Olives Autos
Operations and Accounting Boundary Workshop
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Decision progress No decisions reviewed
One workshop. One shared record.

Decide when operations become accounting.

Use real business cases. Agree the business rules. Record what must change. Leave software choices for the technical team.

Suggested total time: 3 hours

Workshop outcome

For each important event, state what happened, what proves it, what financial fact changed, when it changed, and how to reverse it.

Session details

Bring to the workshop

Robert's working rules

  • Start with a real case.
  • Record current practice and approved policy separately.
  • Ask what proves that an event happened.
  • Read each decision back to the group.
  • Record a different view when the group does not agree.
  • Defer a decision when the group needs evidence.
  • Move software questions to the parking list.

Protect business and customer data

Use anonymised examples. Do not enter a customer name, phone number, address, vehicle identification number, bank detail, or other private data. This page saves data in the current browser. Export JSON before you move to another device.

Suggested agenda

00:00 - 00:15
Start and primerSet the purpose and shared terms.
00:15 - 00:35
Map eventsFind the Operations to Accounting boundary.
00:35 - 01:15
Sale and paymentDecide the core cash-sale flow.
01:15 - 01:45
Vehicle and costDecide acquisition and cost rules.
01:45 - 01:55
Short breakCheck that the browser saved the record.
01:55 - 02:25
Other flowsTrade-in, hire purchase, and rentals.
02:25 - 02:45
Tax and controlConfirm reporting and approval needs.
02:45 - 03:00
Cutover and reviewAssign open items and export.
Continue to primer
Shared background

Two domains. One controlled boundary.

Operations records the business event. Accounting records the financial effect of that event. No event can create the same financial effect twice.

15 minutes
Operations domain

Records what happened

It owns vehicles, sales, payments, deliveries, hire purchase, rentals, and their business status.

Boundary↔
Accounting domain

Records the financial effect

It owns amounts due, money held, revenue, vehicle value, costs, tax, and financial reports.

Boundary question

When this operational event happens, does a financial fact change?

A simple sale path

Sale agreedCustomer accepts the terms
Invoice issuedCustomer gets a document
Payment receivedBusiness gets money
Vehicle deliveredCustomer gets the vehicle
Reports changeAccounting shows the new financial fact

The workshop must decide which steps change a financial fact. The answer can be different for revenue, payment, tax, and vehicle cost.

Terms for this workshop

Business eventAn action that happened in the business.
Operational proofThe approved record or document that proves the event.
Financial factMoney, value, income, cost, or tax that Accounting tracks.
Financial effectThe change that a business event causes to a financial fact.
Recognition dateThe date when Accounting records a financial effect.
Customer advanceMoney that the customer pays before the business creates a matching amount due.
Vehicle inventory valueThe approved cost of a vehicle that the business holds for sale.
Cost of saleThe vehicle cost that becomes an expense when the business sells the vehicle.
ReversalA new record that changes or cancels a financial effect that Accounting already recorded.

Every boundary event needs five answers

  • What happened?
  • What proves that it happened?
  • What financial fact changed?
  • When did it change?
  • What happens if the business reverses it?

Keep these items separate

  • Current practice: what people do now.
  • Approved policy: the rule the business accepts.
  • Proposed policy: a rule that still needs approval.
  • Software choice: how the technical team will implement the rule.

Current Operations snapshot

  • One sale can contain more than one vehicle.
  • A sale can have more than one vehicle delivery date.
  • The business can issue an invoice before it delivers the vehicle.
  • A payment can stay unmatched. It can also split across several invoices, or match part of one invoice.
  • Vehicle cost can include an estimate and the actual requisition cost.
  • The current HP schedule does not show all financial components separately.
  • Rentals track payments, deposits, charges, deductions, and refunds.

Do not decide software design today

  • Do not select software document types.
  • Do not design database fields or code.
  • Do not design background jobs or retry methods.
  • Do not select account codes before the financial fact is clear.
  • Record these questions in the technical parking list.
Continue to event map
Boundary exercise

Map the events before you make rules.

Review each event. State whether it changes a financial fact. Add a missing event when necessary.

20 minutes

Name a past fact

Use a name such as "Payment received". Do not use a plan such as "Receive payment".

Set one completion point

State the exact condition that makes the event true.

Keep one meaning

Split the event name if its two cases can have different financial effects.

To review Accounting effect Operations only Deferred Not in scope
Business event Definition and completion test Class Operational owner Proof Financial effect Recognition date Reversal rule
Detailed decisions follow this map.
Continue to sale and payment
Core flow

Sale, payment, delivery, and reversal.

Use one real cash sale. Work through its dates, documents, money, delivery, and any later reversal.

40 minutes

Facilitator prompt: Do not describe what the software will do. Ask what the business rule is and what evidence proves it.

Continue to vehicle and cost
Acquisition and value

Define how a vehicle gets an approved cost.

Use one imported or local vehicle. Include the purchase, supplier, taxes, clearing, repairs, and costs received after sale.

30 minutes

Known pressure point: The current operational cost can contain estimates and internal requisition amounts. Accounting needs approved costs with evidence.

Continue to other flows
Model pressure points

Test trade-in, hire purchase, and rental rules.

Decide these rules when the right owner has enough evidence. Otherwise, record a clear deferred decision.

30 minutes
Continue to tax and control
Compliance and assurance

Set the rules that make reports trustworthy.

Confirm tax, currency, branch reporting, reconciliation, approval, and closed-period needs.

20 minutes
Continue to cutover
Starting point

Choose where accounting starts.

Existing operational records do not have matching accounting records. They must not enter Accounting by accident.

10 minutes
Continue to review
Close the session

Review, assign, and export.

A useful output can contain deferred decisions. Every deferred item must have an owner, evidence need, and follow-up date.

5 minutes
0Decided
0Deferred or needs evidence
0Still open
0Accounting events

Design-readiness check

    Approval record

    Follow-up actions

    Technical parking list

    Record software questions here. The technical team will answer them after the workshop.

    JSON is the complete workshop record. CSV contains a flat decision list. Export JSON before you close or reset this browser.