methods used in accounting education and practice. Journal of Information Systems, 21(1), 173-212. https://doi.org/10.2308/jis.2007.21.1.173
Hall, J. A. (2019). Accounting information systems (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Romney, M. B., & Steinbart, P. J. (2018). Accounting information systems (14th ed.). Pearson.
The Purdue Global AC314 Unit 3 instructions
Unit 3 of AC314 asks for data flow diagrams of a system, usually at context, level 0 and sometimes level 1. Start with the context diagram: the system as one process and the external entities it exchanges data with, each flow labeled. Open the process into a level 0 diagram with numbered processes named by verb phrases, data stores and labeled flows. Every flow should connect a process to something; entities and stores never connect directly. Choose one process worth decomposing further, usually where the prompt points or where risk concentrates, and explain why. Check that inputs and outputs balance between levels. Use one notation consistently and state it. Note what the diagrams reveal, such as a missing data store. Explain how a data flow diagram differs from a flowchart. Cite the textbook and research on diagramming in APA 7.
Inside the AC314 Unit 3 example
The sample's context diagram lists four external entities and the data each sends and receives, and explains why a data flow diagram shows no departments or decisions. The level 0 section describes five numbered processes, from 1.0 Take orders to 5.0 Reconcile chain scans, the stores each reads and writes, and four data stores. A short paragraph states the flow rules. The highlighted sentence explains why process 5.0 gets its own level. The level 1 section lists five subprocesses, from loading the scan file to recording shrink, and adds stores D5 and D6. A balancing section confirms that 5.0's flows match at both levels, citing Hall. The closing section explains why D6, plants delivered but not yet scanned, is the key addition and cites Bradford and colleagues on how widely these diagrams are used.
AC314 Unit 3 rubric: what earns full points
AC314 data flow diagrams are graded for correct notation, sensible decomposition and balance between levels. Each process needs a number and a verb phrase. Flows must be labeled with the data they carry. Connections that break the rules, such as an entity writing straight to a store, lose points. The context diagram must show only one process. Choosing a process to decompose and explaining why shows judgment. Checking that each decomposed process keeps the same inputs and outputs proves the levels fit together. Drawing physical details such as departments or documents into a data flow diagram is marked as confusion with flowcharts. Observing what the diagram reveals, such as a missing store, earns analysis credit. The notation should follow the course text, and a source on diagramming practice belongs in the APA 7 list for this Purdue Global unit.
AC314 Unit 3 help from the desk
Data flow diagrams often include departments, people or document copies, which belong in flowcharts. Processes are named with nouns, such as billing, instead of verb phrases. Flows go from an entity straight into a data store. Stores appear on the context diagram, which should show only the system and its entities. Level 1 diagrams add new external flows that the level 0 diagram lacks, so the levels do not balance. Every process is decomposed to the same depth, adding pages without meaning. Flows are unlabeled. If your system involves payroll, purchasing or an online store, our team can draw the context, level 0 and level 1 diagrams for it and run the balancing check.
Get an AC314 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
Free for a first custom sample and back within 24-48h: a context diagram, level 0 and any exploded process, balanced against each other. A process narrative from the Unit 3 materials, or the flowchart already drawn in Unit 2, is enough to begin, together with the rubric and your instructor's notation. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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AC314 Unit 3 questions, answered
How is a data flow diagram different from the Unit 2 flowchart?
A flowchart shows how and in what order work happens, including documents, manual steps and decisions. A data flow diagram shows only what data moves between processes, stores and outside parties. The same nursery appears in both AC314 samples so the contrast is visible: the credit decision drawn as a diamond on the flowchart is simply part of a process in the diagram.
Which notation should the diagram use?
Whichever your textbook or instructor names. Gane-Sarson uses rounded rectangles for processes and open-ended rectangles for stores; DeMarco-Yourdon uses circles and parallel lines. Both express the same rules. The sample uses Gane-Sarson and states it in a key, and it can be redrawn in the other convention if your section expects it, since mixing the two in one diagram is marked down.
How far should the diagram be decomposed?
Usually to level 0, with one process exploded further where the prompt points at it. Decomposing every process to level 2 adds pages without adding marks in most AC314 rubrics. The sample stops each branch where a process could be described in a sentence, which is the common stopping rule, and explodes only the scan reconciliation because it carries the most data.
Where can I find a free AC314 Unit 3 sample paper?
This page gives a complete AC314 Unit 3 data flow diagram set for a composite wholesale nursery, with context, level 0 and level 1 diagrams, a balancing check and APA 7 references.
Why does the AC314 Unit 3 sample add a store for unscanned plants?
Without it, Stillbrook has no record of plants it still owns on the chain's shelves. Only a difference between deliveries and scans shows plants that died, were stolen or were never scanned.