Paul D. Bunker

This item includes the sale of merchandise to (1) officers, (2) civilians, (3) enlisted men authorized to buy on credit. Such sales are practically cash, being paid, usually, within a very short time.

The practice of extending credit to civilians is not encouraged by the authorities and the Exchange Officer should secure permission beforehand in case it is desired to transact this kind of business. In some cases of isolated posts it is to the best interest of the government that civilians employed or living on the post be allowed credit at the Exchange, as it might otherwise be impossible for the Government to retain their services or for the civilians to subsist themselves. It is to take care of such cases that this feature is mentioned. In opening a charge account with a civilian, care must be exercised to prevent a probability of loss to the Exchange, as one bad account might wipe out the profits from all such accounts for a considerable time. If a civilian is deserving of the privilege of purchasing at the Exchange he should have no objection to conferring with the Post Exchange Officer and making satisfactory arrangements with his employer.

With enlisted men, the case is more difficult. In general, the soldier makes his credit purchases by means of coupons. But if the Exchange handles some such proposition as an ice delivery route, it is impossible to do business with the patrons thereof by means of coupons of the ordinary kind. The right method is to apply to the proper authorities for permission to extend to married soldiers credit to such amounts as may be recommended by their organization commanders. If this is not done, and credit other than in the shape of coupons is allowed enlisted men or if coupons or credit in excess of one-third of the man’s pay be allowed him, the inspector will object to it, as either of these two proceedings is held to be unauthorized. However, when there are no other stores in the vicinity, it seems but reasonable to think that the Post Exchange, instituted purely for the benefit of the enlisted man, should be allowed to extend credit to such married soldiers of good reputation as may be dependent upon it (and the Commissary) for the necessities of life. As the married soldier is usually a non-commissioned officer of long and honorable service (sometimes a first sergeant or non-commissioned staff officer) with one or more children; as the bulk of his pay is usually spent for articles ordinarily carried in stock by the Exchange; as the Exchange is the result of beneficent legislation and the regulations concerning same should therefore be interpreted in a liberal manner, it follows that there is a great deal of justice behind a proper application for permission to make charge sales to such selected men.

In case such permission is obtained, request should be made on the various organization commanders to write a letter of the following purport:—

Fort Jay, N. Y., Mar. 1, 1914.

From C. O., Co. H, 57th Inf.
To Post Exchange Officer.
Subject, Credit to Enlisted Men.

1. Request that the following named members of this organization be given credit at the Post Exchange not to exceed the amount set opposite their respective names:

1st Sergt. James E. Sullivan	$ 20.00
Sergt. Ralph R. Strouse	16.00

...

(Sgd.) T. R. Jones,
Capt. 57th Inf.

Method of Making Charge Sales.

At the time each charge sale is made, the clerk notes the transaction on a “Charge Sales Slip,” provided for the purpose, noting the date, name of customer, name and number of articles sold, the total price of each item, the total amount covered by the slip and the initials of the salesmen. See Fig. 1.

Figure 1, (Reduced in size)

It has become almost a rule that the purchaser shall receive a copy of this record of sale. Sometimes, he does not receive it until after he has paid his bill at the end of the month, a procedure followed in many clubs and similar organizations. It is probably better in Post Exchange work to furnish the purchaser with a copy of the charge sales slip at the time the purchase is made, as most of our customers wish to keep track of their accounts and also, as will be shown later, this method may be made to promote honesty in salesmen who might be tempted to be otherwise. As it is, of course, essential that we retain at least one copy of this sales slip, it follows that the use of some sort of manifolding device is necessary. There are many such devices on the market, among which may be mentioned as representative, the manifolding sales book and the autographic register. The former is shown in Fig. 2 and the latter in Fig. 3, from which their methods of operation are apparent.

Figure 2.

It is patent that some such scheme should be adopted for use in every Exchange, no matter how small that Exchange may be. The advantages of any of these systems (even a simple duplicating pad) over the painful and inefficient method of recording all such sales in an old fashioned sales record book must be evident to every one. The particular system adopted is of minor importance so long as it is thoroughly adapted to the circumstances of the case involved. The following table is arranged for the purpose of permitting a comparison of two systems; one involving the use of manifolding sales books and the other using an autographic register.

Figure 3.

SALES BOOKS vs	CASH REGISTER
1. Can be carried by the salesman, thus saving steps for him.	1. If a cash register is used the salesman must go to it to record every sale, and therefore if the Manifolder is located at the cash register no unnecessary steps are taken.
2. Cost of 100 duplicating books of simple design with total capacity of 5000 sales is $6.50. Triplicating books more expensive. No first cost for machinery.	2. Rolls of paper are used; cost of rolls for duplicate records of 5000 sales is from $4.50 up, depending upon the amount of special printing on the rolls. Each machine like Fig. 3 costs, retail, about $15.00.
3. Practically no counter space is necessary for using a sales book.	3. A convenient place must be left on the counter for use in recording sales.
4. Uniformity in size of slips results in facility in handling and filing.	4. By exercise of reasonable care the size of the slips approaches uniformity closely enough.
5. The various copies of a slip made from a sales book are more apt to be “in register”—that is, the various lines and spaces of a lower sheet are more apt to be exactly under the corresponding ones of the upper or original sheet.	5. Sometimes trouble and the expenditure of a sales slip results from the various rolls getting “out of step”. This accident, however, is easy to remedy.
6. The slips can be tampered with, by dishonest salesmen, unless a “slip-printing” cash register, or some special device is used.	6. By using a machine in which the triplicate roll is wound up inside the machine as it is used, no tampering with the sales records is practicable.
(If triplicate records are desired)
7. We may use either two sheets of carbon paper[1] or only one double-faced carbon sheet below a tissue duplicate and over an opaque triplicate.	7. We ordinarily use at least two sheets of carbon paper, and all copies are opaque. The machine is adjustable, and will either duplicate or triplicate according to the number of rolls used. It can also be used with a transparent roll.
8. If two carbon sheets are used, both must ordinarily be shifted for recording each successive sale.	8. The carbon sheets once fixed in the machine require no further attention except when they are worn out or the rolls renewed.
8a. By using a transparent duplicate and a double faced sheet of carbon paper, the latter is the only sheet that requires handling.	8a. But the slips do not protect us so well because the sales are not recorded on the back of each slip (by reversed impressions) as well as on the front.
8b. In this case, by leaving the transparent slips in the book we can easily check the consecutive numbers of the slips and see that all are accounted for.	8b. By not tearing off the lowermost sales slip, but leaving it attached to the roll until the end of the day, we obtain a single strip of sales slips recording all the charge sales of the day. They need not be checked for consecutive numbering unless there is a break in the strip.
8c. By previously clipping off the corner of these tissue sheets the book becomes self-indexing and in opening the book we turn automatically to the place for recording the next sale.	8c. In tearing off the record of each sale we automatically prepare the machine to record the next sale.

[1] Carbon paper is either single or double faced. By using the latter between two sales slips it is evident that we record our sale on the first and second slips and also secure a reversed copy on the back of the original. It is said that salesmen who alter such slips for their own gain are prone to forget or overlook this point and are caught thereby. No alteration on a sales slip should be tolerated; if the clerk makes a mistake he should be required to cancel and preserve all copies of the erroneous slip and to make out a new one correctly.

It is seen that the advantages and disadvantages of these two systems nearly counterbalance and that the particular system adopted must depend greatly upon the opinions of those in charge of the Exchange. In the following description, the use of triplicating records will be assumed.

In order to facilitate the assorting of the slips handed in by the various “Departments” of the Exchange, it is a good idea to assign distinctive colors to the original charge sales slips of each. (Of course, if there is a very large number of departments, this idea would have to be applied with discretion, as it is hard to recognize certain colors at night by artificial light.) For example, let the original sales slips used in the store be white; those in the market, buff; those in the shoe shop, pink, etc. The duplicate slips should have their own distinctive color and this color should be the same for all departments. If a triplicate slip is used, it should be of still another color and the same for all departments. Following out this scheme, the utility of which will appear presently, a color scheme might be as follows:—

Department	Colors Assigned to Charge Sales Slips
	Original	Duplicate	Triplicate
Store	White	“Newspaper”	Yellow
Market	Buff	”	”
Lunch	Salmon	”	”
Tailor	Green	”	”
Barber	Blue	”	”
Shoe shop	Pink	”	”

If a system of distinctive colors similar to the above is not adopted, one of two things will be necessary in order that we may identify the slips of each department, unless we wish to do so by wasting the time in deciphering the articles on each slip and decide therefrom the name of the responsible department; we must either have the names of the departments printed on their respective slips when they are made, or these names must be marked on the slips when the sales are made. Neither of these methods is as efficient as that involving the use of various colors, which tells automatically to what department that slip belongs. By using distinctive colors, the printer would set up only one form for printing our whole assortment, and our printing bill would be correspondingly reduced.

In this connection, it might be stated for the benefit of the uninitiated that ordinarily the principal items in our bills for printing, especially in the case of blank forms, will be found to consist of the cost of “composition”, “make-up”, “lock-up”, and “make-ready”. These operations are necessary if but one form is printed; they need cost us no more if 50,000 copies are printed. Paper is comparatively cheap, so it usually costs us little more to print 5,000 copies than to print 1,000. So we can see that in the case of blank forms the cost per unit varies inversely as the quantity ordered at one time. Hence, if we need such forms as sales slips, of which we may use hundreds per day, we should order, say, a year’s supply at a time. Other forms or sheets that are used once a week or once a month must be ordered in lots sufficient to last for a longer time. As we take these up on our Stock Record, such purchases in large quantities will not disturb the worth of the Exchange.

An appreciable amount in the cost of our printing can be saved by a skillful arrangement of the matter on the form. An experienced man can sometimes draft a form so that the charges for printing it will be half what it would cost to print the same form arranged by a thoughtless or inexperienced person. Tabular work costs money, and so also does “special rulings”. Experience or consultation with a practical printer is the only real guide in this matter.

If any form is used in large numbers, it will pay to have electrotypes made, and “repeat orders” printed therefrom. Forms that are seldom used should not be electrotyped, as they will probably require some alteration by the time a new supply is needed. An electrotype costs about $0.25 for the first square inch and about $0.04 for each additional square inch. Here is another opportunity for the exercise of judgment. Suppose we have a large form with printed heading and footing, but nothing in the middle of the sheet; it would be wasteful to electrotype the whole form, only the heading and the footing should be so treated. Now, let us consider the money wasted by having the name of our post printed on each bit of stationery! It is easy to see that this is in some cases a positive disadvantage. Suppose, for example, that Form 8, Fig. 1, fills the requirements of Exchange methods. If a dozen Exchanges order a supply of these forms and (as they usually do) thoughtlessly require that the names of their respective posts be printed on same, they each pay a great deal more than they would if they allowed the printer to make an electrotype of this form and run off all the jobs from the same plate. It is hard, if not impossible, to find any real reason why this extra matter should be placed on many of our forms. CoÖperation in matters of this kind would go far toward cutting down some of our “overhead charges” in Post Exchange work, and to secure such coÖperation is one of the objects of this paper.

Still another way to minimize our printing bill is to adopt standard sizes for our forms and to use, wherever possible, the same kind and color of paper. Paper comes in sheets of certain sizes and if the printer has to waste a part of each sheet in printing our forms, we shall have to pay for it. Uniformity in size also leads to facility of filing. Incidentally, money may be saved, in some cases by having two or more forms printed together. For example, suppose we have three forms, A, B and C, to be printed on the same stock, and we wish 5,000 A; 10,000 B; and 15,000 C. If ordered separately, these would entail 30,000 impressions. Suppose, however, that they are ordered at the same time, and that the forms are of such sizes (not necessarily equal) that they may be printed together on one sheet and cut apart afterwards. In such a case, a saving might be made as follows:—Set up each form once, make, one electrotype of Form B and two of Form C; place these with the originals and there will result, in one “form” three Forms C, two Forms B, and one Form A, and a “run” of 5,000 impressions will print the lot ordered. There is a saving of the cost of running 5,000 Form B and 10,000 Form C less the cost of electrotypes (if they are not on hand) and of the extra work of locking up and making ready same. Of course, such a procedure assumes that a considerable supply of forms, say, not less than a total of 5,000, is ordered at one time. For a fewer number, there would be no saving unless electrotypes were already on hand.

To return, now, to our sales slips. It will be noted that our triplicate copies are the same for all departments. They are kept in rolls, if manifolding machines are used, or if triplicating sales books are used, the tissue paper sheets that are left in the books form our retained record. In the cases of both the triplicate and the duplicate copies, a cheap grade of paper is allowable on account of the little handling these copies have to withstand. Also, there is no reason for their being susceptible of rapid assorting according to departments. The duplicates are also identical for all departments, they go to the customer at the time of sale. In case there is a discussion about any particular slip, the items thereon will show conclusively to what department it belongs, as will also the initials of the salesman. On the other hand, it is a positive advantage to have all duplicates of a distinctive color, different from that of the originals. Suppose a customer buys a pair of shoes from the store and later returns them. We should then give him a slip crediting him with the shoes at the selling price. To do this, all that is necessary is to fill out a regular charge sales slip in the usual manner except that the word CREDIT is plainly marked on the slip. The clerk then gives the customer the original of this credit voucher and files the newspaper duplicate in the usual way. Upon sorting the slips that night, the duplicate would be noticed, on account of its difference from the other slips handed in and would thus prevent mistakes. Likewise, if it became necessary for, say, the lunch room to buy a ham from the market, the market attendant could make out his charge sales slip as usual, giving the duplicate to the lunch room attendant with the ham. That night, the appearance of this grayish duplicate among the salmon originals handed in by the lunch room attendant would immediately call attention to the transaction. It might be stated here, at the risk of lapsing into the axiomatic, that such a transaction, although favored by some exchanges, is not good business. It should be of rare occurrence and even then needs special treatment. The proper procedure in such cases would be to have the Market turn the ham back to the Stock Room, receive credit for it and then let the Lunch Room draw the ham at the cost price. This point is more fully discussed in connection with Stock Records.

After the attendant has recorded the charge sale in the proper manner and given the duplicate slip to the purchaser, he still has to dispose of another copy (or two other copies if triplicating records are used). The original should be speared onto an ordinary file, each clerk having his own filing hook in a convenient but inconspicuous place. The triplicate is left in the sales book or on the roll, as the case may be. In addition, the clerk should be required to ring up the sale on the cash register. This is, of course, very important, and heroic measures should be adopted to insure the recording of every sale, of whatever kind, on the cash register. Means to this end can readily be devised. The subject of cash registers is a very important one and is discussed in detail elsewhere.

The above operations are described at some length, but in reality, they are simple in the extreme: a customer makes a purchase, the clerk records the sale, rings up the amount on the cash register, gives the customer his goods and a copy of the sales slip and sticks the other copy on his file. If the cash register prints tickets, he may drop the ticket in his compartment of a box or drawer provided for the purpose, or preferably, give it to the customer.

Daily Check of Charge Sales

After the day’s business is over, each clerk gathers up all his receipts for the day and assorts them into three piles, representing the cash, coupon and charge sales, respectively. He then makes out his sales report on Form 5 as shown in Fig. 4. This report should be printed on the face of an end-opening envelope measuring not more than 4¼ × 10 inches, thus forming a convenient receptacle for the coupons, charge slips and cash turned in. The printed form should be, say, 7½ × 3 inches. As these envelopes are not subjected to rough usage, being used but once, any kind of cheap paper will serve the purpose. It might be well in certain cases to have the envelopes match the color of the original charge sales slips for that department, but ordinarily, this would be found an unnecessary refinement. After making out this sales report, the clerk places in the envelope the cash, coupons, etc., and hands it to the Post Exchange Officer or to the Steward, if so authorized. (For obvious reasons, the Exchange Officer personally should receive and check the receipts the night of pay-day and at intervals during the month, even if the Steward is ordinarily authorized to do so.) The Steward or Cashier has meanwhile unlocked the cash register, noted the readings of the record wheels and taken out the tape showing the printed record of sales.

Figure 4. (Reduced in size)

Now, assuming that triplicate records are used, the Steward takes the triplicate copies—either book or roll—“throws” them or checks them for numbering, to see that all are accounted for, and totals their value on the adding machine. By comparing this total with that shown by the appropriate wheels of the cash register, he ascertains if all charge sales have been rung up. If these two agree, all is well, so far. If they do not agree, a note is made of the discrepancy for use in connection with the operations hereafter described.

Figure 5, (Reduced in size)

By this time, the clerks should be ready to hand in their reports and receipts. The Steward fills out the rest of Form 5 as called for by the various columns and abstracts these reports to his Form 4 as shown in Fig. 5. This form should be printed on a card measuring 3½ × 8? inches, to permit convenient filing. If printed on thin paper, it will have to be filed on a Shannon file which is not so convenient in the long run. These cards should be of fairly good stock, as they are a part of the permanent records of the Exchange, but should be no heavier than necessary. The Steward carries down the totals on Form 4 and compares them with the three separate totals shown by the cash register. Restricting ourselves to a discussion of the charge sales, we see that if the total of the triplicate slips, the totals of the clerks’ reports and the total shown by the cash register all agree then the charge sales statement shown on Form 4 is correct. If there is any discrepancy in this or any other column of Form 4 the mistake should be found and corrected before the clerks are dismissed for the night. Suppose, for example, that the cash register shows a total of $20.60 charge sales for the day and the total on Form 4 is $21.90. The first step is to have the clerks make sure that their reports correctly state the actual amount of charge sales slips turned in. If they are correct, then some clerk has probably forgotten to ring up one or more sales. To trace the fault, let the Steward read off all the charge sales from the record tape of the cash register, calling off at the same time the letter of the clerk who rang up each sale. These can be compared with the triplicate copy of the sales slips, or the assembled clerks can be required to note the sales accredited to them, the grand total of which must equal $20.60. In this manner, the error is definitely located. On the other hand, suppose the cash register shows $21.90 and the total on Form 4 shows $20.60. The effect is that produced by a clerk being short $1.30 in charge sales slips after he has actually made the sales. The same procedure as before will locate the mistake. If he cannot produce the slips (or cash or coupons as the case may be) or satisfactorily explain the mistake, the clerk in error should be required to make good the discrepancy. Discrepancies in cash and coupons can be located and remedied in the same manner. It is important that the clerks be required to participate in the task of locating mistakes and to make good on errors, otherwise there will be no incentive to careful work.

When the totals of the clerks’ reports check against the cash registers, the next step is to check the former against the receipts in cash, coupons and charge sales slips actually turned in by the respective clerks. The cash should, in fact, be counted immediately upon being turned in, checked O. K. on the clerks’ reports and put in a safe place. The charge slips handed in by each clerk are compared with the strip from the adding machine (on which the clerk has added up his slips before making out his report) checked against the report and put aside for filing. Coupons are handled in the same way except that they are sealed in the envelope and put in a secure place until the Exchange Officer personally can burn them. This matter of destroying coupons should never be delegated to any other person. In view of the fact that the receipts turned in by each clerk should, and usually do, check exactly with his report, this particular routine is recommended, as it allows the dismissal of the clerks before commencing the work described in this paragraph. In case of mistakes, the simple expedient of making the clerk at fault assist in the work for a few evenings, is usually sufficient to prevent a repetition. In large Exchanges, where the coupon and charge sales are large, it is not customary to total the charge sales slips and count the coupons until the next morning. If the receipts turn out to be greater than called for by the reports, the surplus can be taken up by entering on a single line of Form 26 (described hereafter), whenever the books are closed (or oftener, if desired) an item showing what departments are credited with these excess coupons, exactly as if it were another day’s transactions. Such entry should, however, be prefaced by the words, “excess coupons”. Shortages should be collected from the clerk at fault, thus making the reports correct. The Exchange Officer should occasionally make the coupon and the charge sales counts himself.

It would be unbusinesslike, if the coupon or charge sales are heavy, to require the Exchange Officer, the Steward or any other high priced man to waste his time counting coupons or any other similar task. A less expensive employee should be detailed for this purpose. For such unskilled labor, a boy at $10.00 per month who can run errands, etc., would be a profitable investment in many cases, thus leaving the expensive employees free to do more important work.

Too much stress cannot be placed upon the importance of insuring the correctness of the data entered on Form 4. If the above mentioned checks have been applied, there should be no trouble in any phase of our charge accounts.

Daily Summary of Charge Sales.

Figure 6. (Reduced in size)

For various self-evident reasons, we use Form 7, shown in Fig. 6, for showing a month’s charge sales. This form gives us in a most convenient shape, a summary of that part of our (daily) Forms 4 that relates to our charge sales business, it safeguards us against the loss of any Form 4 and facilitates posting our ledger accounts. This form is kept up to date, the charge sales from Form 4 being entered thereon daily, and therefore, affords us a most efficient aid in closing our books at any moment. At the end of the month, or whenever the books are closed, we find the totals of the columns of Form 7 and post these totals as lump sums into the ledger. For example, the total of column 1 is posted as a debit in the ledger against Bills Receivable, Customers; the total of column 2 as a credit to the same account. The total of column 3 should be posted as a debit against the Store account in the ledger, this being for articles returned to the store by our customers; the total of column 4 is posted as a credit to the store account, being for articles sold from same, etc. These sheets, constituting Form 7 are 11 × 14 inches, and cost $1.75 per hundred without printed headings; a sectional post binder to fit them can be bought for $3.75. The sheet is the same on both sides and will, therefore, take care of seven departments if we use the whole width of the open book. This will be found ample in most cases. It is useless expense to have the headings, etc., printed on the sheets, because a single sheet with neatly written headings can be made to serve as a sort of index for a great many sheets, provided they are mounted above it and are trimmed off just below the headings “DR.” “CR.”, and also trimmed on the outside margin so that the date figures on the lowermost sheet will serve as an index to the lines of the upper sheets. This labor and money saving point will be more fully discussed later.

Recording Charge Sales Slips.

After these slips have been checked against the clerks’ reports, they must be sorted out and filed according to the names of the purchasers. For this work, have two card index drawers, each fitted with a set of guide cards marked on the tabs with the names of our charge customers. As each slip is found, file it behind the proper name. We first take all the “Store” slips and file them in this manner; we then go through this “sorting drawer” and total the slips belonging to each customer and enter these totals in the column representing that date on Form 9, (see Fig. 7) opposite the names of the respective customers. At the same time, we insert the sales slips diagonally in their proper places in the other or permanent filing drawer. The total of these entries on Form 9 should equal the total charge sales credited that date to the Store on Form 7. If it does, the slips that have been placed diagonally can be shoved down into the proper places as we are through with them; if it does not, they can easily be removed for further examination. This daily check should invariably be made for each department. We proceed in like manner with respect to the other departments, each department having its own sheet or sheets like Form 9. It is evident that this form gives us a summary of all the charge sales made each day from each department, showing the amounts sold to each of our customers. At the end of the month, each line is added across and the total entered. The “Total” column is then added up and compared with the total obtained by adding together the figures (representing the daily totals) on the bottom line. If these two totals check against each other and against the total shown on Form 7, the account may be considered correct and is a record of the daily transactions between our customers and the department considered.

The book in which we bind our Form 9 is known as the “Charge Book”, and it may be well to explain here the physical make-up of this important book of record. It is, of course, on the loose-leaf principle, being of the type known as a “sectional post binder”. It costs $2.50 and the ruled sheets (without special printing) cost $1.00 per hundred. It is, however, to the manner of handling the sheets of the book that attention is especially invited. The old fashioned way would be to enter the names of our customers down the left hand margin of each sheet until all were entered, put the name of the department and the month and year at the top of the sheet and the days of the month at the tops of the successive columns with the heading “Total” at the right of the sheet. Thus, if we had five departments and enough credit customers to require six sheets for the list, we should have to prepare thirty sheets in this manner every month. Now, to show how we can eliminate unnecessary work by the exercise of a little forethought, let us assume that we have started our record in this manner. Now take six copies of Form 9, trim them along the heavy broken lines shown in Fig. 7, and bind one of these sheets in front of each of those we have previously prepared. It is obvious that the book is now ready for another month’s entries without any preparatory writing or numbering whatever other than labelling each new sheet in some convenient place with the month and department to which it pertains. Of course, to care for the five departments, we should have to do this for all five sets of sheets that we originally prepared. It follows that, provided our list of customers does not change, this same operation of inserting trimmed sheets would constitute the only labor necessary to continue this record for an indefinite period.

After considerable experimenting and actual trial in service, the following described scheme has been evolved for handling this record in an efficient manner. While no claim is made that it is perfect, it is believed that it will give thorough satisfaction wherever it is given a fair trial and will save many hours of labor in keeping the books.

1. Take a sheet, Form 9, and enter the names of your charge customers in alphabetical order, commencing on a left hand page. To allow for future changes, leave a blank line before each name and one or two blank lines at the bottom of the page for sub-totals, etc. For clearness and permanence, these names should be put in from a black “record” typewriter ribbon. Write in the headings of the various columns as shown on Form 9. The object in placing the “total” column near the outside margin is to have it next the customer’s name, thus minimizing the chances of error in taking out the wrong total when we make our postings at the end of the month.

2. If our list of charge customers will require more than one sheet, take another Form 9 which we shall call Sheet No. 2 and proceed in a like manner, using the same side of the sheet as before. This should be repeated until all our charge customers are entered. Several blank lines are left at the bottom of the last sheet. Thus, when we have finished and have inserted the sheets in our book, we shall have a complete list of our charge customers all recorded on the left hand pages of our book, that side of each sheet that forms the right hand pages of our book being blank.

3. Now, in order to utilize these blank pages, thus avoiding unnecessary waste, we proceed as follows:—Open your book between Sheets 1 and 2; page 1 will then be on the left and page 2 on the right. This page 2 should now be prepared in a manner exactly similar to that used in preparing page 1, except that the customers’ names are on the right hand margin with the total column next inside. This is clearly shown in Fig. 7.

4. Prepare the blank sides of the other sheets in a similar manner and we shall then have two complete lists of our charge customers, one occupying the left and the other the right hand pages of our book, the confronting pages being practically symmetrical.

5. Let us assume that the Exchange has five separate departments in which charge sales can occur. We cut five sheets along the heavy broken lines shown in Fig. 7 and insert them between pages 1 and 2. Five more trimmed sheets are inserted between sheets (whole sheets) 2 and 3, and so on for the rest of the book. In order to identify these sheets if accidentally removed from the binder and to facilitate the making of entries, we print on each of them in large letters, the name of the department and the month to which they refer. This is best done lightly with red ink as shown (in black) in Fig. 7 where the sheet is marked STORE—AUG. This red ink lettering will not obscure the black ink figures subsequently made.

6. Let us agree to use the left hand pages for the first month’s account and the right hand pages for the next month’s account. Let us take the first trimmed sheet and mark it “STORE—JAN” on one side, and “STORE—FEB” on the other. Do similarly for the sheets reserved for the “market”, “lunch room”, and other accounts. The sheets containing the typewritten headings are not used for recording sales, but are used for guide sheets, for reasons to be set forth later.

It is easy to see from the preceding description that our charge book is a running account, and being always up to date, can be closed at short notice. When two months’ records have been entered, the trimmed sheets are lifted and filed, as will be described hereafter. Fresh trimmed sheets are again inserted in the proper places and the record proceeds as before.

Consolidating Charge Sales Monthly.

The form in which we have placed our daily records of credit sales lends itself very readily to a process of summation or consolidation. The manner of doing this is as follows:—

1. Prepare a second double list of our credit customers exactly as described above, except that the columns, instead of being headed with the days of the month, are labelled with the names of the various departments, as shown in Fig. 8. Let us call this Form 6. Blank sheets trimmed along the heavy broken lines, shown in Fig. 7, are inserted as before, no recording being done on the typewritten sheets—they are simply guides or indices to the various lines and columns.

2. All these sheets are bound in a separate book to facilitate the work of posting at the end of the month. Experiment seems to prove that this is better than binding these records in the same book with the charge sheets just described. This, for the reason that a clerk is apt to waste too much time in continually turning pages back and forth and is also more liable to make errors in posting.

3. Immediately after the end of the month, Form 7, is checked against Form 9 as previously described. We then take, say, the “store” charge sheets (Form 7) and enter on Form 6 the total that each customer owes the store. We do the same for every other department, also entering the balance remaining unpaid from last month in the column provided for the purpose. We also record in the proper column any credit we have given our customers during the month for goods returned, overcharges, etc.

4. By using the adding machine, we find the total of each department’s column on Form 6; it should equal the total charge sales for that department reported on Forms 7 and 9. If it does not, the error must be found and corrected before proceeding further. These totals, when correct, are entered at the foot of their proper columns on the last sheet of the record. Now add these column-totals on the machine and enter the result in pencil at the foot of the “Total” column on the same last sheet of this Form 6 record; it should check against the grand total of the charge sales for the month reported on Forms 7 and 9.

5. When all postings to our Form 6 are complete, we station one clerk at the adding machine and one is prepared to make out our monthly bills or statements of account, using Form 1, shown in Fig. 9. Some person reads off Form 6 the name of each customer and the total charges against him by each department. These items are added on the machine and simultaneously entered by the bill clerk on Form 1. The adding machine operator reads the total of the items he has added, which total is entered by the bill clerk on his Form 1 and by us in the column headed, “Total” on our Form 6.

6. Any credit due the customer is read off to and entered by the bill clerk on the statement. He then figures the balance due the Post Exchange, which balance should agree with that figured independently by the person reading from Form 6.

7. When the last bill has been made out, take the printed strip from the adding machine and find the sum of all the totals that have been read off by the operator. This sum should equal the pencil total described in Par. 4 above and checks the correctness of the account. If a “Duplex” adding machine is used, this does not require extra work. If the accounts do not “jibe” and the error cannot be found, take in rotation the charge slips that you have filed against each customer and add them on the machine, making a separate total for each customer. This should locate the error. If the accounts check, however, (and they should if the previous checks have been made properly) this laborious operation is unnecessary.

All our bills are now ready for mailing, and they are made out correctly. In order to obtain the full benefit of this method, our bill forms should require the minimum amount of writing. The form shown in Fig. 9 gives satisfaction. It is a 3 × 5 inch card and therefore fits standard size card index drawers; it is easily handled and will go into a note size penalty envelope without folding. The appropriate month can be stamped in and the name of the customer entered during spare moments throughout the month, so that the only work necessary at this time is to write in the figures. If the lines of Form 1 are “typewriter spaced”, that is, six to the inch, and the form is not too heavy, it can be placed directly in the adding machine and the various amounts printed on the card. The names of the various departments should be printed on this card in the same order in which they occur on Form 6. In fact, much work will be saved if some specific scheme of sequence or relative order among the different departments is invariably followed.

The writer does not know of a more economical or efficient system of handling the bug-a-boo of “getting out our monthly bills” than that just described. Sometimes, a “duplicating bill-book” is used, but it is a wasteful and inefficient method when compared to this. One of the principal advantages of the system lies in the fact that it is unnecessary to keep a private ledger account for any of our charge customers. If we were to do so, we should simply repeat information that we already have. It will be remembered that we have filed away our triplicate record of each day’s charge sales, which record describes in detail the particulars of every sale made on that day. From this, should the necessity arise, we can reconstruct our whole charge sales record for the month. We have also on file (until the bill is paid) another copy of each charge sales slip, filed according to the names of customers, which, in itself, constitutes one side of the ledger account that would be kept under the old system. These, together with the records previously described, amply warrant the abolition of customers’ private ledger accounts. Another great advantage of this system lies in the ease and rapidity with which the books can be closed at any time.

Attention is invited to the note at the bottom of Form 1. This is a labor saving item that is in accord with the practice of many up-to-date houses—to regard a canceled and endorsed check as the best form of receipt. Hence, if a customer pays his bill by check, it is unnecessary to receipt the bill and return it to him, our endorsement on his check constitutes his receipt. This same procedure can be made to apply to companies, etc.; also, if the company commander will use the sales slips as his sub-vouchers for the expenditure.

Credit Transactions.

We shall now take up the procedure to be followed in recording any and all credit which we allow to customers for overcharges, goods returned, etc. It is apparent that such transaction must occur in any business. Accurate track should be kept of them and they should be handled in the most efficient and time-saving manner possible. Each such transaction results in a credit against our Bills Receivable and a charge or debit against the particular department involved.

As before stated, the clerk who receives the goods that are returned to us makes out a charge sales slip, marks it “CREDIT” and keeps the duplicate, giving the original to the customer. It is usually the rule that nobody other than the Steward or the Exchange Officer himself has authority to give customers credit in this way. In the evening, the clerk hands in these credit slips with his report. When the Steward makes up his report on Form 4, after verifying the clerks’ reports, he simply enters these credits in the last column on his Form 4, totals them and describes each separate credit transaction on the back of his report. All the data relating to the charge sales (and credits given) during the day that are shown on the face of Form 4 are abstracted to the appropriate line of Form 7, which latter sheet gives us in concise form all the data we need concerning our charge sales for the month. The credit slips are gathered up and placed with the filed charge sales slips relating to the person who returned the goods to us. At the end of the month, preparatory to making out our bills, all credits are entered in the column headed “Credit” on Form 6, and are checked against the totals shown on Form 7. This avoids the necessity of entering each credit transaction on a separate line of Form 7 as such transaction occurs. Even if the credit slip were lost, no error should result, because we check the total credits entered on Form 6 against the total credits on Form 7 before we start making out our bills. If these do not agree, we must check both Forms 6 and 7 against the credits shown daily by the various Forms 4. We also have another check in the triplicate copy of the credit slips that has been filed away.

Below is a graphic chart which shows how to handle this system of charge accounts. It shows how the various records experience a continuous process of summation until they finally reach the ledger and the customer’s bill, and how the accounts can be checked as we go along, thus avoiding errors. Solid lines show posting operations, broken lines show possible checking operations.

Settling Charge Accounts.

When any of our charge customers pays his bill, we make an entry in our cash book, giving to each such payment a separate line. We enter the amount of the payment in the column headed “Net Cash” and also in the column headed “Customers”. We do not enter any of this amount in the columns referring to the various departments because they have already been credited for their proper shares through the charge sales records and to do so again in the cash book would manifestly give them double credit for each charge sale. We also stamp “Paid” in the “Cash” column of Form 6, using a dating stamp that will fit neatly into this column. One using red ink is preferable. If only a part of the bill is paid, we enter in this column the amount received, extend the balance to the proper column and, at the proper time, carry it forward to next month’s account. Some book-keepers of the old school will keep a “blotter” or some such book wherein these payments are first noted, copying them at their leisure into the Cash Book. As the Cash Book is a book of original record, this is not only wrong, but is incidentally unnecessary labor and hence to be avoided. When payments like these come in, they should be taken directly to the book-keeper, who should immediately enter them in the Cash Book.

All such payments occurring on any one day are entered in a lump sum under “Collections,” on the Form 4 for that day. In fact, all cash received, whether from paymasters’ collections on payrolls or any source other than cash sales by any of our departments, is taken up on Form 4 as “Collections”. If a bill is paid before the end of the month, it is treated exactly the same as if it were paid afterward, except that the date is stamped in a different colored ink. It does not confuse our accounts, because the amount paid is entered in the “Customers’” column of the Cash Book and the total of this column is posted at the end of the month to the credit side of Bills Receivable, Customers, in the ledger. The “Customers’” column in the Cash Book is solely for receipts from our charge customers and for nothing else.

If, at any time, we wish to find the total charge sales, we simply find the total of the amounts shown on Form 7, subtracting credits, if any. We also use the total sales credited to the various departments on Form 7 in making up our monthly statement for the auditing officer and for the Inspector. To find out at the end of the month the amount due us on account, we turn to Bills Receivable, Customers, in the ledger, where the balance should show the correct amount. This amount should check with the “Total” column on Form 6 reduced by credits allowed and payments received prior to the end of the month.

Dead and Live Records.

It will be remembered that all our Forms 9 were placed in one book and our Forms 6 in another, and that each Form 9 was to be used for two months, that is, used on both sides. After both sides have been used these forms are transferred bodily to the book containing our Forms 6, and placed between the Forms 6 referring to these months. Fresh Forms 9 take the place of those transferred, thus keeping our book “alive” and placing our dead records where they will be less in the way. The logic of this is evident when we remember that we use our Charge Book (Form 6) only at the end of the month, whereas, we use our Form 9 book every day.

As regards Form 8 (charge sales slip) our rolls of triplicate sales slips for the month should be marked on the outside of each roll with the date and the name of the department to which each pertains and kept in a convenient place until the auditing officer has finished his work for that month, when they should be stored together in some place where they can be consulted if desired. They should be preserved for such length of time as may be required by regulations or local laws, depending upon which is the greater. The original slips may be treated in one of two ways; they may be sent to the customer with his bill at the end of the month, or they may be sent to him after he pays his bill. It is felt that the first method is by far the better.

Forms 5 for the month should be preserved until the auditor has finished with them, and it is perhaps advisable to keep them until after the next visit of the inspector. Our Forms 4 are very important and should be kept until after the inspector has inspected the accounts of the Exchange, if not indefinitely. Forms 6, 7 and 9 are a part of the permanent records of the Exchange and should be preserved indefinitely.

The foregoing description of this system of handling charge accounts may sound formidable to the layman, but in reality, it is not so. As shown in the graphic chart (Fig. 10) it is a logical system, proceeding in a simple, orderly way from the charge sales slip to the ledger and the customer’s bill. It belongs to the class of book-keeping called “controlled accounts”—each part of the system knits evenly into the others, and there is a continual process of summation going on throughout the records. There is no duplicated work and every step is one of definite progress towards the goal. It will be found to fulfil the requirements we imposed at the beginning of this essay. It has actually proved its worth wherever installed. It is equally adapted to the large and to the small Exchange. Due to the many available opportunities for checking the correctness of results, mistakes are easily located and corrected. However, if the checks described are applied, especially those relating to Form 4, there should be little excuse for a mistake to appear in any of the higher accounts.