Review your sketch to be sure that the following have been accomplished:

• The flows begins at the upper left-hand corner of the sheet and generally move from left to right and from top to bottom.

• All steps are clearly presented in a sequence, or a series of sequences. No obvious gaps in the procedure should be presented.

• Symbols are used consistently throughout. Thus, the symbol for manual processing (an inverted trapezoid) should appear each time that a clerk performs a step in the procedure.

• The dispositions of all documents and reports are shown. In fact, the final "resting place" of every copy of every prepared document should be specified. Typical dispositions include placing documents in files, sending documents to outside parties such as customers, forwarding documents to connecting procedures (such as a general ledger procedure), and distributing reports to managers.

• The "sandwich" rule is consistently applied. This rule states that a processing symbol should be sandwiched between an input symbol and an output symbol.

• When a document crosses an organizational line within the flowchart, the document is normally pictured again in the new organizational unit. However, the repetition is not necessary in some instances if the organizational units are adjacent.

• All symbols contain brief but specific labels written inside the symbols. For instance, "Sales invoice" might appear inside a document symbol. (Do not simply write "Document" inside a document symbol, since the shape of the symbol indicates its nature.) When lengthy labels are needed, draw the symbols sufficiently large to contain the labels completely. (That is, the size of a symbol may vary without affecting its meaning.)

• Multiple copies of documents are drawn as an overlapping group and are numbered in the upper right-hand corners; these numbers remain with the copies during their flows through the procedure.

• Added comments are included within annotation symbols and are attached to appropriate symbols, such as the processing symbols to which the comments related.

• Ample connections (cross-references) are provided. The symbols used in forming the connections depend on the situation. Thus, if two sheets are needed to contain the flowchart, the flows between pages are formed by off-page connector symbols.