generously made available by ,the ,internet ,archive_/,american ,libraries47 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,this book has two ,figure #acs1 but no ,figure #bi4 ,post ,exchange ,methods by ,,captain ,,paul ,d4 ,,bunker ,,united ,,states ,,army ,a manual for ,exchange ,stewards1 ,exchange ,officers1 ,members of ,exchange ,councils ,commanding ,officers1 being an exposition of a simple and efficient system of accounting which is applicable to large and to small ,exchanges alike4 ,general ,agents ,,the ,,eagle ,,press ,service ,printers ,portland1 ,me4 ,copyright #aiae ,the ,eagle ,press--,portland1 ,me4 ,all rights ,reserved ,,preface4 ,our ,post ,exchanges are usually in charge of officers with little or no experience in book-keeping1 their assistants are usually enlisted men and not professional clerks and accountants1 and there is1 at present1 no codified or standard system prescribed for handling this business4 ,some parts of the ,post ,exchange ,regulations have become antiquated through the developments of modern business methods such as the 8,voucher ,check ,system04 ,in view of these facts it is felt that there is a real need of this book1 and it is hoped that the methods herein set forth will prove to be a step toward a uniform system that will be adopted in all ,exchanges1 one that will reduce overhead charges1 eliminate unnecessary labor and improve unsatisfactory profits4 ,the writer intended discussing several other important points1 such as ,journal ,entries1 ,mail ,order ,business1 ,consignment1 ,adding ,machines1 ,loose-leaf and ,card ,index ,filing1 etc41 but circumstances over which he had no control prevent1 at present1 any addition to these pages4 ,it is desired to give credit to ,captain ,henry ,m4 ,dichmann #bdth ,infantry1 who by his work in connection with the ,post ,exchange at ,fort ,slocum1 ,n4 ,y41 was the inspiration for this work1 and to ,mr4 ,james ,parker1 ,cashier of the same ,exchange1 for valuable assistance rendered4 ,,paul ,d4 ,,bunker1 ,captain1 ,coast ,artillery ,corps4 ,fort ,hancock1 ,n4 ,j41 ,june #g1 #aiae4 99 99 99 99 99 8,,ranger0 ,,bicycles ,illustration ,follow the ,flag4 ,your choice of #id ,styles1 ,colors and sizes4 ,more 8,,rangers0 sold each year than any other make4 ,,tires1 ,,sundries ,,and ,,repair ,,parts ,for all makes of bicycles4 ,,largest ,,stock ,,in ,,the ,,world ,catalogs and ,special ,prices ,for ,post ,exchanges free for the asking4 ,,mead ,,cycle ,,co41 ,,chicago1 ,u4,s4,a4 ,address ,military ,department 99 99 99 99 99 ,illustration3 ,,taylor ,,athletic ,,supplies are correct in detail4 ,they are way ahead of the ordinary4 ,,athletic ,,officers can rest assured of quality1 prompt service and unfailing personal consideration from ,alex4 ,taylor ,,alex4 ,,taylor ,,co4 ,,athletic ,,outfitters #bf ,e4 #db;d4 ,,st41 ,,new ,,york ,send for ,catalog and quotations 99 99 99 99 99 ,h4 ,,kohnstamm ,,co4 7,established #ahea7 ,,mfrs4 ,,and ,,dealers ,,in ,,standard ,,launders' ,,materials ,,chicago3 #hc-ia ,,park ,,place #bf-bh ,n4 ,,franklin ,,st4 ,,new ,,york ,warehouse stocks for prompt deliveries at #be centrally located cities4 ,send for latest catalog4 ,,factories3 ,brooklyn1 ,n4 ,y4 and ,camden1 ,n4 ,j4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,printing ,,exchange ,,and ,,organization ,,specialties ,,anything ,,from ,a ,,card ,,to ,a ,,book4 ,,the ,,eagle ,,press ,,portland1 ,,maine ,e4 ,w4 ,kilbourne1 ,proprietor 7,formerly ,sergt4 ,u4 ,s4 ,a47 99 99 99 99 99 ,,coupon ,,books ,,to ,,be ,,effective1 ,,must ,,be ,absolutely ,accurate ,illustration ,the ,,southern ,,coupon ,,co4 ,are exclusive manufacturers of every kind of ,,coupon ,,books1 and owing to their perfect checking system1 are in position to guarantee absolute accuracy1 perfect workmanship and highest quality4 ,each ,coupon is ,numbered ,to correspond with number on cover1 hence even detached coupons can readily be identified to their respective book--a great advantage4 ,,write ,,to-,,day ,,for ,,samples ,,and ,,prices ,,to ,,the ,,southern ,,coupon ,,company ,box #cdf ,,birmingham1 ,,ala4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,lowest ,,possible ,,prices ,,to ,,post ,,exchanges ,,and ,,ship ,,stores ,the ,army and ,navy ,co-,operative ,company is splendidly equipped to serve ,post ,exchanges and ,ship stores ,,well4 ,by ,,well1 we mean3 ,offering reliable1 fresh1 new merchandise at the lowest possible wholesale prices4 ,offering large assortments of merchandise to select from4 ,offering efficient service and quick deliveries4 ,buying from the ,army and ,navy ,co-,operative ,company means more sales and larger profits4 ,write for our ,prices on ,such ,articles as you may need4 ,,army ,,and ,,navy ,,co-,,operative ,,company ,,new ,,york ,,store ,,and ,,general ,,offices #af ,east #dbnd ,street1 near #eth ,ave41 ,new ,york ,store #aabc-e ,so4 ,broad ,street ,philadelphia1 ,pa4 ,store #gba-g #agth ,street ,n4 ,w4 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c4 ,,table ,,of ,,contents4 ,,page ,post ,exchange ,methods #a ,desiderata4 ,charge ,sales #b ,general--,method of ,making--,daily ,check ,summary--,recording--,consolidating ,credit ,transactions--,settling ,dead and ,live ,records4 ,cash ,sales #bi ,general--,cash ,book4 ,coupon ,sales #cc ,general--,kinds of ,coupons--,frauds--,regulations--,issuin g--,pay ,table ,procedure--,coupon ,sales4 ,stock ,records #ej ,general--,inventories--,merchandise ,purchased--,transfers ,between ,departments--,consolidating ,transactions--,checking ,stock and ,sales4 ,purchase ,records #fj ,general--,purchase ,orders--,purchase ,record--,payments--,voucher ,check ,system--,cash ,disbursements4 ,the ,ledger #gb ,general--,make-up--,ledger ,accounts--,posting the ,ledger--,balancing4 ,monthly ,statements #ha ,general--,general ,balance ,sheet--,surplus and ,adjustments--,statement of ,income and ,profit and ,loss4 ,pay ,rolls #hg ,figuring ,selling ,prices #hi ,laundries #ib ,general--,bills ,receivable--,piece ,work--,damage ,report--,claims--,inventories--,pay ,rolls--,miscellaneous ,books4 ,auditing #ii ,general ,duties ,auditor's ,statement4 ,cash ,registers #ajc ,conclusion #ajf 99 99 99 99 99 ,,economical ,use roll printed stationery and carbon1 eliminating assembling of loose printed blanks and carbons--all automatic--no wasted effort4 ,illustration ,,efficient ,whatever is written upon the original appears fac-simile on the duplicate and triplicate alike4 ,a loading consists of about #ejj sheets4 ,illustration3 ,,shouperior ,,manifolder ,,recorder ,in use in ,u4 ,s4 ,army ,posts1 ,naval ,stations and ships for ten years4 ,,positive ,,alignment ,,and ,,registration ,the ,,shoupaligner our newest device has special features of automatic alignment and registration of the form with automatic measured throw and stop4 ,absolutely essential where duplicates and triplicates are printed1 requiring exact registration and alignment with the original4 ,our ,service ,department serves you with the most economical and efficient systems for the results desired4 ,,autographic ,,register ,,co41 ,,hoboken1 ,n4 ,j4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,all ,,blank ,,forms ,,shown ,,in ,,post ,,exchange ,,methods ,,can ,,be ,,obtained ,,at ,,lowest ,,prices1 ,,and ,,in ,,any ,,quantity ,,from ,,the ,,eagle ,,press1 ,,portland1 ,,me4 ,,pioneer ,,printers ,,to ,,the ,,army 99 99 99 99 99 ,,engraving ,,steel ,,die ,,embossing ,,plate ,,printing ,,post ,,and ,,organization ,,stationery ,,the ,,eagle ,,press ,portland1 ,me4 ,,post ,,exchange ,,methods4 ,the general methods of conducting a ,post ,exchange are laid down in official orders and considering the categorical nature of these orders it would seem that the systems in all ,exchanges should be almost identical4 ,such1 however1 is far from the truth1 as there are almost as many systems as there are ,exchanges1 and a person in charge of one ,exchange might have to learn considerable new matter before he would be able to administer the affairs of another ,exchange4 ,this variety of systems also causes trouble to auditing officers1 exchange councils and to inspectors when they have occasion to go over the books4 ,some of the systems are unsound in minor particulars1 and most of them are poorly designed4 ,all trouble of this nature could be avoided by devising a standard system and installing it in all ,exchanges4 ,the advantages of such a proceeding would be manifold and there would be no important disadvantages4 ,in this essay an attempt has been made to evolve such a system1 one applicable to any ,exchange1 representing the best points of many ,exchanges and including at all possible points the labor saving results of modern methods4 ,the system here described is not the embodiment of theory alone1 but has been through the test of actual trial and has given thorough satisfaction4 ,in devising any such scheme we must presuppose certain desiderata3-- #a4 ,the ,exchange ,officer can spend but a small portion of his time in the ,exchange1 and yet he must have accurate knowledge of what the business is doing4 ,it is therefore essential that our records shall show accurately and concisely all the data that are necessary to a full understanding of the condition and operations of the business4 #b4 ,it is not enough to have a system which will enable us to render a clear statement at the end of the month1 we should be able to close our books at any time and get out our financial statement in the minimum time4 #c4 ,our system should be such as to minimize the possibilities of peculation4 ,it is often said that there is no system which cannot be beaten1 but there are systems which cannot be defeated for any great length of time4 ,therefore1 our system must reduce to a minimum the time during which graft or theft can work undisturbed4 #d4 ,the system must be so simple that it will not require exceptional ability at any point in order that its provisions may properly be carried out4 ,this makes it easy to break in new clerks1 and enables them to perform their duties in a more satisfactory manner4 #e4 ,the system must not be so cumbersome that it will delay the making of sales4 ,this is highly important4 ,every reader of this will undoubtedly have vivid recollections of his experiences in department stores1 8waiting for change40 ,it is better to lose a dollar than to disgust our customers and drive them elsewhere4 ,the above requirements cannot but cause our system to be somewhat more expensive than that used in a 8one-man store04 ,in the latter instance1 as a proprietor will not cheat himself1 the third requirement has1 in general1 no effect4 ,the other requirements1 however1 will still hold1 and even gain in importance4 ,how many merchants have we seen who thought they knew all about their business1 but who in reality knew very little4 ,they did not even realize that slipshod methods curtail credit and beget losses of various sorts4 ,in describing this system we shall take up the various features in the order in which they will be found easiest to install4 ,for instance1 charge sales are discussed first because1 regardless of the system of handling these sales that may be in use by any ,exchange1 it will be found that to change to the system here described1 before changing any other part of the system1 will cause no confusion in the other books4 ,in other words1 if your system be changed according to the order in which the different parts are discussed herein1 you will find that you have gradually installed a system which may be entirely different1 yet you have caused no confusion in your books by the transition4 ,,charge ,,sales4 ,general4 ,this item includes the sale of merchandise to 7#a7 officers1 7#b7 civilians1 7#c7 enlisted men authorized to buy on credit4 ,such sales are practically cash1 being paid1 usually1 within a very short time4 ,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 business4 ,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 ,exchange1 as it might otherwise be impossible for the ,government to retain their services or for the civilians to subsist themselves4 ,it is to take care of such cases that this feature is mentioned4 ,in opening a charge account with a civilian1 care must be exercised to prevent a probability of loss to the ,exchange1 as one bad account might wipe out the profits from all such accounts for a considerable time4 ,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 employer4 ,with enlisted men1 the case is more difficult4 ,in general1 the soldier makes his credit purchases by means of coupons4 ,but if the ,exchange handles some such proposition as an ice delivery route1 it is impossible to do business with the patrons thereof by means of coupons of the ordinary kind4 ,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 commanders4 ,if this is not done1 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 him1 the inspector will object to it1 as either of these two proceedings is held to be unauthorized4 ,however1 when there are no other stores in the vicinity1 it seems but reasonable to think that the ,post ,exchange1 instituted purely for the benefit of the enlisted man1 should be allowed to extend credit to such married soldiers of good reputation as may be dependent upon it 7and the ,commissary7 for the necessities of life4 ,as the married soldier is usually a non-commissioned officer of long and honorable service 7sometimes a first sergeant or non-commissioned staff officer7 with one or more children2 as the bulk of his pay is usually spent for articles ordinarily carried in stock by the ,exchange2 as the ,exchange is the result of beneficent legislation and the regulations concerning same should therefore be interpreted in a liberal manner1 it follows that there is a great deal of justice behind a proper application for permission to make charge sales to such selected men4 ,in case such permission is obtained1 request should be made on the various organization commanders to write a letter of the following purport3-- ,,fort ,,jay1 ,n4 ,y41 ,mar4 #a1 #aiad4 ,from ,c4 ,o41 ,co4 ,h1 #egth ,inf4 ,to ,post ,exchange ,officer4 ,subject1 ,credit to ,enlisted ,men4 #a4 ,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 names3 #ast ,sergt4 ,james ,e4 ,sullivan #bj4jj ,sergt4 ,ralph ,r4 ,strouse #af4jj 444 7,sgd47 ,t4 ,r4 ,,jones1 ,capt4 #egth ,inf4 ,method of ,making ,charge ,sales4 ,at the time each charge sale is made1 the clerk notes the transaction on a 8,charge ,sales ,slip10 provided for the purpose1 noting the date1 name of customer1 name and number of articles sold1 the total price of each item1 the total amount covered by the slip and the initials of the salesmen4 ,see ,fig4 #a4 ,illustration3 ,figure #a1 7,reduced in size7 ,it has become almost a rule that the purchaser shall receive a copy of this record of sale4 ,sometimes1 he does not receive it until after he has paid his bill at the end of the month1 a procedure followed in many clubs and similar organizations4 ,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 made1 as most of our customers wish to keep track of their accounts and also1 as will be shown later1 this method may be made to promote honesty in salesmen who might be tempted to be otherwise4 ,as it is1 of course1 essential that we retain at least one copy of this sales slip1 it follows that the use of some sort of manifolding device is necessary4 ,there are many such devices on the market1 among which may be mentioned as representative1 the manifolding sales book and the autographic register4 ,the former is shown in ,fig4 #b and the latter in ,fig4 #c1 from which their methods of operation are apparent4 ,illustration3 ,figure #b4 ,it is patent that some such scheme should be adopted for use in every ,exchange1 no matter how small that ,exchange may be4 ,the advantages of any of these systems 7even a simple duplicating pad7 over the painful and inefficient method of recording all such sales in an old fashioned sales record book must be evident to every one4 ,the particular system adopted is of minor importance so long as it is thoroughly adapted to the circumstances of the case involved4 ,the following table is arranged for the purpose of permitting a comparison of two systems2 one involving the use of manifolding sales books and the other using an autographic register4 ,illustration3 ,figure #c4 ,,sales ,,books vs ,,cash ,,register #a4 ,can be carried by the salesman1 thus saving steps for him4 #a4 ,if a cash register is used the salesman must go to it to record every sale1 and therefore if the ,manifolder is located at the cash register no unnecessary steps are taken4 #b4 ,cost of #ajj duplicating books of simple design with total capacity of #ejjj sales is #f4ej4 ,triplicating books more expensive4 ,no first cost for machinery4 #b4 ,rolls of paper are used2 cost of rolls for duplicate records of #ejjj sales is from #d4ej up1 depending upon the amount of special printing on the rolls4 ,each machine like ,fig4 #c costs1 retail1 about #ae4jj4 #c4 ,practically no counter space is necessary for using a sales book4 #c4 ,a convenient place must be left on the counter for use in recording sales4 #d4 ,uniformity in size of slips results in facility in handling and filing4 #d4 ,by exercise of reasonable care the size of the slips approaches uniformity closely enough4 #e4 ,the various copies of a slip made from a sales book are more apt to be 8in register0--that is1 the various lines and spaces of a lower sheet are more apt to be exactly under the corresponding ones of the upper or original sheet4 #e4 ,sometimes trouble and the expenditure of a sales slip results from the various rolls getting 8out of step04 ,this accident1 however1 is easy to remedy4 #f4 ,the slips can be tampered with1 by dishonest salesmen1 unless a 8slip-printing0 cash register1 or some special device is used4 #f4 ,by using a machine in which the triplicate roll is wound up inside the machine as it is used1 no tampering with the sales records is practicable4 7,if triplicate records are desired7 #g4 ,we may use either two sheets of carbon paper#a or only one double-faced carbon sheet below a tissue duplicate and over an opaque triplicate4 #g4 ,we ordinarily use at least two sheets of carbon paper1 and all copies are opaque4 ,the machine is adjustable1 and will either duplicate or triplicate according to the number of rolls used4 ,it can also be used with a transparent roll4 #h4 ,if two carbon sheets are used1 both must ordinarily be shifted for recording each successive sale4 #h4 ,the carbon sheets once fixed in the machine require no further attention except when they are worn out or the rolls renewed4 #h;a4 ,by using a transparent duplicate and a double faced sheet of carbon paper1 the latter is the only sheet that requires handling4 #h;a4 ,but the slips do not protect us so well because the sales are not recorded on the back of each slip 7by reversed impressions7 as well as on the front4 #h;b4 ,in this case1 by leaving the transparent slips in the book we can easily check the consecutive numbers of the slips and see that all are accounted for4 #h;b4 ,by not tearing off the lowermost sales slip1 but leaving it attached to the roll until the end of the day1 we obtain a single strip of sales slips recording all the charge sales of the day4 ,they need not be checked for consecutive numbering unless there is a break in the strip4 #h;c4 ,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 sale4 #h;c4 ,in tearing off the record of each sale we automatically prepare the machine to record the next sale4 #a ,carbon paper is either single or double faced4 ,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 original4 ,it is said that salesmen who alter such slips for their own gain are prone to forget or overlook this point and are caught thereby4 ,no alteration on a sales slip should be tolerated2 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 correctly4 ,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 ,exchange4 ,in the following description1 the use of triplicating records will be assumed4 ,in order to facilitate the assorting of the slips handed in by the various 8,departments0 of the ,exchange1 it is a good idea to assign distinctive colors to the original charge sales slips of each4 7,of course1 if there is a very large number of departments1 this idea would have to be applied with discretion1 as it is hard to recognize certain colors at night by artificial light47 ,for example1 let the original sales slips used in the store be white2 those in the market1 buff2 those in the shoe shop1 pink1 etc4 ,the duplicate slips should have their own distinctive color and this color should be the same for all departments4 ,if a triplicate slip is used1 it should be of still another color and the same for all departments4 ,following out this scheme1 the utility of which will appear presently1 a color scheme might be as follows3-- ,,department ,,colors ,,assigned ,,to ,,charge ,,sales ,,slips ,original ,duplicate ,triplicate ,store ,white 8,newspaper0 ,yellow ,market ,buff 0 0 ,lunch ,salmon 0 0 ,tailor ,green 0 0 ,barber ,blue 0 0 ,shoe shop ,pink 0 0 ,if a system of distinctive colors similar to the above is not adopted1 one of two things will be necessary in order that we may identify the slips of each department1 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 department2 we must either have the names of the departments printed on their respective slips when they are made1 or these names must be marked on the slips when the sales are made4 ,neither of these methods is as efficient as that involving the use of various colors1 which tells automatically to what department that slip belongs4 ,by using distinctive colors1 the printer would set up only one form for printing our whole assortment1 and our printing bill would be correspondingly reduced4 ,in this connection1 it might be stated for the benefit of the uninitiated that ordinarily the principal items in our bills for printing1 especially in the case of blank forms1 will be found to consist of the cost of 8composition01 8make-up01 8lock-up01 and 8make-ready04 ,these operations are necessary if but one form is printed2 they need cost us no more if #ej1jjj copies are printed4 ,paper is comparatively cheap1 so it usually costs us little more to print #e1jjj copies than to print #a1jjj4 ,so we can see that in the case of blank forms the cost per unit varies inversely as the quantity ordered at one time4 ,hence1 if we need such forms as sales slips1 of which we may use hundreds per day1 we should order1 say1 a year's supply at a time4 ,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 time4 ,as we take these up on our ,stock ,record1 such purchases in large quantities will not disturb the worth of the ,exchange4 ,an appreciable amount in the cost of our printing can be saved by a skillful arrangement of the matter on the form4 ,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 person4 ,tabular work costs money1 and so also does 8special rulings04 ,experience or consultation with a practical printer is the only real guide in this matter4 ,if any form is used in large numbers1 it will pay to have electrotypes made1 and 8repeat orders0 printed therefrom4 ,forms that are seldom used should not be electrotyped1 as they will probably require some alteration by the time a new supply is needed4 ,an electrotype costs about #j4be for the first square inch and about #j4jd for each additional square inch4 ,here is another opportunity for the exercise of judgment4 ,suppose we have a large form with printed heading and footing1 but nothing in the middle of the sheet2 it would be wasteful to electrotype the whole form1 only the heading and the footing should be so treated4 ,now1 let us consider the money wasted by having the name of our post printed on each bit of stationery6 ,it is easy to see that this is in some cases a positive disadvantage4 ,suppose1 for example1 that ,form #h1 ,fig4 #a1 fills the requirements of ,exchange methods4 ,if a dozen ,exchanges order a supply of these forms and 7as they usually do7 thoughtlessly require that the names of their respective posts be printed on same1 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 plate4 ,it is hard1 if not impossible1 to find any real reason why this extra matter should be placed on many of our forms4 ,coperation in matters of this kind would go far toward cutting down some of our 8overhead charges0 in ,post ,exchange work1 and to secure such coperation is one of the objects of this paper4 ,still another way to minimize our printing bill is to adopt standard sizes for our forms and to use1 wherever possible1 the same kind and color of paper4 ,paper comes in sheets of certain sizes and if the printer has to waste a part of each sheet in printing our forms1 we shall have to pay for it4 ,uniformity in size also leads to facility of filing4 ,incidentally1 money may be saved1 in some cases by having two or more forms printed together4 ,for example1 suppose we have three forms1 ,a1 ,b and ,c1 to be printed on the same stock1 and we wish #e1jjj ,a2 #aj1jjj ,b2 and #ae1jjj ,c4 ,if ordered separately1 these would entail #cj1jjj impressions4 ,suppose1 however1 that they are ordered at the same time1 and that the forms are of such sizes 7not necessarily equal7 that they may be printed together on one sheet and cut apart afterwards4 ,in such a case1 a saving might be made as follows3--,set up each form once1 make1 one electrotype of ,form ,b and two of ,form ,c2 place these with the originals and there will result1 in one 8form0 three ,forms ,c1 two ,forms ,b1 and one ,form ,a1 and a 8run0 of #e1jjj impressions will print the lot ordered4 ,there is a saving of the cost of running #e1jjj ,form ,b and #aj1jjj ,form ,c less the cost of electrotypes 7if they are not on hand7 and of the extra work of locking up and making ready same4 ,of course1 such a procedure assumes that a considerable supply of forms1 say1 not less than a total of #e1jjj1 is ordered at one time4 ,for a fewer number1 there would be no saving unless electrotypes were already on hand4 ,to return1 now1 to our sales slips4 ,it will be noted that our triplicate copies are the same for all departments4 ,they are kept in rolls1 if manifolding machines are used1 or if triplicating sales books are used1 the tissue paper sheets that are left in the books form our retained record4 ,in the cases of both the triplicate and the duplicate copies1 a cheap grade of paper is allowable on account of the little handling these copies have to withstand4 ,also1 there is no reason for their being susceptible of rapid assorting according to departments4 ,the duplicates are also identical for all departments1 they go to the customer at the time of sale4 ,in case there is a discussion about any particular slip1 the items thereon will show conclusively to what department it belongs1 as will also the initials of the salesman4 ,on the other hand1 it is a positive advantage to have all duplicates of a distinctive color1 different from that of the originals4 ,suppose a customer buys a pair of shoes from the store and later returns them4 ,we should then give him a slip crediting him with the shoes at the selling price4 ,to do this1 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 slip4 ,the clerk then gives the customer the original of this credit voucher and files the newspaper duplicate in the usual way4 ,upon sorting the slips that night1 the duplicate would be noticed1 on account of its difference from the other slips handed in and would thus prevent mistakes4 ,likewise1 if it became necessary for1 say1 the lunch room to buy a ham from the market1 the market attendant could make out his charge sales slip as usual1 giving the duplicate to the lunch room attendant with the ham4 ,that night1 the appearance of this grayish duplicate among the salmon originals handed in by the lunch room attendant would immediately call attention to the transaction4 ,it might be stated here1 at the risk of lapsing into the axiomatic1 that such a transaction1 although favored by some exchanges1 is not good business4 ,it should be of rare occurrence and even then needs special treatment4 ,the proper procedure in such cases would be to have the ,market turn the ham back to the ,stock ,room1 receive credit for it and then let the ,lunch ,room draw the ham at the cost price4 ,this point is more fully discussed in connection with ,stock ,records4 ,after the attendant has recorded the charge sale in the proper manner and given the duplicate slip to the purchaser1 he still has to dispose of another copy 7or two other copies if triplicating records are used74 ,the original should be speared onto an ordinary file1 each clerk having his own filing hook in a convenient but inconspicuous place4 ,the triplicate is left in the sales book or on the roll1 as the case may be4 ,in addition1 the clerk should be required to ring up the sale on the cash register4 ,this is1 of course1 very important1 and heroic measures should be adopted to insure the recording of every sale1 of whatever kind1 on the cash register4 ,means to this end can readily be devised4 ,the subject of cash registers is a very important one and is discussed in detail elsewhere4 ,the above operations are described at some length1 but in reality1 they are simple in the extreme3 a customer makes a purchase1 the clerk records the sale1 rings up the amount on the cash register1 gives the customer his goods and a copy of the sales slip and sticks the other copy on his file4 ,if the cash register prints tickets1 he may drop the ticket in his compartment of a box or drawer provided for the purpose1 or preferably1 give it to the customer4 ,daily ,check of ,charge ,sales ,after the day's business is over1 each clerk gathers up all his receipts for the day and assorts them into three piles1 representing the cash1 coupon and charge sales1 respectively4 ,he then makes out his sales report on ,form #e as shown in ,fig4 #d4 ,this report should be printed on the face of an end-opening envelope measuring not more than #d #aj inches1 thus forming a convenient receptacle for the coupons1 charge slips and cash turned in4 ,the printed form should be1 say1 #g #c inches4 ,as these envelopes are not subjected to rough usage1 being used but once1 any kind of cheap paper will serve the purpose4 ,it might be well in certain cases to have the envelopes match the color of the original charge sales slips for that department1 but ordinarily1 this would be found an unnecessary refinement4 ,after making out this sales report1 the clerk places in the envelope the cash1 coupons1 etc41 and hands it to the ,post ,exchange ,officer or to the ,steward1 if so authorized4 7,for obvious reasons1 the ,exchange ,officer personally should receive and check the receipts the night of pay-day and at intervals during the month1 even if the ,steward is ordinarily authorized to do so47 ,the ,steward or ,cashier has meanwhile unlocked the cash register1 noted the readings of the record wheels and taken out the tape showing the printed record of sales4 ,illustration3 ,figure #d4 7,reduced in size7 ,now1 assuming that triplicate records are used1 the ,steward takes the triplicate copies--either book or roll--8throws0 them or checks them for numbering1 to see that all are accounted for1 and totals their value on the adding machine4 ,by comparing this total with that shown by the appropriate wheels of the cash register1 he ascertains if all charge sales have been rung up4 ,if these two agree1 all is well1 so far4 ,if they do not agree1 a note is made of the discrepancy for use in connection with the operations hereafter described4 ,illustration3 ,figure #e1 7,reduced in size7 ,by this time1 the clerks should be ready to hand in their reports and receipts4 ,the ,steward fills out the rest of ,form #e as called for by the various columns and abstracts these reports to his ,form #d as shown in ,fig4 #e4 ,this form should be printed on a card measuring #c #h inches1 to permit convenient filing4 ,if printed on thin paper1 it will have to be filed on a ,shannon file which is not so convenient in the long run4 ,these cards should be of fairly good stock1 as they are a part of the permanent records of the ,exchange1 but should be no heavier than necessary4 ,the ,steward carries down the totals on ,form #d and compares them with the three separate totals shown by the cash register4 ,restricting ourselves to a discussion of the charge sales1 we see that if the total of the triplicate slips1 the totals of the clerks' reports and the total shown by the cash register all agree then the charge sales statement shown on ,form #d is correct4 ,if there is any discrepancy in this or any other column of ,form #d the mistake should be found and corrected before the clerks are dismissed for the night4 ,suppose1 for example1 that the cash register shows a total of #bj4fj charge sales for the day and the total on ,form #d is #ba4ij4 ,the first step is to have the clerks make sure that their reports correctly state the actual amount of charge sales slips turned in4 ,if they are correct1 then some clerk has probably forgotten to ring up one or more sales4 ,to trace the fault1 let the ,steward read off all the charge sales from the record tape of the cash register1 calling off at the same time the letter of the clerk who rang up each sale4 ,these can be compared with the triplicate copy of the sales slips1 or the assembled clerks can be required to note the sales accredited to them1 the grand total of which must equal #bj4fj4 ,in this manner1 the error is definitely located4 ,on the other hand1 suppose the cash register shows #ba4ij and the total on ,form #d shows #bj4fj4 ,the effect is that produced by a clerk being short #a4cj in charge sales slips after he has actually made the sales4 ,the same procedure as before will locate the mistake4 ,if he cannot produce the slips 7or cash or coupons as the case may be7 or satisfactorily explain the mistake1 the clerk in error should be required to make good the discrepancy4 ,discrepancies in cash and coupons can be located and remedied in the same manner4 ,it is important that the clerks be required to participate in the task of locating mistakes and to make good on errors1 otherwise there will be no incentive to careful work4 ,when the totals of the clerks' reports check against the cash registers1 the next step is to check the former against the receipts in cash1 coupons and charge sales slips actually turned in by the respective clerks4 ,the cash should1 in fact1 be counted immediately upon being turned in1 checked ,o4 ,k4 on the clerks' reports and put in a safe place4 ,the charge slips handed in by each clerk are compared with the strip from the adding machine 7on which the clerk has added up his slips before making out his report7 checked against the report and put aside for filing4 ,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 them4 ,this matter of destroying coupons should never be delegated to any other person4 ,in view of the fact that the receipts turned in by each clerk should1 and usually do1 check exactly with his report1 this particular routine is recommended1 as it allows the dismissal of the clerks before commencing the work described in this paragraph4 ,in case of mistakes1 the simple expedient of making the clerk at fault assist in the work for a few evenings1 is usually sufficient to prevent a repetition4 ,in large ,exchanges1 where the coupon and charge sales are large1 it is not customary to total the charge sales slips and count the coupons until the next morning4 ,if the receipts turn out to be greater than called for by the reports1 the surplus can be taken up by entering on a single line of ,form #bf 7described hereafter71 whenever the books are closed 7or oftener1 if desired7 an item showing what departments are credited with these excess coupons1 exactly as if it were another day's transactions4 ,such entry should1 however1 be prefaced by the words1 8excess coupons04 ,shortages should be collected from the clerk at fault1 thus making the reports correct4 ,the ,exchange ,officer should occasionally make the coupon and the charge sales counts himself4 ,it would be unbusinesslike1 if the coupon or charge sales are heavy1 to require the ,exchange ,officer1 the ,steward or any other high priced man to waste his time counting coupons or any other similar task4 ,a less expensive employee should be detailed for this purpose4 ,for such unskilled labor1 a boy at #aj4jj per month who can run errands1 etc41 would be a profitable investment in many cases1 thus leaving the expensive employees free to do more important work4 ,too much stress cannot be placed upon the importance of insuring the correctness of the data entered on ,form #d4 ,if the above mentioned checks have been applied1 there should be no trouble in any phase of our charge accounts4 ,daily ,summary of ,charge ,sales4 ,illustration3 ,figure #f4 7,reduced in size7 ,for various self-evident reasons1 we use ,form #g1 shown in ,fig4 #f1 for showing a month's charge sales4 ,this form gives us in a most convenient shape1 a summary of that part of our 7daily7 ,forms #d that relates to our charge sales business1 it safeguards us against the loss of any ,form #d and facilitates posting our ledger accounts4 ,this form is kept up to date1 the charge sales from ,form #d being entered thereon daily1 and therefore1 affords us a most efficient aid in closing our books at any moment4 ,at the end of the month1 or whenever the books are closed1 we find the totals of the columns of ,form #g and post these totals as lump sums into the ledger4 ,for example1 the total of column #a is posted as a debit in the ledger against ,bills ,receivable1 ,customers2 the total of column #b as a credit to the same account4 ,the total of column #c should be posted as a debit against the ,store account in the ledger1 this being for articles returned to the store by our customers2 the total of column #d is posted as a credit to the store account1 being for articles sold from same1 etc4 ,these sheets1 constituting ,form #g are #aa #ad inches1 and cost #a4ge per hundred without printed headings2 a sectional post binder to fit them can be bought for #c4ge4 ,the sheet is the same on both sides and will1 therefore1 take care of seven departments if we use the whole width of the open book4 ,this will be found ample in most cases4 ,it is useless expense to have the headings1 etc41 printed on the sheets1 because a single sheet with neatly written headings can be made to serve as a sort of index for a great many sheets1 provided they are mounted above it and are trimmed off just below the headings 8,,dr40 8,,cr401 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 sheets4 ,this labor and money saving point will be more fully discussed later4 ,recording ,charge ,sales ,slips4 ,after these slips have been checked against the clerks' reports1 they must be sorted out and filed according to the names of the purchasers4 ,for this work1 have two card index drawers1 each fitted with a set of guide cards marked on the tabs with the names of our charge customers4 ,as each slip is found1 file it behind the proper name4 ,we first take all the 8,store0 slips and file them in this manner2 we then go through this 8sorting drawer0 and total the slips belonging to each customer and enter these totals in the column representing that date on ,form #i1 7see ,fig4 #g7 opposite the names of the respective customers4 ,at the same time1 we insert the sales slips diagonally in their proper places in the other or permanent filing drawer4 ,the total of these entries on ,form #i should equal the total charge sales credited that date to the ,store on ,form #g4 ,if it does1 the slips that have been placed diagonally can be shoved down into the proper places as we are through with them2 if it does not1 they can easily be removed for further examination4 ,this daily check should invariably be made for each department4 ,we proceed in like manner with respect to the other departments1 each department having its own sheet or sheets like ,form #i4 ,it is evident that this form gives us a summary of all the charge sales made each day from each department1 showing the amounts sold to each of our customers4 ,at the end of the month1 each line is added across and the total entered4 ,the 8,total0 column is then added up and compared with the total obtained by adding together the figures 7representing the daily totals7 on the bottom line4 ,if these two totals check against each other and against the total shown on ,form #g1 the account may be considered correct and is a record of the daily transactions between our customers and the department considered4 ,illustration3 ,figure #g4 7,reduced in size7 ,the book in which we bind our ,form #i is known as the 8,charge ,book01 and it may be well to explain here the physical make-up of this important book of record4 ,it is1 of course1 on the loose-leaf principle1 being of the type known as a 8sectional post binder04 ,it costs #b4ej and the ruled sheets 7without special printing7 cost #a4jj per hundred4 ,it is1 however1 to the manner of handling the sheets of the book that attention is especially invited4 ,the old fashioned way would be to enter the names of our customers down the left hand margin of each sheet until all were entered1 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 8,total0 at the right of the sheet4 ,thus1 if we had five departments and enough credit customers to require six sheets for the list1 we should have to prepare thirty sheets in this manner every month4 ,now1 to show how we can eliminate unnecessary work by the exercise of a little forethought1 let us assume that we have started our record in this manner4 ,now take six copies of ,form #i1 trim them along the heavy broken lines shown in ,fig4 #g1 and bind one of these sheets in front of each of those we have previously prepared4 ,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 pertains4 ,of course1 to care for the five departments1 we should have to do this for all five sets of sheets that we originally prepared4 ,it follows that1 provided our list of customers does not change1 this same operation of inserting trimmed sheets would constitute the only labor necessary to continue this record for an indefinite period4 ,after considerable experimenting and actual trial in service1 the following described scheme has been evolved for handling this record in an efficient manner4 ,while no claim is made that it is perfect1 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 books4 #a4 ,take a sheet1 ,form #i1 and enter the names of your charge customers in alphabetical order1 commencing on a left hand page4 ,to allow for future changes1 leave a blank line before each name and one or two blank lines at the bottom of the page for sub-totals1 etc4 ,for clearness and permanence1 these names should be put in from a black 8record0 typewriter ribbon4 ,write in the headings of the various columns as shown on ,form #i4 ,the object in placing the 8total0 column near the outside margin is to have it next the customer's name1 thus minimizing the chances of error in taking out the wrong total when we make our postings at the end of the month4 #b4 ,if our list of charge customers will require more than one sheet1 take another ,form #i which we shall call ,sheet ,no4 #b and proceed in a like manner1 using the same side of the sheet as before4 ,this should be repeated until all our charge customers are entered4 ,several blank lines are left at the bottom of the last sheet4 ,thus1 when we have finished and have inserted the sheets in our book1 we shall have a complete list of our charge customers all recorded on the left hand pages of our book1 that side of each sheet that forms the right hand pages of our book being blank4 #c4 ,now1 in order to utilize these blank pages1 thus avoiding unnecessary waste1 we proceed as follows3--,open your book between ,sheets #a and #b2 page #a will then be on the left and page #b on the right4 ,this page #b should now be prepared in a manner exactly similar to that used in preparing page #a1 except that the customers' names are on the right hand margin with the total column next inside4 ,this is clearly shown in ,fig4 #g4 #d4 ,prepare the blank sides of the other sheets in a similar manner and we shall then have two complete lists of our charge customers1 one occupying the left and the other the right hand pages of our book1 the confronting pages being practically symmetrical4 #e4 ,let us assume that the ,exchange has five separate departments in which charge sales can occur4 ,we cut five sheets along the heavy broken lines shown in ,fig4 #g and insert them between pages #a and #b4 ,five more trimmed sheets are inserted between sheets 7whole sheets7 #b and #c1 and so on for the rest of the book4 ,in order to identify these sheets if accidentally removed from the binder and to facilitate the making of entries1 we print on each of them in large letters1 the name of the department and the month to which they refer4 ,this is best done lightly with red ink as shown 7in black7 in ,fig4 #g where the sheet is marked ,,store--,,aug4 ,this red ink lettering will not obscure the black ink figures subsequently made4 #f4 ,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 account4 ,let us take the first trimmed sheet and mark it 8,,store--,,jan0 on one side1 and 8,,store--,,feb0 on the other4 ,do similarly for the sheets reserved for the 8market01 8lunch room01 and other accounts4 ,the sheets containing the typewritten headings are not used for recording sales1 but are used for guide sheets1 for reasons to be set forth later4 ,it is easy to see from the preceding description that our charge book is a running account1 and being always up to date1 can be closed at short notice4 ,when two months' records have been entered1 the trimmed sheets are lifted and filed1 as will be described hereafter4 ,fresh trimmed sheets are again inserted in the proper places and the record proceeds as before4 ,consolidating ,charge ,sales ,monthly4 ,the form in which we have placed our daily records of credit sales lends itself very readily to a process of summation or consolidation4 ,the manner of doing this is as follows3-- #a4 ,prepare a second double list of our credit customers exactly as described above1 except that the columns1 instead of being headed with the days of the month1 are labelled with the names of the various departments1 as shown in ,fig4 #h4 ,let us call this ,form #f4 ,blank sheets trimmed along the heavy broken lines1 shown in ,fig4 #g1 are inserted as before1 no recording being done on the typewritten sheets--they are simply guides or indices to the various lines and columns4 ,illustration3 ,figure #h4 7,reduced in size7 #b4 ,all these sheets are bound in a separate book to facilitate the work of posting at the end of the month4 ,experiment seems to prove that this is better than binding these records in the same book with the charge sheets just described4 ,this1 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 posting4 #c4 ,immediately after the end of the month1 ,form #g1 is checked against ,form #i as previously described4 ,we then take1 say1 the 8store0 charge sheets 7,form #g7 and enter on ,form #f the total that each customer owes the store4 ,we do the same for every other department1 also entering the balance remaining unpaid from last month in the column provided for the purpose4 ,we also record in the proper column any credit we have given our customers during the month for goods returned1 overcharges1 etc4 #d4 ,by using the adding machine1 we find the total of each department's column on ,form #f2 it should equal the total charge sales for that department reported on ,forms #g and #i4 ,if it does not1 the error must be found and corrected before proceeding further4 ,these totals1 when correct1 are entered at the foot of their proper columns on the last sheet of the record4 ,now add these column-totals on the machine and enter the result in pencil at the foot of the 8,total0 column on the same last sheet of this ,form #f record2 it should check against the grand total of the charge sales for the month reported on ,forms #g and #i4 ,illustration3 ,figure #i4 ,actual size #e4 ,when all postings to our ,form #f are complete1 we station one clerk at the adding machine and one is prepared to make out our monthly bills or statements of account1 using ,form #a1 shown in ,fig4 #i4 ,some person reads off ,form #f the name of each customer and the total charges against him by each department4 ,these items are added on the machine and simultaneously entered by the bill clerk on ,form #a4 ,the adding machine operator reads the total of the items he has added1 which total is entered by the bill clerk on his ,form #a and by us in the column headed1 8,total0 on our ,form #f4 #f4 ,any credit due the customer is read off to and entered by the bill clerk on the statement4 ,he then figures the balance due the ,post ,exchange1 which balance should agree with that figured independently by the person reading from ,form #f4 #g4 ,when the last bill has been made out1 take the printed strip from the adding machine and find the sum of all the totals that have been read off by the operator4 ,this sum should equal the pencil total described in ,par4 #d above and checks the correctness of the account4 ,if a 8,duplex0 adding machine is used1 this does not require extra work4 ,if the accounts do not 8jibe0 and the error cannot be found1 take in rotation the charge slips that you have filed against each customer and add them on the machine1 making a separate total for each customer4 ,this should locate the error4 ,if the accounts check1 however1 7and they should if the previous checks have been made properly7 this laborious operation is unnecessary4 ,all our bills are now ready for mailing1 and they are made out correctly4 ,in order to obtain the full benefit of this method1 our bill forms should require the minimum amount of writing4 ,the form shown in ,fig4 #i gives satisfaction4 ,it is a #c #e inch card and therefore fits standard size card index drawers2 it is easily handled and will go into a note size penalty envelope without folding4 ,the appropriate month can be stamped in and the name of the customer entered during spare moments throughout the month1 so that the only work necessary at this time is to write in the figures4 ,if the lines of ,form #a are 8typewriter spaced01 that is1 six to the inch1 and the form is not too heavy1 it can be placed directly in the adding machine and the various amounts printed on the card4 ,the names of the various departments should be printed on this card in the same order in which they occur on ,form #f4 ,in fact1 much work will be saved if some specific scheme of sequence or relative order among the different departments is invariably followed4 ,the writer does not know of a more economical or efficient system of handling the bug-a-boo of 8getting out our monthly bills0 than that just described4 ,sometimes1 a 8duplicating bill-book0 is used1 but it is a wasteful and inefficient method when compared to this4 ,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 customers4 ,if we were to do so1 we should simply repeat information that we already have4 ,it will be remembered that we have filed away our triplicate record of each day's charge sales1 which record describes in detail the particulars of every sale made on that day4 ,from this1 should the necessity arise1 we can reconstruct our whole charge sales record for the month4 ,we have also on file 7until the bill is paid7 another copy of each charge sales slip1 filed according to the names of customers1 which1 in itself1 constitutes one side of the ledger account that would be kept under the old system4 ,these1 together with the records previously described1 amply warrant the abolition of customers' private ledger accounts4 ,another great advantage of this system lies in the ease and rapidity with which the books can be closed at any time4 ,attention is invited to the note at the bottom of ,form #a4 ,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 receipt4 ,hence1 if a customer pays his bill by check1 it is unnecessary to receipt the bill and return it to him1 our endorsement on his check constitutes his receipt4 ,this same procedure can be made to apply to companies1 etc42 also1 if the company commander will use the sales slips as his sub-vouchers for the expenditure4 ,credit ,transactions4 ,we shall now take up the procedure to be followed in recording any and all credit which we allow to customers for overcharges1 goods returned1 etc4 ,it is apparent that such transaction must occur in any business4 ,accurate track should be kept of them and they should be handled in the most efficient and time-saving manner possible4 ,each such transaction results in a credit against our ,bills ,receivable and a charge or debit against the particular department involved4 ,as before stated1 the clerk who receives the goods that are returned to us makes out a charge sales slip1 marks it 8,,credit0 and keeps the duplicate1 giving the original to the customer4 ,it is usually the rule that nobody other than the ,steward or the ,exchange ,officer himself has authority to give customers credit in this way4 ,in the evening1 the clerk hands in these credit slips with his report4 ,when the ,steward makes up his report on ,form #d1 after verifying the clerks' reports1 he simply enters these credits in the last column on his ,form #d1 totals them and describes each separate credit transaction on the back of his report4 ,all the data relating to the charge sales 7and credits given7 during the day that are shown on the face of ,form #d are abstracted to the appropriate line of ,form #g1 which latter sheet gives us in concise form all the data we need concerning our charge sales for the month4 ,the credit slips are gathered up and placed with the filed charge sales slips relating to the person who returned the goods to us4 ,at the end of the month1 preparatory to making out our bills1 all credits are entered in the column headed 8,credit0 on ,form #f1 and are checked against the totals shown on ,form #g4 ,this avoids the necessity of entering each credit transaction on a separate line of ,form #g as such transaction occurs4 ,even if the credit slip were lost1 no error should result1 because we check the total credits entered on ,form #f against the total credits on ,form #g before we start making out our bills4 ,if these do not agree1 we must check both ,forms #f and #g against the credits shown daily by the various ,forms #d4 ,we also have another check in the triplicate copy of the credit slips that has been filed away4 ,below is a graphic chart which shows how to handle this system of charge accounts4 ,it shows how the various records experience a continuous process of summation until they finally reach the ledger and the customer's bill1 and how the accounts can be checked as we go along1 thus avoiding errors4 ,solid lines show posting operations1 broken lines show possible checking operations4 ,settling ,charge ,accounts4 ,when any of our charge customers pays his bill1 we make an entry in our cash book1 giving to each such payment a separate line4 ,we enter the amount of the payment in the column headed 8,net ,cash0 and also in the column headed 8,customers04 ,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 sale4 ,we also stamp 8,paid0 in the 8,cash0 column of ,form #f1 using a dating stamp that will fit neatly into this column4 ,one using red ink is preferable4 ,if only a part of the bill is paid1 we enter in this column the amount received1 extend the balance to the proper column and1 at the proper time1 carry it forward to next month's account4 ,some book-keepers of the old school will keep a 8blotter0 or some such book wherein these payments are first noted1 copying them at their leisure into the ,cash ,book4 ,as the ,cash ,book is a book of original record1 this is not only wrong1 but is incidentally unnecessary labor and hence to be avoided4 ,when payments like these come in1 they should be taken directly to the book-keeper1 who should immediately enter them in the ,cash ,book4 ,illustration3 ,figure #aj4 ,all such payments occurring on any one day are entered in a lump sum under 8,collections10 on the ,form #d for that day4 ,in fact1 all cash received1 whether from paymasters' collections on payrolls or any source other than cash sales by any of our departments1 is taken up on ,form #d as 8,collections04 ,if a bill is paid before the end of the month1 it is treated exactly the same as if it were paid afterward1 except that the date is stamped in a different colored ink4 ,it does not confuse our accounts1 because the amount paid is entered in the 8,customers'0 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 ,receivable1 ,customers1 in the ledger4 ,the 8,customers'0 column in the ,cash ,book is solely for receipts from our charge customers and for nothing else4 ,if1 at any time1 we wish to find the total charge sales1 we simply find the total of the amounts shown on ,form #g1 subtracting credits1 if any4 ,we also use the total sales credited to the various departments on ,form #g in making up our monthly statement for the auditing officer and for the ,inspector4 ,to find out at the end of the month the amount due us on account1 we turn to ,bills ,receivable1 ,customers1 in the ledger1 where the balance should show the correct amount4 ,this amount should check with the 8,total0 column on ,form #f reduced by credits allowed and payments received prior to the end of the month4 ,dead and ,live ,records4 ,it will be remembered that all our ,forms #i were placed in one book and our ,forms #f in another1 and that each ,form #i was to be used for two months1 that is1 used on both sides4 ,after both sides have been used these forms are transferred bodily to the book containing our ,forms #f1 and placed between the ,forms #f referring to these months4 ,fresh ,forms #i take the place of those transferred1 thus keeping our book 8alive0 and placing our dead records where they will be less in the way4 ,the logic of this is evident when we remember that we use our ,charge ,book 7,form #f7 only at the end of the month1 whereas1 we use our ,form #i book every day4 ,as regards ,form #h 7charge sales slip7 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 month1 when they should be stored together in some place where they can be consulted if desired4 ,they should be preserved for such length of time as may be required by regulations or local laws1 depending upon which is the greater4 ,the original slips may be treated in one of two ways2 they may be sent to the customer with his bill at the end of the month1 or they may be sent to him after he pays his bill4 ,it is felt that the first method is by far the better4 ,forms #e for the month should be preserved until the auditor has finished with them1 and it is perhaps advisable to keep them until after the next visit of the inspector4 ,our ,forms #d are very important and should be kept until after the inspector has inspected the accounts of the ,exchange1 if not indefinitely4 ,forms #f1 #g and #i are a part of the permanent records of the ,exchange and should be preserved indefinitely4 ,the foregoing description of this system of handling charge accounts may sound formidable to the layman1 but in reality1 it is not so4 ,as shown in the graphic chart 7,fig4 #aj7 it is a logical system1 proceeding in a simple1 orderly way from the charge sales slip to the ledger and the customer's bill4 ,it belongs to the class of book-keeping called 8controlled accounts0--each part of the system knits evenly into the others1 and there is a continual process of summation going on throughout the records4 ,there is no duplicated work and every step is one of definite progress towards the goal4 ,it will be found to fulfil the requirements we imposed at the beginning of this essay4 ,it has actually proved its worth wherever installed4 ,it is equally adapted to the large and to the small ,exchange4 ,due to the many available opportunities for checking the correctness of results1 mistakes are easily located and corrected4 ,however1 if the checks described are applied1 especially those relating to ,form #d1 there should be little excuse for a mistake to appear in any of the higher accounts4 ,,cash ,,sales4 ,in the light of the preceding discussion of charge sales1 our methods of handling cash sales can be disposed of in a few words4 ,in all cases of such sales1 the clerk simply gives the customer his goods1 receiving the money therefor1 makes change if necessary1 rings up the amount of the sale on the cash register and places the cash therein4 ,the most important part of this transaction1 insofar as our system is concerned1 is described in the next-to-last clause4 ,if the salesman once rings up the correct amount on the cash register1 the store is sure that the transaction is closed1 and closed properly4 ,means to this end will be discussed under the heading of 8,cash ,registers04 ,it is customary to loan1 secured by various kinds of receipts1 a suitable sum to the heads of the various departments of the ,exchange for the purpose of making change4 ,in some cases1 it may be advisable to require them to make a cash deposit to cover these amounts4 ,when the ,cashier or ,steward is under bond1 it is feasible to turn the 8change money0 of the whole ,exchange over to him1 taking his note for it4 ,after closing at night1 each clerk enters his cash sales on his sales report 7,form #e1 ,fig4 #d7 and hands it1 together with the cash receipts1 to the ,steward or other authorized recipient4 ,the latter counts the cash immediately1 checks it on the clerk's report and places it one side until the total cash is checked4 ,he then transfers the item to his own ,form #d1 7,fig4 #e7 and compares the totals for each department with the cash register readings for those departments1 entering the latter1 if they are shown separately for each clerk1 on each clerk's report in the spaces provided for that purpose4 ,discrepancies are handled as previously explained under ,charge ,sales4 ,cash ,book4 ,when the cash is checked and the ,steward's report is correct1 he copies the amounts of cash sales for each department into the ,cash ,book1 putting each amount in its proper column4 ,all the cash receipts from all the departments for any one day go on the same line in the ,cash ,book4 ,on the other hand1 credit nothing in the ,cash ,book to a department except a cash sale4 ,every other receipt of cash from whatever source is recorded in the ,cash ,book1 also1 a separate line being given to each transaction4 ,for instance1 as before explained1 whenever one of our charge customers pays his bill1 we give him a separate line in the ,cash ,book1 entering this amount in two columns1 first under 8,net ,cash0 and also under 8,customers04 ,the ,cash ,book should have on the 8,received0 or debit side 7the left side7 columns for the following items3--,date1 ,explanation1 ,vou41 ,net ,cash1 a column for each department of the ,exchange1 ,customers1 ,creditors1 ,interest and ,discount1 and at least two spare columns for entering the pay-day collections1 etc4 ,the books should not be too bulky as many cash books are1 and should1 of course1 be built on the loose leaf plan4 ,a cash book cannot be designed to suit all cases because of the varying number and kind of departments pertaining to different ,exchanges4 ,however1 it is easy to secure uniformity of principle and method1 which is the main thing4 ,the only point that need vary between different ,exchanges is the number of columns in the book and the headings to same4 ,illustration3 ,figure #aa4 7,reduced in size7 ,a cash book will be rather expensive if we have it made precisely as we want it1 especially if we have the column headings printed in4 ,there is no doubt that printed headings make a neater book1 but in many cases1 the advisability of incurring the extra expense is open to doubt4 ,considering the great variety of stock pages published by various manufacturers1 there is rarely an excuse for ordering specially ruled and printed sheets4 ,special ruling are very expensive1 especially when we can order but a small supply4 ,it is found that the sheets shown in ,fig4 #aa give perfect satisfaction4 ,the lower sample1 having #bj columns1 will take care of almost any ,exchange1 and by trimming off the two outer columns of the right hand page1 we can secure a capacity of #cf columns4 ,this would prevent us from keeping ,cash ,received and ,cash ,disbursed on pages that confront each other1 but as the number of pages used for the former usually exceeds greatly those necessary for the latter1 this objection has little weight4 ,if convenience so dictated1 there is no reason why the two sides of the ,cash ,book or ,cash ,account could not be kept in different parts of the book or even in separate books4 ,this would lead to economy of pages4 ,the upper of the two forms shown in ,fig4 #aa would be suitable for small ,exchanges where a large number of columns are not required1 as the left hand side could be used for cash received and the right for cash disbursed4 ,several of the right hand pages would have to be wasted each month on account of the greater number of entries on the debit side4 ,some ,exchanges use a form similar to the upper one of ,fig4 #aa except that it is printed and ruled to order and contains a greater number of columns than that shown in the cut4 ,the writer knows of one ,exchange that has as many as twenty columns on each side of its ,cash ,book4 ,such forms1 however1 are exceedingly expensive and should be considered more or less of a luxury4 ,the forms shown in ,fig4 #aa cost #a4ge per hundred retail 7without printed headings7 and measure #aa #ad inches1 being #aa inches on the binding side4 ,a sectional post binder to fit any number of these sheets can be obtained for #c4be retail4 ,the ,cash ,book is used to give a detailed record of all cash transactions4 ,on the left hand or debit side is entered all cash received and on the right hand or credit side is entered all cash paid out2 the difference in the sum totals of the respective sides showing at any time the amount of cash on hand4 ,all items on the credit side of the ,cash ,book are posted to the debit side of some account in the ,ledger and vice versa4 7,bank drafts1 sight drafts and checks belong in the cash account2 notes and time drafts belong to ,bills ,receivable and ,bills ,payable accounts47 ,our posting is done only when the books are closed1 at the end of the month or when necessity arises1 thus saving an enormous amount of work4 ,as we keep no private ledger account for each of our creditors or customers1 it follows that the totals of each column in our ,cash ,book are posted as lump sums to the credit of or as a debit against the ledger accounts of ,bills ,receivable1 ,bills ,payable1 or one of the ,exchange's departments1 etc4 ,all miscellaneous receipts that do not properly belong to one of the departments1 customers1 etc41 are taken up under 8,interest and ,discounts04 ,an important advantage of this method of handling our cash sales is that we are preparing1 as we go along1 all the data that will be required by the ,inspector4 ,a discussion of the ,credit side of the ,cash ,book is postponed until the subject of ,purchase ,records is taken up4 ,the above described operations are shown graphically in ,fig4 #ab1 where the heavy lines represent operations of recording or posting and the dotted lines show possible checking operations4 ,the item of 8,other ,cash0 is1 of course1 checked against ,form #be1 ,form #f1 or elsewhere1 depending upon circumstances4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #ab4 ,,coupon ,,sales4 ,in ,general4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ac1 ,cover 7,reduced in size7 ,illustration3 ,figure #ac1 ,coupons ,actual size ,coupons1 as it may be superfluous to explain1 are credit slips sold to enlisted men by the ,exchange4 ,they are sold on credit1 being secured by notes signed by the purchasers2 these notes constituting a lawful lien on the drawer's pay are supposed to be redeemed at the next pay day4 ,the credit slips can be used at any time for purchasing articles at the ,exchange4 ,exchanges formerly used metal coins or 8checks0 for this purpose1 but it was considered inadvisable to permit credit to be so easily counterfeited1 transferred1 etc41 hence the use of paper coupons has become universal1 being covered by mandatory orders in certain circumstances4 ,kinds of ,coupons4 ,there are two classes of coupons1 the first being the well known 8,coupon ,book0 shown in ,fig4 #ac4 ,these books are made in various denominations ranging from one to five dollars4 ,they are composed of a cover and several interior pages1 the latter being divided by perforations into five coupons each1 representing values of five1 ten or twenty-five cents1 depending upon the value of the book4 ,for instance1 a #a4jj book contains three sheets1 two composed of five #e;c coupons each and one composed of five #aj;c coupons4 ,on the cover of each book is printed the serial number of the book1 its value and blank lines for the insertion of the signature of the person to whom issued1 the signature of the ,exchange ,officer and the date of issue4 ,it is also customary to have printed on the cover the words 8,not ,transferable04 ,in some cases1 on the back cover of each book is printed a promissory note which1 after being signed by the soldier1 is torn off and kept by the ,exchange authorities until the value of the book is collected in cash from the soldier4 ,a variation of this scheme is to have a separate sheet in each book so printed that it will perform a like function4 ,in either case1 it is expected that when the book is depleted1 the clerk making the last sale shall take up the cover of the book in order that it may be filed in the ,exchange for such period as the ,exchange ,officer shall determine4 ,this1 for the reason that sometimes a man will claim that1 although he signed up for certain coupons at a certain time1 he failed actually to receive the coupons4 ,the possession and production by the ,exchange of these used-up covers are conclusive evidence to the contrary4 ,these coupon books have certain inherent defects that are more or less serious4 ,in the first place1 it is found that they can be used as stakes in gambling games and can also be sold or otherwise transferred by the original drawer4 ,this is objectionable1 not merely because it is against regulations1 but also because the person who so receives the coupons is not apt to draw coupons of his own1 thus tending to curtail the amount of coupon sales transacted by the ,exchange4 ,this transferring of coupons can be accomplished in several ways4 ,in large garrisons it will take a little time before the clerks will know each man by sight1 especially when there is an influx of recruits4 ,if a customer is not known to the clerks1 he might be able to use another soldier's coupon book unless the clerk should require him to write his name and compare it with the signature on the book presented4 ,this would be impracticable at certain times of the month when the coupon sales were heavy1 as it would consume too much time1 thus preventing the clerks from waiting upon other customers as promptly as they should4 ,it is evident that this kind of a transfer could be effected with any kind of coupons1 and there is no preventive except to have the clerks become acquainted with every man in the garrison at the earliest practicable moment4 ,when there is time1 the clerks should1 in doubtful cases1 require the customer to write his name and then compare it with the name signed on the book4 ,all clerks should understand that when any person presents a coupon book not his own the book is forfeited to the ,exchange and the occurrence is to be reported to the ,exchange ,officer4 ,another way in which coupons can be transferred 7unless each coupon is numbered to correspond to the cover7 is as follows3--,private ,a borrows from ,private ,b fifty cents in cash and gives him a dollar coupon book in exchange4 ,private ,b removes the staple which binds this book together1 takes the book apart and throws away the cover4 ,he then loosens the staple in a book which he himself has drawn at the ,exchange and carefully inserts enough of the loose coupon sheets from ,a's book to fill it up again1 and bends the staple back into its original position4 ,this scheme is of wider prevalence than most ,exchange ,officers would imagine1 and it is very hard to detect4 ,another fault to be found with the coupon book lies in the possibility of there being a wrong number of sheets of coupons in it4 ,printers are but human and it sometimes happens that there are too few or too many coupons in a book4 ,unless this is detected before issue1 it causes an error in our statement of coupons outstanding4 ,to prevent this1 it is necessary to examine each book before issuing it1 7even before handing them over to the coupon clerk71 a tedious operation1 one which consumes unnecessary time and labor4 ,in most ,exchanges1 the conviction sooner or later arises that there are coupons outstanding of which the ,exchange has no record4 ,this may occur through the suspicion that some person has acquired coupons in some unauthorized manner4 ,when such cases arise1 it is customary to place the ,exchange ,officer's signature on the backs of the coupons or to employ some secret mark4 ,this is a laborious and expensive operation and should not be resorted to unless necessary4 ,in justice to our printers1 be it said that they use every endeavor to prevent coupons from falling into unauthorized hands1 but ,exchange ,officers1 if inexperienced1 do not always appreciate the importance of taking like precautions4 ,all coupon books should be kept in a place that is absolutely secure1 and nobody should have access to same1 except the ,exchange ,officer himself4 ,he should use every effort to prevent a single book from reaching his customers except in the regular way4 ,he should take from the coupon vault only enough books to supply the demand1 and they should be carefully accounted for by the clerk who issues them to the men4 ,some ,exchange ,officers use a fac-simile stamp instead of countersigning each book in person4 ,if this is done1 the stamp should be most carefully guarded1 and kept in the personal possession of the ,exchange ,officer4 ,when the stamp is made1 there should be incorporated in it1 some secret mark1 otherwise1 any person could secure another similar stamp1 to the possible loss of the ,exchange4 ,this secret mark should be in the nature of a double instead of a single period or some other inconspicuous mark that would probably not 8take0 well should any person attempt to produce a second fac-simile from an impression of the genuine stamp4 ,the second type of coupon1 shown in ,fig4 #ad1 corrects some of the faults of the coupon book4 ,in the first place1 it is much cheaper1 the first order being about one-half and subsequent orders costing about one-third of the price of the coupon books4 ,this is an important saving because the cost of coupons is a dead loss to the ,exchange1 and if a satisfactory coupon can be obtained at a low cost1 it should be used as a matter of course1 and the overhead charges correspondingly reduced4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ad4 ,as will be noted1 these coupons consist of a single sheet of stamps or coupons1 separated by slot perforations1 the whole sheet containing twenty #e;c coupons4 ,considerable experience in this line prompts the statement that no real advantage is gained by having coupon books of denominations higher than one dollar4 ,the style of coupon here illustrated makes a virtue of this fact and all slips are ordinarily made in the one dollar denomination only4 ,in counting up the coupons after the day's work1 we know that1 regardless of colors1 each coupon represents #e;c4 ,another beauty of the scheme is that it is practically impossible to have strips containing a wrong number of coupons1 the method of manufacture almost precluding such a possibility1 thus obviating the laborious checking process4 ,still another advantage is that the whole dollar's worth of coupons is printed on a single piece of paper1 thus preventing any addition to its value1 as is possible with the book when partially depleted4 ,one might think that the smaller size of these coupons would make them hard to handle and count1 but an officer of considerable experience in this line of work states that by using the rubber end of a pencil they can be counted with more facility than can the other style of coupons4 ,some ,exchanges would probably require each strip to have attached to it a detachable stub on which the soldier would be required to receipt for the coupons and also promise to pay for them at next pay day4 ,in this case1 as in the case of the coupon books1 such practice merely adds unnecessary work and serves no useful purpose4 ,on pay-day1 we should have to handle one such stub for every dollar's worth of coupons that each soldier had drawn2 each of these stubs or cards would then have to be stamped 8,paid0 and returned to the soldier4 ,this is not an efficient method4 ,whichever style of coupon is decided upon for use should be printed on stock of various colors and coupons of one color only should be issued until it is desirable to have a check on our outstanding coupons4 7,of course1 if the books are used1 it will be necessary to have the #e;c and the #aj;c coupons of different colors47 ,the color should then be shifted and when coupons of the old color cease appearing1 we can arrive at an approximate check on our outstanding coupon account4 ,we say 8approximate0 because it sometimes happens that a man puts away a whole or a partially used book in a garment and thus inadvertently retires it from circulation for a space of time that may stretch into months4 ,of course1 this could be prevented by issuing a notice that all coupons must be presented before a certain time1 and that after that time1 no coupons of the old colors would be accepted4 ,this would give us a fresh starting point as regards our outstanding coupons1 but such a proceeding should be resorted to only under the most serious circumstances1 because it savours somewhat of a person refusing payment on a draft4 ,when1 however1 there is good reason to believe that our ,coupons ,outstanding account is incorrect1 such a step should be taken immediately1 as it is about the only practical way in which we can correct the account--a very important one4 ,regulations ,concerning ,coupons4 ,before explaining at length the system of handling coupon sales advocated herein1 it may be well to examine the regulations with which we must comply4 ,first1 comes par4 #ae1 ,g4 ,o4 #agf1 ,w4 ,d41 #aiji1 which reads as follows3-- 8#ae4 ,sales on ,credit4 ,when the commanding officer and council are agreed that it is to the true interest of the command1 the former may authorize a credit at the exchange to any soldier in good standing to an amount not exceeding in any one month one-third of his monthly pay4 ,this will be given upon the request of the soldier1 in writing1 approved by his company commander1 and these credit checks will be carried on the accounts of the exchange as 8bills receivable0 until paid4 ,soldiers granted credit will be distinctly informed that they must make prompt and unsolicited payment to the exchange officer on next pay day4 ,defaulters will be debarred the privileges of the exchange and are liable to trial and punishment4 ,it is the duty of the soldier who has been given credit to pay the amount as soon as he receives his pay1 and the exchange officer will be present at the place of payment to receive the money or make such arrangements as will facilitate the payment4 ,credit will not ordinarily be extended to a soldier between the date of last payment on rolls before discharge and the date of discharge4 ,when the debt has remained unpaid one pay day on which the soldier was paid a balance sufficient to discharge such debt and no other means of collection is practicable1 the exchange officer will notify the company or detachment commander1 who will note the amount on the next pay rolls as 8,due ,post ,exchange ---- ----0 and on succeeding rolls until the debt has been collected1 or until it is apparent that it can not be collected1 when the credit check will be turned over to the company or detachment in lieu of so much cash at the next distribution of profits as provided in paragraph #ag40 ,in the opinion of many1 it is unfortunate that an arbitrary limitation of credit has been fixed as shown in the first sentence of the above quoted paragraph1 as it tends to work a hardship upon some of our most valuable soldiers4 ,most of our older non-commissioned officers and ,n4 ,c4 staff officers are married and spend most of their pay for articles that are carried in stock by well equipped ,exchanges1 such as meats1 groceries1 etc4 ,it is not always convenient or even possible for them to pay cash for purchases1 and there is no doubt that they would do a much larger business with the ,exchange if greater credit were allowed them4 ,it is a well established custom to extend reasonable credit to all commissioned officers2 it would seem but just to extend a proportionate amount of credit to such ,n4,c4,o4's as might be vouched for by their respective organization commanders4 ,it is hoped that this limitation may be modified1 but until that occurs1 the ,exchange ,officer has no discretion in the matter and should be careful to avoid any infraction of the general rule4 ,the second sentence of par4 #ae also merits more than a passing glance4 ,it requires a previous request 8in writing0 by the soldier before credit coupons can be issued him1 and the request must be approved by his company commander4 ,it is not specifically stated that this request must be renewed every month1 nor is the writer aware that this point has ever been decided4 ,we may1 therefore1 assume1 when any man has once made this written request1 that credit to the amount of one-third of his monthly pay be extended to him1 that he need not formally renew this request monthly4 ,should this interpretation prove fallacious1 we must have the consolidated request 7,form #be1 to be described hereafter7 signed by the men monthly4 ,if this is done1 the list should be signed at the same time as the pay rolls1 to save trouble for the men4 ,it is found that when there is an unnecessary amount of 8red tape0 connected with the operation of securing credit coupons1 the men will 7perhaps unconsciously7 tend to shun the process1 with consequent loss of business to the ,exchange4 ,there is every reason why we should make it as easy as possible for everybody to transact business with the ,exchange and any unnecessary stumbling blocks should be carefully searched out and removed4 ,the ,exchange should be run on the same general principles which govern a civilian store1 and if the latter subjected its customers to petty annoyances of any kind1 it would soon be driven out of business by lack of trade4 ,returning to paragraph #ae1 it might be remarked that perhaps the best way in which the men can be 8distinctly informed that they must make prompt and unsolicited payment01 is by incorporating this statement on the receipt which they sign when the coupons are issued to them4 ,beside the other matter contained in par4 #ae1 we should note par4 #ac and par4 #ad 7c7 and 7e7 of the same order4 ,they read as follows3-- 8#ac4 ,checks or ,coupons4 ,the use of checks or coupons representing values1 and exchangeable for merchandise or other charges at the exchange1 is encouraged merely2 but care should be taken that these checks are not disposed of to unauthorized persons1 and to provide against this1 they should never be redeemed in cash4 ,when permitted by the commanding officer1 they should be sold by the exchange officer and regarded as a liability until redeemed4 8,the coupon-book system of extending credit to enlisted men will be used by all exchanges conducted at posts where more than two organizations are stationed1 except at temporary stations and at places where conditions of service have made it impracticable to procure the coupon books4 8,these coupon books will bear the name of the enlisted man to whom issued and will be honored at the exchange only when presented by the enlisted man whose name appears on the book40 8#ad 7c74 ,bills ,receivable 7,enlisted ,men74--,to show the value of checks issued to enlisted men1 and the amount of cash received from them in payment of their due bills4 ,when checks are issued1 the entry will be #8,cash1 ,dr4 to ,bills ,receivable4' ,the difference between the two sides of the account will show the amount of due bills on hand unpaid40 7,par4 ,,ii1 ,g4 ,o4 #bja_/ji47 8#ad 7e74 ,check ,account4--,to show the amount of checks outstanding4 ,when the checks are issued1 this account will be credited as above1 thus1 #8,bills ,receivable1 ,dr4 to ,checks4' ,the amount of checks received each day for merchandise will be charged to the account1 thus1 #8,checks1 ,dr4 to ,merchandise4' ,the difference between the two sides will show the amount of checks outstanding40 ,note that the outstanding coupons are a liability1 as they may be presented as a claim against the ,exchange at any time4 ,of course1 the receipts which the men have given us for these coupons1 in other words1 their notes promising to pay us for the coupons1 are an asset and should be carried under ,bills ,receivable4 ,some ,exchanges call such assets 8,bills ,receivable1 ,credit ,coupons01 thus differentiating them from such as ,bills ,receivable1 ,charge ,accounts or ,bills ,receivable1 ,laundry ,coupons4 ,paragraph #ad 7c7 and 7e7 translated into non-technical language simply means that when we issue coupon books of a certain value to the men1 we must enter this amount on the left hand or debit side of our 8,bills ,receivable0 account in the ,ledger1 thus charging up 8,mr4 ,bills ,receivable01 as it is sometimes explained1 with a certain amount for which he must account4 ,now1 as the ,ledger is to be kept according to the double entry system1 we must obey the fundamental principle of this system1 which is1 8for every account that is charged 7debited7 a certain amount we must credit some other account with the same amount01 hence the name1 double entry4 ,in view of these facts1 therefore1 we turn to our ,check ,account--or ,outstanding ,coupons1 if you prefer to call it so1 and credit this account with the same amount that we charged against ,bills ,receivable4 ,when we receive the cash for the men's notes at pay day1 we credit 8,mr4 ,bills ,receivable0 with the amount taken in1 thus clearing him of this amount and making him no longer responsible for it4 ,we have previously1 of course1 entered this amount on the debit side of the ,cash ,book1 for the same reason noted above4 ,when the coupons are presented by the men in payment for articles purchased by them1 we credit 8,merchandise0 7or the proper department of the ,exchange1 if departments are used7 with the amount taken in4 ,this1 for the reason that said department is no longer accountable for that amount of merchandise2 we must1 therefore credit that department with the proper amount and charge or debit it against the outstanding coupon or ,check account4 ,it must be remembered that outstanding coupons are a liability against us and are in the nature of bills payable--except that they are payable only in merchandise4 ,hence1 if we consider this account as a living person--one of our creditors--it will appear more logical when we place to his credit everything we owe him1 i4 e41 the coupons we have given him1 and to charge him the value of the merchandise he has obtained from us in return4 ,the above prolix explanation will sound puerile to an experienced accountant2 it is not written for him1 but for the inexperienced man with little or no knowledge of scientific book-keeping1 who is trying to work this system or one like it4 ,the writer knows from bitter experience how hard it is to avoid some of the unexpected pit-falls of double entry4 ,now we are in a position to describe the manner of handling our coupon sales1 starting from the very beginning4 ,issuing ,coupons4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ae4 7,reduced in size7 ,the first thing to be done is to have the various organizations submit their lists of men who are entitled to credit at the ,exchange4 ,this is usually done a few days after pay day1 it being the excellent custom in most ,exchanges to issue no coupons until about five days after1 in order to attract some of the cash that is apt to be plentiful for only a few days4 ,one of the best forms for such a list known to the writer is ,form #be1 shown in ,fig4 #ae4 ,it measures #i #bj inches and may be punched to fit a loose leaf file4 ,it is faint ruled horizontally six lines to the inch in order to fit typewriter spacing4 ,the length of this form enables a whole company of #aaj men to be entered on its face1 without resorting to the necessity of turning a page4 ,in garrisons where the organizations are uniformly smaller1 the length of the form can be correspondingly reduced4 ,each organization fills out one of these sheets on a typewriter1 entering the names of the men in pay roll order in column #c4 ,in column #b is entered the rank of each man1 and in column #d is entered the amount of credit he desires1 which must not exceed one-third of his pay4 ,the men sign their names in column #a and in space ,a is printed the statement to which they subscribe--that they request credit to the amount of one-third of their pay and that they promise to pay for their coupons on the pay day after drawing same1 etc4 ,this list is then sent to the ,exchange at the regular time1 preferably a day or two before coupons are to be issued4 ,there is a point in this connection that sometimes causes trouble1 due to the fact that pay day never comes on the first of the month4 ,there are two ways of handling the situation4 ,the first is to have the companies submit their lists to the ,exchange on the first of the month and the ,exchange issue coupons on this authority until the last of the same month with the exception of the five days after pay day1 during which time1 no coupons are issued4 ,the men pay for the coupons on the pay day which occurs in the succeeding month4 ,the principal objection to this method is that if a man draws his full allowance of coupons on or near the first of every month1 he would1 if he deserted a few days before pay day1 cause the ,exchange a loss of twice his monthly allowance4 ,the second way of proceeding obviates this defect3 it consists in having the companies submit their lists a few days after each pay day4 ,the ,exchange issues coupons on this authority and all of these coupons are supposed to be paid on the pay day which winds up this period4 ,therefore1 it is seen that the ,exchange runs a smaller chance of loss1 or rather1 the chances are that the loss will be smaller4 ,illustration3 ,figure #af1 ,actual size ,upon receiving these lists1 the coupon clerk at the ,exchange takes a supply of ,form #ai1 shown in ,fig4 #af1 and enters the names of the men at the top of these cards1 one card for each man who is entitled to credit4 ,this work can be done at odd moments during the month4 ,it is also a good plan to enter the amount of credit to which the man is entitled4 ,this data should be entered at the very top of the card where it will catch the eye4 ,these cards are #c #e inches1 specially printed2 they fit into the filing cabinet1 to be described later4 ,one standard drawer #ae inches long will hold enough cards to take care of a six company post4 ,the cards should be of fairly good writing stock1 but no thicker than is necessary to insure ease of handling4 ,they can be obtained from any job printer1 but care should be exercised that they measure precisely #c #e inches1 otherwise1 they will prove very troublesome to run over rapidly in the drawer1 because some will be larger than others4 ,plain cards of this size can be bought at #a4ej per thousand from regular dealers4 ,all cards pertaining to any one company are behind an index card bearing on its tab the designation of that company4 ,it is also a convenience to have a set of alphabetical guides for each company1 as they facilitate finding and filing the cards4 ,after any of these cards receives a record1 it is highly important that it not be lost or stolen1 so the drawer containing them should be locked except when actually in use4 ,when any man applies for coupon books at the ,exchange1 he signs his name in the space provided on the card1 the clerk adds his own initials as witness1 stamps in the date and enters in ink or indelible pencil 7or preferably by means of a rubber stamp7 the amount of the coupons issued4 ,if the clerk does not recognize the man1 he compares his signature with the same man's signature on ,form #be1 which he should have near him for this purpose and to see that the man does not overdraw his allowance4 ,he also requires the man to sign his name on the stub of the coupon slip or the cover of the coupon book issued4 ,in addition1 the clerk should have at hand a strip of paper on which he has entered in rotation along the left hand margin the serial numbers of the coupons he has on hand4 ,such a strip can be struck off on the adding machine4 ,as coupons are issued1 the clerk should enter opposite each number1 the name of the man to whom it was issued4 ,he can do this while the man is signing the coupons1 so no time is wasted4 ,in the evening1 this strip is given to the ,steward or cashier and the total value of coupons issued is entered in the proper place on the ,steward's daily report 7,form #d1 ,fig4 #e74 ,the record of this strip is checked by comparison with the number of coupons left in the possession of the coupon clerk4 ,it is found in practice that ,form #ai contains sufficient space for noting the transactions of any month1 for very few men will draw coupons as many as six times during the month4 ,it will be noted that this scheme does not contemplate restricting the men to but one drawing during the month1 as is the practice in some places4 ,the ,exchange loses trade by such methods1 and much better results are obtained by permitting the men to draw when they please4 ,when the end of the month arrives1 the coupon clerk disregards it by continuing to use the same set of cards right along until #bd hours before pay day occurs4 7,it should be understood by the whole garrison that no coupons will be issued during this time1 in order to allow the coupon clerk to work up his pay table collection sheets74 ,by means of an assistant1 the coupon clerk transfers the total of the coupons shown on each ,form #ai to column #aj on ,form #be opposite the name of the man to whom that particular ,form #ai refers4 ,as fractional parts of a dollar are not issued1 #e4jj can be abbreviated to 8#e04 ,at the same time1 the coupon clerk reads off the totals of any unpaid cards that have been carried from the preceding month1 these figures being entered in the same manner in columns #e1 #f or #g1 as the case may be4 ,it will be noted that these cards have no place for 8brought forward0 entries4 ,this is unnecessary labor and is therefore omitted4 ,it is no argument against such a practice to ask what would happen if one of the old unpaid cards became lost1 because we might ask the same question concerning the current cards4 ,the answer lies in the fact that the checking system will take care of such cases4 ,in this instance1 columns #e1 #f and #g are checked back to the ,forms #be pertaining to the preceding month4 ,it will be noted that our ,form #be makes provision for entering ,laundry charges and has in addition a spare blank column for such miscellaneous collections as may be found desirable4 ,the particulars of the ,laundry entries will be dilated upon later4 ,when the amounts that the various men of any organization owe to the ,exchange have been entered in their proper columns1 each line is added across and the totals due from each man entered in the proper column4 ,each column is then totaled on the adding machine and the footings checked by comparing the total of the total column with the sum of the totals of the other columns4 ,if they agree1 that sheet is ready for payment1 and a like process is instituted with the other sheets4 ,these sheets and the ,forms #ai are the only papers that need be taken to the pay table4 ,pay ,table ,procedure4 ,it may be just as well to discuss this point here1 because it is related to our coupon sales more closely than to anything else4 ,the first thing to do is to make sure there is available a plentiful supply of change4 ,where there is no bank convenient to the post and the men receive their money from a paymaster1 he will sometimes agree to bring with him an amount of change sufficient for the needs of the ,post ,exchange1 but if there is a bank available1 we should hesitate before imposing upon the good nature of the paymaster to this extent4 ,it is a great convenience to the men to have their ten dollar bills 8changed01 and no ,post ,exchange should demur when the men offer such bills in payment of their debts4 ,we must always remember that the principal reason why the ,exchange exists is to be a convenience to the enlisted man4 ,there should be three persons at the ,exchange table on pay days2 the ,exchange ,officer to personally receive the cash and make change1 the ,steward or book-keeper to read from ,forms #be the amount each man owes1 and a clerk to check this reading with the men's notes 7,form #ai71 cancel them and deliver same to the men4 ,a non-commissioned officer of the organization being paid is stationed beside the ,steward to identify the men4 ,he calls to the ,steward the names of the men as they come up1 the ,steward calls off the amount that each man owes1 the latter gives the money to the ,exchange ,officer4 ,the clerk has meanwhile checked the total amount covered by ,form #ai with the amount read off by the ,steward1 stamped the card 8,paid0 and placed it in front of the ,exchange ,officer for his inspection4 ,the latter then gives the card to the man with his change and the incident is closed4 ,it is usually found advisable to have a selected non-commissioned officer detailed to see that all men report at the ,exchange table4 ,after payment is finished1 the clerk should total the value of the cards he still holds for each organization and subtract it from the total shown by the proper ,form #be4 ,the sum of all these remainders should equal the amount of cash actually taken in at the ,exchange table4 ,this check should always be made1 and at the earliest possible moment4 ,it sometimes happens that a man pays for his coupons before pay day2 he may have been discharged or transferred1 etc4 ,in such a case this fact should be stamped on ,form #be and the total of such amounts deducted at the bottom of the sheet before going to the pay table4 ,the amount of such payments should also be entered on the debit side of the ,cash ,book as 8,pvt4 ,jones1 ,co4 ,a1 444 #c4jj 444 #c4jj01 the sums coming under the net cash and the credit coupons columns respectively4 ,if he also paid #a4dj for laundry work done1 this entry would be 8,pvt4 ,jones1 ,co4 ,a1 444 #d4dj 444 #c4jj 444 #a4dj01 the sums coming under net cash1 credit coupons and laundry coupons respectively4 ,the amounts collected at the pay table are entered in the ,cash ,book in the same way1 all on one line4 ,at the end of the month or when the books are closed1 the total of the credit coupons column is posted as a lump sum to the credit of the ,bills ,receivable4 ,credit ,coupons account in the ,ledger and the ,laundry collections are handled in the same way4 ,having traced this branch of the coupon business to its end1 let us retrace our steps and follow another branch until we come to the same goal1 the ,ledger4 ,coupon ,sales4 ,when the men receive their coupons1 they use them for purchasing articles from the ,exchange4 ,the clerk making a coupon sale should identify the man making the purchase and make sure he is using his own coupons4 ,he should also satisfy himself that there is no fraud1 forgery1 etc41 connected with the coupons4 ,these two operations are ordinarily instantaneous1 requiring no waste of time whatever4 ,the clerk then gives the purchaser the desired articles1 tears off a corresponding value in coupons and drops them in his private drawer or compartment1 meanwhile ringing up the sale on the cash register and giving the purchaser the receipt printed by the register4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ag1 7,reduced in size7 ,after the day's work is over1 each clerk handles his coupon sales in the same manner as previously described for charge sales1 and they are checked by the ,steward as before4 ,the latter enters on his ,form #d1 7,fig4 #e7 the amount of coupon sales made by each clerk1 also1 the total amount of coupons issued during the day4 ,all these coupon transactions for any one day are then entered on a single line of ,form #bf 7,fig4 #ag7 which is the same as that used for ,form #g4 ,as will be noted from an inspection of the cut1 the coupons issued are entered in column ,a and the total receipts from all departments are entered in column ,b4 ,these receipts are distributed among the department as shown1 the value carried in column ,b equalling the sum of the amounts carried in the columns to the right4 ,each ,form #bf refers solely to one month's transactions1 there are no 8brought forward0 items4 ,at the end of the month or whenever the books are closed1 all of the columns on this form are footed up and the totals checked across4 ,the total of column ,a should agree with the strip record which the coupon clerk has been keeping as previously described4 ,the detailed process of checking this account will be described later1 but it is evident that if the ,steward has made out his daily reports 7,form #d7 correctly1 and correctly copied the coupon records to ,form #bf1 there can be no error in the latter statement4 ,after successfully withstanding the checking process1 the total of column ,a is posted as a lump sum to the debit side of 8,bills ,receivable1 ,credit ,accounts0 in the ,ledger1 writing the entry thus3--8,aug4 #ca ,credit ,coupons #ed4jj04 ,it will be remembered that we must also credit this amount to the ,outstanding ,coupon account4 ,we now transfer the total of the ,store column to the ,store ,account in our ,ledger1 entering on the right hand or credit side1 8,aug4 #ca ,coupon sales #h4ae04 ,we proceed in like manner with our other departments4 ,the total of column ,b must1 of course1 be charged 7debited7 against the ,outstanding ,coupon account in the ,ledger4 ,a summary of all these operations is shown graphically in ,fig4 #ah4 ,the solid lines show how a record is carried through the books until it arrives at the ,ledger4 ,the dotted lines show the various checking operations that are possible4 ,attention is especially invited to checking ,forms #be and #bf against each other4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ah4 ,in leaving the subject1 it is deemed proper to state that the ,exchange ,officer should keep a single entry record of all unused coupons on hand4 ,when they are first received from the printer1 he should carefully check them in person and see that they are safely stored4 ,his record of them should show the numbers and colors of the coupons and exactly how many of the various colors he has on hand at any time4 ,coupons should be issued at a fixed time daily1 and the ,exchange ,officer should see to it that the men are never disappointed1 but are always able to secure their coupons at the specified time4 ,,stock ,,records4 ,in ,general4 ,one of the most important points connected with the running of any store1 is that referring to the manner in which the records of the stock are kept4 ,in most ,exchanges1 the stock records are not good2 usually1 because a clumsy or inefficient system of records is in force4 ,an endeavor will be made in the description to be given hereafter to set forth a system whereby misuse of stock will be prevented and an accurate estimate of the profits made by each department will be possible4 ,the objection may be made to this system that in a large exchange it would require the services of one clerk to keep the stock records alone1 but when we realize that an inefficient stock record can and usually does result in losses that are sometimes much greater in value than this clerk's wages1 we see the futility of such an argument4 ,it is useless to try to avoid the conclusion that we must keep accurate track of our merchandise4 ,in an exchange at1 say1 a #e-;company post1 it is economy to pay one man #ajj4jj per month or even more1 to take exclusive charge of the stock records4 ,in the first place1 it is essential to make clear in the minds of the ,exchange authorities the difference between a stock room and a store room4 ,the former is for storing merchandise that is bought in large quantities and will not be needed in the various departments for some time4 ,the merchandise in the stock room is charged to it on the ,stock ,records until it is needed in one of the departments when it is sent to and its value charged against that department and credited to the stock room4 ,a store room in the sense now considered is a place in which we may store the merchandise belonging to and already charged against any department4 ,this 8place0 may be but a corner or a shelf in the stock room or any other room4 ,as a general rule1 it is best to charge merchandise direct to the proper department1 as it saves time and work4 ,then1 if the department concerned finds that it is inconvenient to keep this merchandise on its counters or shelves1 it can transfer some of it to the proper store room until needed4 ,both the stock room and the store rooms should be under the jurisdiction of the stock clerk1 the former exclusively so4 ,efficient locks should be provided for these rooms and he or his agent should be the only persons authorized to handle the stock therein4 ,the stock record is simply a stock ledger in which we keep accurate account of the numbers of articles acquired and dispensed4 ,if practicable1 it should show at all times the exact number of each article that we have on hand4 ,such a record is sometimes called a 8,perpetual ,inventory04 ,it would not be practicable in the usual case for us to keep such a record in post exchange business for the reason that it would be extravagant for us to record each cash or coupon sale made during the day4 ,for example1 during certain days of the month1 such as pay day and the first day upon which coupons are issued1 it is manifestly impracticable for us to make out a sales slip for each cash or coupon purchase because there are so many five and ten cent purchases that the cost in time and labor involved in such a method would outweigh the advantages gained4 ,if the average sale amounted to a dollar or so1 it might pay us to use sales slips similar to those used in recording our charge sales4 ,therefore1 most ,exchanges do not require cash or coupon sales to be recorded except on the cash register4 ,hence1 there is no itemized record of the merchandise that is sold during the day for cash or for coupons1 which in turn makes it impossible to keep a perpetual inventory4 ,the result is that an inventory must be taken at least once a month4 ,if we now take such an inventory and calculate the selling price of all the goods found1 the result will represent the receipts each department should turn in if they sold out all of their stock4 ,if we keep adding to this amount the selling price of all merchandise that we receive for and issue to the departments for sale1 and deduct the selling price of all articles which each department turns in to the stock room1 we shall have1 at the end of the month1 figures which represent the receipts which should be turned in if each department were to 8sell out04 ,by subtracting from these amounts the actual receipts turned in during the month1 we find the selling price of the articles which should be on hand at the end of the month4 ,by taking an inventory at the end of the month and figuring out the selling value of the articles actually found1 we can check the operations of our various departments4 ,if there is any great discrepancy1 it would show that our clerks are1 in effect1 taking articles from our shelves and the ,exchange is not getting the benefit of its sales4 ,it is not to be expected that these amounts will agree to the cent4 ,now if there is but one clerk in any department1 it is easy to fasten the responsibility for any shortage1 but where there are several1 special steps must be taken in order to do this4 ,suppose we have four clerks in the store department2 if they sell from the various shelves indiscriminately1 or if one or more of them are sometimes away on duty1 it would be manifestly unjust to hold any particular clerk or even all of them responsible for any shortages which might occur4 ,the only solution lies in sub-dividing the store into sections1 putting one clerk in sole charge of each and allow no clerk to touch the stock in another man's section4 ,in case a clerk in unavoidably absent1 an inventory of his section can be made in a few minutes1 and1 if the results at the end of the month show it to be desirable1 checked against the sales he had made4 ,in this way1 both the clerk and the ,exchange are protected4 ,a 8roving0 clerk or the ,steward can take the place of the absentee in case of necessity4 ,heavy sellers like tobacco and the like can be placed in the sections of two or more clerks1 thus taking care of pay day rushes4 ,unless some such scheme is adopted it will be absolutely impossible to fix the responsibility for any loss the ,exchange may incur4 ,those departments which are1 in effect1 8manufacturing0 departments1 such as the lunch room1 meat market1 etc41 also require special treatment1 especially in the matter of figuring the selling price of merchandise issued to them4 ,it goes without saying that the honesty of the stock clerk must be above suspicion4 ,in case a civilian is employed1 it is good policy--in fact1 it should be considered imperative that he be required to execute a bond for the faithful performance of his duties4 ,with the above general explanation of the broad principles of this particular system1 we are now prepared to discuss it more in detail4 ,it seems generally conceded that the stock records can be kept most easily1 cheaply and efficiently by means of the card index system4 ,the present regulations1 previously cited1 specify an 8inventory book01 and inspectors are prone to interpret the regulations literally4 ,it makes little difference in our case which method is used1 except that the card system is more efficient1 as before stated4 ,the handling of the inventory book requires no explanation1 so1 in order to provide for the time 7which should be in the near future7 when the up-to-date card system of inventory is specifically allowed in regulations1 the following description is given4 ,it is hoped that it will prove a conclusive answer to those who ask1 8,but suppose you lose a card40 ,inventories of ,stock4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ai1 7,reduced in size7 ,let us start by taking an inventory of the stock we have on hand in the stock room4 ,we take a pack containing a known number of cards1 preferably numbered in sequence1 like those shown in ,fig4 #ai1 and enter on the top line the name of each article as we come to it2 in the right upper corner1 the unit in which we sell it1 whether pounds1 bottles or what not2 and at the right of the uppermost data line1 the number of such units that we actually find on hand4 ,we do this for each article in succession1 using a different card for each4 ,if we have various grades of the same kind of article 7cigars1 for instance7 selling at different prices1 a separate card will1 of course1 be made out for each different grade4 7,never sell the same article at two different prices4 ,for example1 do not sell cigars for 8#aj cents each1 #c for a quarter04 ,sell them at either price and put in a different brand of equal quality at the other price4 ,it is proper to give reduction on a sale of a box of cigars at a time1 but sell them from the stock room in such a case1 and not from the store4 ,another way1 permitting sale from the department's shelves1 is by means of a discount slip1 which will be touched upon later4 ,the first method1 however1 probably suits our purposes best1 especially when combined with the second47 ,the cards mentioned above should be left with the articles to which they refer until the inventory for that department is complete4 ,we then look over the shelves to see that there is a card with every article1 thereby proving that our inventory is complete1 a point of superiority over the book form of inventory4 ,we then gather up and count the cards to make sure that none are missing4 ,the cards are then filed alphabetically behind a tabbed index card referring to that department1 or that particular section1 if the department is sub-divided4 ,this same procedure is followed in taking inventory of merchandise in the store1 lunch room1 etc41 except that a different colored card is used for each department4 ,all sections of the same department use cards of the same color4 ,as each department will have more or less merchandise in its store room1 it will probably be best to take the store room inventories first1 then take the articles in the sales rooms4 ,enter partial totals in pencil and the total in ink or indelible pencil on the first line under the heading1 8,on ,hand01 the date being entered at the left4 ,the number on hand1 multiplied by the unit cost and selling prices1 respectively1 will give the total cost and the total selling price of all the articles on that card4 ,for this purpose1 the unit cost and selling prices are entered at the upper left hand corner of each card4 ,the total cost prices are used in our inventories shown on our monthly statement1 and the total selling prices are used in our stock records only4 ,in large exchanges1 these cards are not used again until the next inventory is taken1 so it is seen that they will last for several months4 ,merchandise ,purchased4 ,when merchandise arrives1 it is cared for as described under 8,purchase ,records0 and when the total cost and selling values of the goods on any invoice have been figured and transportation charges1 etc41 distributed1 the selling values are entered on ,form #ag1 shown in ,fig4 #bj4 ,two copies of this form are used every day1 one for cost prices and one for selling prices4 ,each invoice requires but one line on each of these forms1 so one form is ordinarily ample for a day's stock transactions4 ,in the left hand column is entered the number of the invoice and in the ,dr4 column pertaining to each department is entered the selling price of all articles which are covered by that particular invoice4 ,the sum of all the values entered in the ,dr4 columns on any one line should therefore equal the selling price of all articles covered by the invoice whose number appears at the left4 ,this same procedure is followed with all invoices received1 and therefore covers all merchandise transactions4 ,it will be noted that there are no 8,requisitions01 properly so-called1 in cases like this where the incoming goods are sent direct to a department4 ,the department head receipts for such goods by simply placing his name or initials in the right hand column of the retained copy of our original order4 7,see ,purchase ,records47 ,this simplified way of handling such a transaction saves an enormous amount of unnecessary work1 and is just as sound as the ,requisition ,system4 ,transfers ,between ,departments4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bj1 7,reduced in size7 ,this proposition has previously been mentioned1 but we purpose now to show in detail how such a transaction is effected4 ,let us suppose that the lunch room needs a ham1 and it is desired to purchase same from the market department4 ,assume further that the selling price of this ham is #c4be4 ,it is evident that we must first credit the market with this amount4 ,this is done by means of a 8turn-in-card01 ,form #ab1 shown in ,fig4 #ba4 ,the card is filled out as shown1 7the name of the article is not essential71 is signed by the stock clerk and is given to the head of the market department as a credit for the ham1 which is then issued to the lunch room man on a regular requisition4 ,the requisition cards and the turn-in-cards are precisely alike1 except that the latter are printed in red ink4 ,with the exception of the signature1 therefore1 ,fig4 #ba is also a reproduction of the requisition upon which the ham is issued to the lunch room4 ,these cards are of standard size1 #c #e inches1 and are of various colors1 depending upon the color scheme adopted as described under 8,charge ,sales04 ,hence1 we may assume that the market's turn-in card was printed in red on a buff card and the lunch room's requisition was printed in black on a salmon colored card4 ,the cards can be bought cheaply with 8horizontal ruling01 thus cutting down some of the bill for specially printing the cards4 ,it costs less to have the turn-in cards printed in red than it would to have a special form of card printed1 and they are better1 besides4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ba ,in issuing the ham to the lunch room1 the stock clerk should note on the requisition1 8,cr4 ,market04 ,he then enters the transaction on ,form #ag as shown in ,fig4 #bj4 ,in all such transfers1 the sum of the credits on any line should1 of course1 equal the sum of the debits4 ,it is not essential to number these requisitions and turn-in slips because the date stamped at the top is sufficient to enable us to identify any particular transaction4 ,the market man would hand in his credit slip to the ,steward with his daily report of sales4 ,the stock clerk would hand in the requisition 7receipted by the lunch room man7 with his ,form #ag for that day4 ,there is still another transaction for which we must provide and that is the operation of returning to our creditors goods which we have received from them4 ,this may arise through some defect in the merchandise or through some other cause4 ,such a transaction is handled in exactly the same manner as before4 ,see entry opposite ,no4 #gcdc in ,fig4 #bj where we have credited the store with #g4fj4 ,the goods were received on this invoice and deduction made on same for this amount4 ,if this invoice pertains to an account already closed1 we can make out an invoice of our own1 give it any desired number and give the store credit as before4 ,goods which are returned to us by our customers are credited to their accounts through the sales records as before described and do not affect the working of the stock records4 ,wastage1 breakage1 etc41 is credited to departments by means of this same 8turn-in0 card2 so1 also1 is discount given on goods sold in quantity1 as a box of cigars1 for example4 ,since the whole operation of accounting for our goods on the basis of selling price is purely for the purpose of protecting our stock1 and not for the purpose of calculating our monthly profit and loss sheets1 it is seen that it is necessary to make out another copy of ,form #ag daily1 in order to record the same transfers1 issues1 etc41 on a cost price basis4 ,this will be discussed more fully later1 but let it be stated here that this work is necessitated by the rule which requires us to base our statement of assets1 insofar as merchandise is concerned1 upon the cost price of same4 ,this1 for the reason that it is not sound practice to anticipate profits4 ,therefore1 our inventories1 when carried as assets1 must be based on cost prices1 and in order to secure a true statement of profits earned1 we must record the cost price of all merchandise that has been purchased during the month and distribute this cost properly among the departments4 ,at the end of each day's work1 the stock clerk signs his ,form #ag for that day and fastens to it all invoices1 retained copies of orders 7accomplished as previously described7 and requisitions that are entered on said ,form #ag4 ,these papers are really vouchers to this report and should remain with it until they have been checked against it4 ,the whole bunch of papers is handed in to the ,steward and ,form #ag is checked as soon as possible4 ,after this is completed1 the invoices and the retained copies of our original orders which pertain to them are handled as described under ,purchase ,records2 their function as a part of the system of stock records having ceased4 ,consolidating ,stock ,transactions4 ,the stock record is composed of two parts--one relating to cost prices and the other to selling prices4 ,in all other respects1 these two parts are identical and are handled in the same way4 ,each 8selling0 ,form #ag is entered on a single line of the 8selling0 stock record1 and each 8cost0 ,form #ag is abstracted to a single line of the 8cost0 stock record4 ,one page of the stock record 7,form #bg7 is shown in ,fig4 #bb4 ,only the left hand page is shown2 the other departments are supposed to be on a right hand page1 confronting the one shown in the cut4 ,in cases of departments where credit transfers do not exist1 the ,,cr column can be omitted1 with a resulting saving in space4 ,checking ,stock and ,sales4 ,at the end of the month1 or whenever our books are closed1 we total each column on the adding machine and enter these totals on the next blank line1 as shown1 and then1 when our inventory is taken1 the value thereof at selling price is computed and entered just below these totals in the appropriate columns1 and subtracted from them4 ,the remainders1 it is evident1 should equal the total sales for the period considered4 ,in order to compare these amounts1 we now enter the total sales for each department in its proper column and find the difference between these figures and those immediately over them1 and enter the discrepancies at the foot of the columns4 ,these operations are shown in the figure4 ,theoretically1 the amounts in the ,,cr columns should just balance the discrepancies in the ,,dr columns1 but in actual practice1 this state of affairs will rarely occur4 ,the resulting net discrepancies1 if small1 are due1 primarily1 to wastage1 failure to sell exact weights1 etc4 ,if these discrepancies are large1 the cause thereof should be promptly investigated4 ,it is easily seen that this scheme permits us to make a check on any department at any time by simply taking an inventory of that department4 ,all other data that we need for such a check are already available1 and1 as it would not take long to take an inventory of a single department1 these checks should afford us a most efficient means of keeping track of our departments4 ,it should be unnecessary to state that these check inventories should be taken without warning1 and1 preferably1 by the ,exchange officer himself4 ,if this system of handling stock is faithfully carried out1 one of the greatest chances for 8leakage0 in the ,post ,exchange will be absolutely prohibited4 ,it requires work1 but no more so than any other efficient stock record1 and the results are superior to those obtained from any other system known to the writer4 ,if any exchange employee objects to the system on the ground that it entails too much work1 it might be safely assumed that his real objection lies in the system's efficiency4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bb1 7,reduced in size7 ,,purchase ,,records4 ,in most ,exchanges1 the custom obtains of keeping in the ledger a separate account for each creditor1 i4 e41 each person or firm from whom goods are purchased4 ,this entails an enormous amount of work1 and as this work can be done by none but an efficient employee1 it also entails a considerable unnecessary expense4 ,in the system to be described1 this work is reduced to a minimum1 and while each of our creditors has his ledger account1 this account is kept in such form as to require no duplication of our records1 and1 at the same time1 to tell us at any time exactly how we stand with each of our creditors4 ,purchase ,orders4 ,let us start with the process of ordering our merchandise4 ,this is done on ,form #ae1 shown in ,fig4 #bc4 ,by means of carbon paper1 a duplicate of our order is entered on ,form #bh1 shown in ,fig4 #bd4 ,the original goes to our creditor as an order2 these orders are numbered consecutively throughout the year1 or even over a longer space of time1 should it be found desirable4 ,form #bh goes to the ,receiving ,clerk and is held by him on a ,shannon file until the goods arrive4 ,he then checks the goods against this form and issues them as described under 8,stock ,records04 ,a variation of this method1 known as the 8blind tally01 is worked by making out a triplicate copy on ,form #bh1 this copy to have the 8quantity0 column blank1 which is easily effected by slipping a piece of paper above it to receive the carbon record which would otherwise be printed in that column4 ,the receiving clerk then has no idea of the quantities ordered and fills in the 8quantity0 column himself4 ,a comparison of this with the duplicate 7kept locked up in the office7 quickly shows us whether we received all of our goods4 ,this system has broken up some very obscure practices4 ,in either system1 it should be noted that we need not await the arrival of the invoice1 unless it is desired to do so1 before issuing goods to departments4 ,the columns at the right of ,form #bh are for convenience in calculating selling prices1 etc4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bc ,natural size of sheet about #h #aj inches ,illustration3 ,figure #bd ,as previously noted1 the receiving clerk 7or stock clerk1 whoever handles this work7 hands in at the close of business each day1 two copies of ,form #ag1 one covering the selling price of all stock which has arrived or been transferred during the day1 and the other covering the cost price of same4 ,attached to these forms are all requisitions and receiving records 7,form #bh7 covered by these ,forms #ag4 ,the ,steward sees that each receiving record is correctly calculated and properly entered on both copies of ,form #ag4 7,he1 also1 at this time1 sees that the requisitions are properly entered on both forms47 ,the receiving records are then filed in a ,shannon drawer to await the arrival of invoices or for comparison with them if they have already arrived4 ,for convenience1 they are filed behind alphabetical guides according to the names of our creditors4 ,when the invoices arrive1 they are filed in the same manner and in the same drawer4 ,they would1 therefore1 naturally tend to find each other4 ,before the receiving record is sent from the office to the receiving clerk in the first place1 the order is entered in our ,purchase ,record1 which1 as its name indicates1 is a chronological record of all our purchases of merchandise of whatever sort4 ,hire of services1 of course1 is not entered in this record4 ,illustration3 ,figure #be1 7,reduced in size7 ,there are various forms in use for ,purchase ,records1 invoice ,records1 etc41 and a study of several of them leads us to advocate the use of ,form #bi1 shown in ,fig4 #be as being the best suited to the work in hand4 ,this is specially ruled and printed and like most of the other forms described is as well suited to the needs of a small exchange as a large one4 ,they will cost about #ab4jj per thousand and a good substantial binder for them will cost from #b4ge to #aa4jj1 depending upon the quality of the binding4 ,one and a quarter inch back is large enough for our purpose2 the sheets are #aj #aj inches1 the former being the binding side4 ,when our order is first made out1 we enter in the proper column of the purchase record1 the name of the firm on whom the order is drawn4 ,this is the only entry made at this time1 and the retained copy of the order 7the receiving record7 is then sent to the receiving clerk4 ,when the invoices arrive1 they are stamped as shown in ,fig4 #bf1 the #ast and #b;d lines of this stamp are filled in1 their date is entered in the left hand columns of the purchase record and the invoices are then filed as before described4 ,in this way1 the office keeps track of how fast the stock is arriving1 because the number of firm names entered on the purchase record will show us the number of outstanding orders1 and the number of dated entries will show us the number of invoices that have arrived which have not yet been checked up by the ,steward 7usually because the goods have not arrived74 ,when the goods arrive1 whether they follow or precede their invoices1 and the receiving clerk has checked them into stock and returned ,form #bh to the office1 the purchase price is entered in the ,purchase-,credit column shown4 ,this purchase price disregards our cash discount1 which is cared for in the cash book4 ,however1 if there is any allowance due us for returning all or a part of the goods on any invoice1 the amount of such rebate is entered in the ,debit-,purchase column4 ,this is the only use to which this column is put4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bf ,let us suppose that we are now ready to pay a bunch of invoices4 ,proceed as follows3-- #a4 ,take the invoice file1 and1 starting with the letter 8,a01 go through the file1 taking the accomplished invoices as you come to them4 ,all those relating to any one firm should be found together1 as before mentioned1 thus saving much time at this stage4 #b4 ,having your invoices1 make out a voucher 7,form #ad1 ,fig4 #bg7 for each firm or creditor concerned1 entering thereon all invoices relating to that firm4 ,if the buying is done properly1 there should be plenty of room on the voucher for these invoices4 7,in case of a firm from whom we make almost daily purchases1 we hold the invoices and make one payment at the end of the month47 #c4 ,as you go along1 have a dating stamp handy and stamp the date on each invoice as you make out the corresponding voucher4 ,if the invoice is discounted1 stamp the date in the 8,discounted0 space2 if there is no discount1 stamp the date opposite the word ,,paid 7see ,fig4 #bf74 ,at the same time1 enter the voucher number 7which may1 and probably will differ from the invoice number7 in blue pencil on the proper space of this same stamped impression4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bg1 7,reduced in size7 #d4 ,when all the invoices are finished1 take the vouchers1 and1 starting with the top one1 find where each invoice is entered in the purchase record and stamp the date in the ,,paid column opposite each entry4 ,these places are easily found by reading the invoice numbers entered on the vouchers4 #e4 ,while you are stamping these dates1 compare1 as you go along1 the amount of the invoices as entered on the vouchers1 with the amounts entered in the purchase record4 #f4 ,now take the vouchers and enter them in the ,cash ,book on the right or credit side4 ,in the 8net cash0 and 8creditors0 columns should be entered the exact amounts actually paid1 in the ,discount column should be entered the amount of discount allowed4 ,discount is always shown in the cash book and on the vouchers in red ink1 to avoid confusion with credits1 which should be shown in black4 #g4 ,after the cash book has been posted1 the proper checks are made out1 ready for the signature of the ,exchange ,officer4 ,they and the vouchers are then mailed to the various creditors4 #h4 ,the paid invoices are then placed in a ,shannon file drawer by themselves where they can be consulted easily4 ,they form a complete file of sub-vouchers to the cash account for the month4 ,they should never be mailed to our creditors for the purpose of having them receipted2 it takes too much energy and time to get them back4 ,in case our creditor fails to return our voucher1 we can still prove payment1 beyond a reasonable doubt1 by producing the canceled check 7which he must release sooner or later7 and the original invoice exactly corresponding to it in value4 ,one authority goes so far as to say1--8,if a check bears no evidence as to its purpose but can readily be identified with a particular bill or invoice1 it still is a better voucher than a receipted bill1 444 a mere receipt for so much money1 which can readily be forged1 is poor evidence of a legitimate payment1 but a paid check1 properly endorsed and otherwise identified as representing a definite liability1 is pretty fair proof that the money has reached the creditors40 7,p4 #di1 ,vol4 #f1 ,enc4 ,commerce and ,accounting47 ,as a matter of fact1 we sometimes experience considerable difficulty in getting even the vouchers back from our creditors4 ,lieut4 ,schudt1 at the ,fort ,levett ,exchange1 hit upon a scheme which tends to lessen this difficulty4 ,this is1 simply to have the vouchers printed on a card of suitable weight2 the reverse of each card being printed in the form of a self-addressed penalty post card4 ,our creditor1 after dating and receipting the voucher1 simply drops it into the mail box without the additional trouble of mailing it in an envelope4 ,the ,voucher ,check ,system4 ,a much more efficient system than that just described1 one which we hope will some day be prescribed by regulations1 is the 8voucher check0 system4 ,this system is rapidly forcing its way to the front through the merits of its sheer efficiency1 and is now in force in the business administration of many large concerns1 the ,pennsylvania ,railroad1 for example4 ,the system is founded on the indisputable proof of payment that is afforded by an endorsed and paid check4 ,as one eminent authority on auditing1 has said1--8,if a check bears on its face or back any indication of its purpose1 it is the best receipt for money paid that can be secured04 ,the voucher check system does away with separate 8vouchers01 as we in the ,army are accustomed to think of them2 the checks themselves are our vouchers4 ,the checks are somewhat different from the usual type1 as they bear on their face a statement of the invoices they pay4 ,in fact1 they contain substantially the same matter as is shown on our regular voucher4 ,form #cj1 ,fig4 #bh1 shows a voucher check that would be entirely suited to our use4 ,it may be unnecessary to explain1 the dates1 numbers and amounts of the invoices are entered at the right in the proper spaces1 the amounts are totaled1 rebates1 allowances1 etc41 are deducted1 the discount applied to the remainder and the check proper 7left hand part7 made out accordingly4 ,form #cj;a1 shown in the same figure1 is the carbon copy1 the original being made out in indelible pencil4 ,the right hand or coupon part of this duplicate is torn off1 pinned to and mailed with the original check4 ,it gives our creditor a memo of the payment1 rendering it unnecessary for him to hold the check until he can make a special note of the payment1 thus helping him out and at the same time expediting the process of cashing in our check4 ,the left hand part of ,form #cj;a remains in the check book and performs the same function as the regulation check stub4 ,it will be noted that we thus save the labor usually expended in filling out our stubs and in addition1 we are not liable to accidentally forget to fill out the stubs altogether1 as sometimes happens with the regular style of check book4 ,the form and size of these voucher checks lend themselves very readily to manufacture in the same 8make-up0 as certain kinds of sales books1 but the ordinary style of duplicating book is probably just as good as the more elaborate kinds4 ,the checks should be printed three to the page and care should be taken that the duplicate forms are 8in register0 with the originals1 otherwise1 the carbon copy data will not appear opposite the proper notations4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bh1 7,reduced in size7 ,when these voucher checks are returned to us by our banker1 we file them in a check filing drawer1 equipped with sets of monthly tabbed guides1 according to the voucher numbers1 thus forming the voucher record for our cash disbursements4 ,it is hard to find a weak spot in the check voucher system1 but some inspectors seem to object to it1 so1 until it is specifically authorized by the ,war ,department1 the inexperienced ,exchange ,officer would do well to stick to the system previously described4 ,to revert to our purchase record sheets3 there is no necessity for noting thereon the amount paid on each invoice or the discount on same1 as is sometimes done4 ,this information will be shown in the cash book1 and data should not be repeated unnecessarily4 ,the remaining two columns 7,balances7 are used only when closing the books4 ,whenever this is done1 the balance on each order is brought out to the proper column1 the amount we owe being entered in the credit side of this column1 and the amount due us being entered on the debit side4 ,the total of the credit side of the ,purchase column is then posted as a lump sum to the credit side of the 8,bills ,payable ,merchandise0 account on the general ledger1 and the total of the debit side is posted to the debit side of the same account4 ,ordinarily1 there will be no such debit entries4 ,it will be seen that the net balance of the ,purchase ,record and of the above account should equal the difference between the total purchases and the sum of the totals shown in the 8,creditors0 and the 8,discounts0 columns in the cash book4 ,,cash ,,disbursements4 ,the right or credit side of the cash book is1 in general1 of the same form as the debit side4 ,see ,fig4 #aa4 ,as all distribution of merchandise to the various departments is made through the stock records1 there is no necessity of trying to duplicate this information on the pages of the cash book4 ,we1 therefore1 lump all merchandise payments under the heading 8,creditors0 and reserve a column for such payments only4 ,in a similar manner1 all payments for services rendered in the various departments could be entered under a heading1 8,labor01 and the proper distribution or pro-rata share of each department could be shown on the receipted pay roll1 as explained hereafter4 ,other columns that will be needed are3--,maintenance1 ,fixtures1 ,interest and ,discount1 ,appropriations1 and ,expense4 ,all disbursements which can not be placed in one of the other columns should be entered under ,interest and ,discount4 ,under ,appropriations1 enter all disbursements voted by the ,exchange ,council for ,athletics1 ,dividends1 ,sick in ,hospital1 etc4 ,under ,fixtures should go all expenditures for permanent equipment 7new7 of the ,exchange1 and under ,maintenance1 all money spent for repairs1 replacing of old equipment by new1 and the like4 ,in the ,expense ,column we carry such items as wastage1 breakage1 telephone and telegraph bills1 fuel1 light1 insurance1 printing and stationery1 and such expendable supplies as twine1 paper1 etc41 as are used in carrying on the business4 ,when the ,exchange ,officer or authorized agent makes a purchasing trip on purely ,exchange business1 his authorized expenses should be entered in this column4 ,exchange ,councils differ in their interpretations of what such expenses should be1 and the ,exchange ,officer should have it recorded in the proceedings of the ,council that such allowances of expenses are authorized4 ,to sum up3--the columns of the credit side of the cash book1 reading from left to right are as follows3--,date2 ,description of item entered1 giving name of creditor and a clue to the articles on the invoices2 ,voucher ,no42 ,check ,no42 ,net ,cash2 ,discount2 ,creditors 7or ,merchandise72 ,labor2 ,appropriations2 ,fixtures2 ,interest and ,discount2 ,expense2 ,sundries1 and perhaps1 one or two spare columns4 ,at the end of the month or when the books are closed1 the totals of the various columns are posted to the debit side of the ,general ,ledger as follows3-- ,creditors posted to ,bills ,payable1 ,mdse4 ,interest and ,discount to ,interest and ,discount4 ,discount to ,interest and ,discount4 ,fixtures to ,fixtures 7,exchange or ,laundry1 as the case may be74 ,the items entered in the ,expense column must be distributed1 such items as cannot properly be posted to the account of any of the departments must be posted to the 8,general ,expense0 account in the ,general ,ledger4 ,the same rule applies to ,labor and to ,sundries4 ,the items in the ,appropriations column must also be distributed among the proper ledger accounts1 such as ,athletics1 ,dividends1 ,sick in ,hospital1 etc41 as the case may be4 ,,the ,,ledger4 ,general4 ,the ledger is the book which shows us the status of every part of our business4 ,it is the most important book that we keep1 and1 consequently1 it should be kept with great care4 ,every transaction1 no matter how small1 sooner or later finds its way to the ledger1 although it will not be given the dignity of a line to itself4 ,the ledger is1 of course1 kept on the double entry system4 ,make-up4 ,there are several stock forms for ledger sheets1 that shown as ,form #cj1 in ,fig4 #cj1 being one of the best1 as the center balance column saves much space4 ,perhaps the most convenient size is #aa #aa inches1 which gives about the right amount of room in all columns4 ,these sheets1 printed and ruled as shown1 cost #ab4jj per thousand1 retail4 ,leather tabbed indices cost #a4fe per set and a high grade ledger binder costs #ab4jj1 although a cheaper type1 known as a 8transfer0 can be obtained for a price as low as #b4ge1 but it would not give the service and satisfaction of the regular type of ledger4 ,in our system1 a ledger with a #a inch back should prove of ample size4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cj1 7,reduced in size7 ,live accounts only should be kept in the ledger2 as soon as an account has been closed out1 the pages containing same should be taken out and placed in a ledger transfer binder4 ,the same procedure should be followed with the filled pages of live accounts just as soon as there becomes little chance of their being consulted frequently4 ,ledger ,accounts4 ,as has been previously described1 our method of handling our charge accounts has rendered it unnecessary for us to keep a private ledger account with each of our charge customers4 ,to do so would be merely to repeat information which we already possess4 ,also1 our ,purchase ,record has obviated the necessity of a separate ledger account with each of our creditors1 for the same reason4 ,having no private ledger accounts1 it follows that this book then becomes a 8,general ,ledger01 holding only general accounts1 such as ,bills ,payable1 etc4 ,some of our general accounts should be sub-divided in order to give us a better idea of what the business is doing4 ,take the ,expense account1 for example4 ,it is usually desirable to classify our expenses as nearly as possible under the following headings3-- ,wages1 ,fuel and ,lights1 ,insurance1 ,freight and ,express on out-going goods1 ,printing and ,stationery1 ,telephone and ,telegraph1 ,office1 including expendable supplies used and not distributed to departments4 ,another example is ,bills ,payable1 which is divided into ,charge ,accounts1 ,credit ,coupons1 ,enlisted ,men's ,laundry1 etc41 as circumstances dictate4 ,a complete list of the accounts in our ledger should run about as follows3-- #a4 ,post ,exchange 7,synonyms3--,present ,worth1 ,surplus1 ,net ,worth1 etc474 #b4 ,bills ,receivable1 ,notes4 7,entrance fees of incoming organizations47 #c4 ,bills ,receivable1 ,charge ,accounts4 #d4 ,bills ,receivable1 ,credit ,coupons4 #e4 ,bills ,receivable1 ,enlisted ,men's ,laundry4 #f4 ,check ,account4 7,outstanding ,coupons47 #g4 ,bills ,payable1 ,mdse4 7,or ,creditors47 #h4 ,exchange ,building4 7,if not a ,government building47 #i4 ,laundry ,building4 7,if owned by the ,exchange47 #aj4 ,exchange ,fixtures4 #aa4 ,laundry ,fixtures4 7,including all machinery1 tools1 etc47 #ab4 ,laundry4 7,a departmental account47 #ac4 ,store4 7,same4 ,there should be an account for each department47 #ad4 ,interest and ,discount4 #ae4 ,insurance4 #af4 ,fuel and ,lights4 #ag4 ,freight and ,express4 #ah4 ,printing and ,stationery4 #ai4 ,telephone and ,telegraph4 #bj4 ,general ,expense4 #ba4 ,depreciation4 7,if taken frequently47 #bb4 ,lost ,accounts4 #bc4 ,athletics4 #bd4 ,dividends4 #be4 ,sick in ,hospital4 #bf4 ,regimental ,fund4 #bg4 ,wages4 #bh4 ,profit and ,loss4 7,or ,loss and ,gain47 #bi4 ,maintenance4 ,posting the ,ledger4 ,it has been noticed that our ,ledger is used but once a month or whenever our books are closed4 ,at this time1 each account in the ledger is brought down to date by entering the results obtained by summarizing the accounts contained in the subsidiary books4 ,this operation is called 8posting0 and will be discussed with reference to each of the foregoing accounts4 ,it will be assumed1 in each case1 that the balance from the previous month has been brought down correctly4 ,it will be of great assistance to remember that any account in the ,general ,ledger represents one of the following3-- #a4 ,an asset2 7,resource74 #b4 ,a liability4 #c4 ,a ,loss4 #d4 ,a ,profit or ,gain4 a4 ,every account showing a debit balance is either an asset or a loss2 a 8,personal0 account showing a debit balance is an asset1 an 8expense0 account showing a debit balance is a loss4 b4 ,every account showing a credit balance is either a liability or a profit2 a 8personal0 account showing a credit balance is a liability 7something we owe71 any sales account showing a credit balance is a profit4 #a4 ,post ,exchange ,account4 ,another name for this account is 8,net ,worth01 or1 if the ,exchange is out of debt1 8,surplus04 ,it is important that the status of this account be shown on every monthly statement exhibited to the ,exchange ,council4 ,it is debited at the beginning of the month with the net worth of the ,exchange on that date4 ,credit it with such decreases and debit it with such increases as will be shown on the 8,surplus and ,adjustment ,schedule0 on ,form #cb and discussed in connection therewith4 #b4 ,bills ,receivable1 ,notes4 ,debit this account for the amount owed by any organization to the ,exchange for ,entrance fees1 etc41 and credit it via the cash book with the amount of payments received from such organizations4 #c4 ,bills ,receivable1 ,charge ,accounts4 ,debit this account1 as before described1 with the total amount of charge sales made during the month1 which amount is obtained from the ,charge ,accounts book4 ,credit this account with the total of the 8,customers0 column on the debit side of the cash book and also with the total of the 8,credit0 column in the ,charge ,accounts book4 #d4 ,bills ,receivable1 ,credit ,coupons4 ,this account has been exhaustively discussed under 8,coupons04 #e4 ,bills ,receivable1 ,enlisted ,men's ,laundry4 ,debit this account at the end of the month with the gross amount of laundry bills contracted by enlisted men during the month4 ,credit it with the total of the cash book 7debit7 column in which are entered the payments by enlisted men for laundry work done4 ,also credit this account with whatever credits have been allowed for overcharges1 damages1 etc41 these amounts also being charged 7debited7 against the ,laundry account4 #f4 ,check ,account4 ,see note under paragraph #d above4 #g4 ,bills ,payable1 ,merchandise4 ,debit this account with balance due creditors on #ast of the month and with ,cr4 ,purchase column of ,purchase ,record4 ,credit it with amount of creditors column in cash book1 and with total of ,dr4 ,purchase column of ,purchase ,record4 #h4 ,exchange ,building4 ,if built and owned by the ,government1 this item is not an asset of the ,exchange4 ,if the building belongs to the ,exchange1 we debit this account with all amounts spent upon it for additions of any kind1 but not for repairs1 renewals1 painting1 etc4 ,credit this account with all depreciation voted by the ,post ,exchange ,council1 and debit this amount against the ,depreciation ,account4 #i4 ,laundry ,building4 ,same as preceding4 #aj4 ,exchange ,fixtures4 ,debit this account through the cash book with the amount of all new fixtures purchased2 credit it with the amount of depreciation voted by the ,exchange ,council1 as before explained1 also1 with the book value of all fixtures scrapped or otherwise disposed of4 ,when an article is merely replaced by a newly purchased one1 it is proper to make no change in the value of our fixtures1 but charge the whole purchase price against maintenance4 ,the same applies to cost of repairs4 #aa4 ,laundry ,fixtures4 ,same as preceding4 #ab4 ,laundry4 ,this is a live account against which are charged 7debited73-- 7a7 ,the total of the ,debit ,laundry column in the ,cost ,price ,stock ,record1 7,form #ac71 also1 the value of inventory at #ast of month4 7b7 ,the total cost of labor incurred by that department4 7c7 ,any ,,cash ,,reimbursements that may have been paid to customers4 7d7 ,such items of ,freight1 ,expense1 ,maintenance1 ,board1 etc41 as may have been paid during the month on account of the ,laundry4 7e7 ,any credits that may be allowed for damages1 etc4 7,from ,charge ,accts47 ,this account is credited with3-- 7a7 ,the total of the ,laundry columns in the ,charge ,accounts ,book4 7b7 ,the total of the ,laundry columns pertaining to the current month on our paytable collection sheets 7,form #be74 7c7 ,the total shown in the ,credit ,laundry column of ,form #ac 7d7 ,the total of all sales not accounted for under 7a7 and 7b7 above4 7e7 ,inventory at last of month4 ,the balance1 showing gross loss or gain1 is transferred to the ,profit and ,loss ,account4 #ac4 ,store4 ,this and all other departmental accounts should be handled in the manner described in the preceding paragraph except they should receive credit for all coupon and cash sales made during the month4 #ad4 ,interest and ,discount4 ,credit this account with the total of the ,discount column on the credit side of the cash book2 this anomaly being only apparent1 not real4 ,credit1 also1 the total of the ,interest and ,discount column on the debit side of the cash book and debit the total of the ,interest and ,discount column found on the credit side of the cash book4 #ae4 ,insurance4 ,debit this account1 through the cash book1 with all premiums paid out1 at the time they are paid4 ,credit this account monthly with the monthly share of such premium or premiums1 and debit them against ,post ,exchange4 ,the effect of this method is to show the unexpired policies as assets1 as they should be4 ,there can be no doubt that an unexpired policy is an asset1 nor is there any question about the propriety of showing the value of this asset by deducting the appropriate amount monthly4 ,the practice of some exchanges of writing such assets off the books immediately upon payment of premiums is not sound4 #af4 ,fuel and ,lights4 ,debit this account through the cash book with all amounts paid out for these items1 provided they cannot be properly apportioned to the various departments4 #ag4 ,freight and ,express4 ,same as preceding1 except that all such charges on incoming merchandise should be charged to the goods in question1 just as if they cost us that much more4 8,out0 freight1 etc41 is a legitimate charge against this account4 #ah4 ,printing and ,stationery4 ,same remarks as under #af4 #ai4 ,telephone and ,telegraph4 ,same as under #af4 #bj4 ,general ,expense4 ,debit this account with all items of expense that cannot properly be placed under one of the other expense accounts4 #ba4 ,depreciation4 ,debit this account with the total amount of depreciation voted by the ,council1 and as this entails a corresponding credit elsewhere in the ledger1 the respective accounts affected must be credited to a corresponding amount4 ,when the books are closed1 the balance of this account is transferred to ,profit and ,loss by crediting ,depreciation and debiting the latter account4 ,this ,depreciation account can be eliminated entirely1 if desired1 by crediting ,exchange ,fixtures or what not with the amount of depreciation decreed by the ,council and debiting this amount straight against ,post ,exchange4 ,this is the usual method4 #bb4 ,lost ,accounts4 ,debit this account with all bad debts which we have decided we cannot collect4 ,this1 of course1 necessitates a corresponding credit entry in some other account1 such as ,bills ,receivable ,credit ,coupons or ,charge ,accounts1 etc41 as the case may be4 ,when the books are closed1 this account is balanced and transferred to ,profit and ,loss1 as explained in #ba4 ,if any of these accounts are afterwards collected1 we must credit this account1 via the cash book1 with the proper amounts4 #bc4 ,athletics4 ,credit this account with all amounts voted by the ,exchange ,council for the support of athletics and charge or debit the same amount against ,post ,exchange 7,account ,no4 #a1 above74 ,at the end of each month1 pick out of the ,appropriations column on the credit side of the cash book1 all amounts which were spent for athletics during the month and debit them to this account4 ,the credit balance of this account is a liability against the ,exchange4 #bd4 ,dividends4 ,credit this account with the amount of dividends declared by the ,council and debit the same amount against ,post ,exchange account4 ,debit this account with all dividends paid to organizations4 ,if the dividends have not been paid out by the end of the month1 they will show up in this account as a credit balance1 a liability against the ,exchange2 if they have been paid1 there will be no balance left to this account4 #be4 ,sick in ,hospital4 ,same as preceding4 #bf4 ,regimental ,fund4 ,same as #bd4 #bg4 ,wages4 ,it will be remembered that each department was debited with its share of all labor charges incurred during the month4 ,these 8accrued wages0 are credited to this account in the ,ledger4 ,debit this account with the total of the ,labor column on the credit side of the cash book4 ,any credit balance remaining 7as when part of the pay due an employee is held back7 is a liability against the ,exchange4 #bh4 ,profit and ,loss4 ,this account is ordinarily posted only upon closing the books4 ,to this account1 we post the balances of all those ,ledger accounts which show a profit or a loss to the ,exchange4 ,these include all departmental accounts and also accounts numbered #ad to #bi1 inclusive1 except ,nos4 #ae1 #ba1 #bc1 #bd1 #be1 #bf and ,no4 #bh1 which is now under discussion4 ,remember that each of these accounts which shows a debit balance is a loss and each that shows a credit balance is a profit or gain4 ,after all of these accounts have been balanced and brought into ,profit and ,loss1 the latter is balanced and the balance transferred to ,post ,exchange4 ,before this last named operation is performed1 however1 a trial balance should be taken1 because1 for reasons before explained1 the books will never balance to the cent1 and the entry of a small item1 usually 8income not otherwise accounted for10 is necessary in this account before the books will balance4 #bi4 ,maintenance4 ,this is really in the nature of an expense account and we should debit it with the amounts shown on the credit side of the cash book as paid out on this account4 ,credit this account for such items as can be and are debited against any of the departments 7see #ab d72 credit this account for the balance remaining at the end of the month and charge same against ,profit and ,loss4 ,balancing the ,ledger4 ,it has been stated above1 that all 8,expense0 accounts are balanced monthly and posted to ,profit and ,loss1 and that after a trial balance has proved the ,ledger to be in balance1 the balance of the ,profit and ,loss account is transferred to the 8,post ,exchange0 account4 ,the remaining accounts1 ,nos4 #a-aa1 inclusive1 etc41 represent assets and liabilities and are not transferred at all1 although they are balanced every month4 ,we now come to the book-keepers' bug-a-boo1 the 8,trial ,balance04 ,this is a simple thing 7to describe71 consisting merely going through our ledger1 taking the total of all the totals on the credit side of all our ledger accounts and seeing if this equals the total of all the totals on the debit side4 ,if these totals do not agree1 the book-keeper must run down the error and correct it4 ,there are no rules for this procedure that would be of practical benefit4 ,this trial balance does not necessarily mean that the ledger is correct1 it simply proves that for every debit item entered a corresponding credit entry has been made2 it does not prove that these entries have been made in the proper accounts4 ,a sample trial balance sheet1 worked out by ,mr4 ,parker1 cashier of the ,fort ,slocum ,exchange1 is shown herewith4 ,after the ledger is balanced1 we proceed to get out our monthly statement4 ,if it is a case of an inspector1 we can get all the data he needs by simply taking our statements since his last visit and combining the results shown by same4 ,balance ,,accounts ,trial ,balance of ,loss ,gain ,balances ,dr4 ,cr4 ,dr4 ,cr4 ,dr4 ,cr4 ,post ,exchange ,cash #eee4fj #cgb4jj #ahc4ej ,bills ,rec4 ,charge ,accts #aa4fb #a4fb #aj4jj 0 0 ,e4 ,m4 ,laundry #af4jj #af4jj 0 0 ,credit ,coupons #ajj4jj #ajj4jj ,bills ,pay ,merchandise #d4jj #d4jj 0 0 ,check ,account #ij4jj #ajj4jj #aj4jj ,stock ,room 4#ej 4#ej ,athletics #bj4jj #bj4jj ,fixtures #ba4jj #ba4jj ,store #aa4ej #bhj4ee #bfi4je #bfi4je ,lunch #fg4gb #baa4bg #bjd4ee #bjd4ee ,pool #ej4jj #i4jj #da4jj #da4jj ,barber #fg4jj #ag4jj #ej4jj #ej4jj ,tailor #df4fe #ei4jj #ab4ce #ab4ce ,shoeshop #ce4ge #ce4jj 4#ej 4#je ,soda ,fountain #cg4jj #c4jj #cd4jj #cd4jj ,skating #ad4ej #d4fj #i4jj #i4ij ,moving ,pictures #aj4jj #ca4jj #ba4jj #ba4jj ,laundry #bi4jj #bb4jj #g4jj #g4jj ,interest and ,discount #ag4fj #ag4fj #ag4fj ,office #aa4jj #aa4jj #aa4jj ,loss and gain #ccf4ej ,,totals #aaea4dd #aaea4dd #eba4jj #eba4jj #ejg4jj #ejg4jj ,assets ,,accounts and ,cash ,statement ,liabilities ,dr4 ,cr4 ,dr4 ,cr4 ,post ,exchange #ccf4ej ,cash #ahc4ej ,bills ,rec4 ,charge ,accts #aj4jj 0 0 ,e4 ,m4 ,laundry #af4jj 0 0 ,credit ,coupons #ajj4jj ,bills ,pay ,merchandise #d4jj 0 0 ,check ,account #aj4jj ,stock ,room ,athletics #bj4jj #bj4jj ,fixtures #ba4jj #ba4jj ,store #bej4jj #aa4jj ,lunch #agj4jj #f4jj ,pool #h4jj #ej4jj ,barber #ad4jj #fg4jj ,tailor #df4jj #dc4jj ,shoeshop #bi4jj #ce4jj ,soda ,fountain #c4jj #cg4jj ,skating #d4fj #ad4jj ,moving ,pictures #ca4jj #aj4jj ,laundry #bi4jj ,interest and ,discount #ag4jj ,office #aa4jj ,loss and gain ,,totals #cej4ej #cej4ej #eee4fj #cgb4aj #ahc4ej ,balance #eee4fj #eee4fj ,,monthly ,,statements4 ,general4 ,the primary object of the monthly statement is to give the ,exchange ,council and the ,commanding ,officer a clear and concise understanding of the operations and financial standing of the ,exchange4 ,the statement1 therefore1 should be so simple in construction that it can be understood at a glance by anybody1 regardless of their knowledge of book-keeping4 ,most statements submitted to ,exchange ,councils either show nothing or lead to a waste of time1 due to the necessity for asking for explanations of obscure items4 ,the statement should also contain such information as will be required by the ,inspector4 ,the form of statement here shown fulfils all of the above requirements and is a form approved by certified public accountants4 ,it is divided into three parts1 which will be discussed in their relative order4 ,general ,balance ,sheet4 ,this1 ,form #cb1 is shown in ,fig4 #ca and is almost self explanatory4 ,attention is invited to the scheme of segregating different classes of assets and of liabilities4 ,a stock form of this nature would do for all ,exchanges1 regardless of their size1 as there are sufficient blank lines to suit all requirements1 but perhaps better satisfaction would be obtained if the form here shown be merely taken as a model and only those items be used as apply to the particular case in hand4 ,pains have been taken1 in this form1 to insert a sufficient number of entries to show clearly how any ordinary item should be handled4 ,of course1 the item1 8,exchange building01 should be omitted if the building belongs to the ,government and not to the ,exchange4 ,the item1 8,cash ,reserve01 covers the amount required by regulations to be set aside before dividends can be declared4 ,under the liabilities1 there will ordinarily be no entries under 8,funded ,debt02 this entry merely shows how such items should be handled in case any should exist4 8,commissions due0 is the amount we owe for goods already sold on consignment2 the same item under the assets refers to the amount due us for goods sold on consignment or commission4 ,a declared dividend is a liability until it is paid4 ,outstanding coupons are also a liability4 ,under the deferred liabilities come any amounts that are payable at some future date1 but are meanwhile bona fide debts owed by the ,exchange4 ,the term 8,total ,surplus0 refers to the surplus at the end of the month in question1 and1 while not really a liability1 it is put in this place in order to properly balance the account4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ca1 7,reduced in size7 ,surplus and ,adjustments4 ,under this head1 we show the changes in the net worth of the ,exchange which have occurred during the month1 this being1 to all intents and purposes1 a repetition of the ,post ,exchange ,account in our general ,ledger4 ,under 8,re-valuation01 take up any increase in the value of buildings or fixtures that may have occurred other than through the cash book 7upon appraisal1 for instance74 ,under 8,adjustment01 take up any increase of amount owed us on any account1 that is1 if any account has been corrected during the month and the amount due us on this account has been increased1 the amount of such increase should be taken up under the head in question4 ,the net profits for the month are obtained from the ,statement of ,income and ,profit and ,loss1 to be described later4 ,all of the above items serve to increase our surplus or net worth1 and hence1 must be added to the net worth shown at the beginning of the month4 ,under the deductions would come all amounts written off for depreciation2 dividends actually paid2 appropriations paid or put to the credit of any particular fund1 such as the ,athletic ,fund2 and all decreases in accounts owed us1 caused by the adjustment of same4 ,after the above notations are made1 the surplus at the end of the month is entered in the proper space in the general balance sheet4 ,this surplus is the net worth of the ,post ,exchange1 and should1 of course1 be equal to the balance of the ,post ,exchange account in the ,ledger4 ,statement of ,income and ,profit and ,loss4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cb1 7,reduced in size7 ,this1 ,form #af1 gives us a very clear and concise statement of the operations of all of our departments during the month4 ,it is printed on the back of ,form #cb4 ,it is filled in as follows3-- a ,enter on the first line1 the total sales for cash as shown by the footings of the respective debit columns in the cash book4 b ,on the second line1 enter the total coupon sales of the various departments shown by the footings of the respective columns of ,form #bf 7,fig4 #ag74 c ,on the third line1 enter the total charge sales made by each department as shown by the footings of the respective columns of ,form #g 7,fig4 #f74 d ,add the above1 both horizontally and vertically and see if the grand totals check4 e ,enter on the fourth line all credits given during the month4 f ,subtract e from d2 the remainder shows the net sales made by each department during the month and should be entered in the proper spaces4 g ,under 8,inventory 444 #ast01 is entered the cost price of all merchandise on hand in the various departments at the beginning of the month1 which amounts are obtained from the ,inventory ,book or ,inventory cards as before described4 h ,under 8,purchases0 are entered the cost values of all merchandise sent to the various departments1 that is1 the difference between the footings of the ,dr4 and ,cr4 columns referring to each department on ,form #ac 7,cost ,price74 ,no cash discount is considered4 i ,under 8,labor01 charge each department with its proper share of the wages paid by the ,exchange4 ,if any employee divides his time between two or more departments1 his wages should be distributed between said departments proportionately4 ,book-keeper's wages should be charged to ,office4 ,to counterbalance this charge1 some ,exchanges credit all cash discounts to ,office instead of taking them up under ,other ,income4 ,this is entirely proper1 as is also the procedure of crediting the ,office with mail order profits1 etc4 ,in the usual case1 there being no accrued wages1 the figures for labor are taken from the ,labor column in the cash book4 j ,under 8,maintenance01 transfer from the cash book all amounts paid out for 7#a7 ,articles bought to replace other similar articles worn out4 7#b7 ,paints1 cleaning material or repairs and spare parts1 etc4 7#c7 ,labor charges in connection with the foregoing4 7#d7 ,in general1 any expenditure for up-keep4 k ,under 8,board01 should be entered all amounts paid out for board of employees4 l ,under 8,expense01 enter the value of all expendable supplies issued to the various departments1 such as paper bags1 etc41 or1 as illustrated in the case of a ,laundry1 the cost of all soaps1 starch1 soda1 etc4 m ,add items 7g7 to 7l71 inclusive1 and enter the totals on the proper line4 ,also1 add the items horizontally and check the grand totals obtained by these two operations4 n ,enter under 8,deduct ,inventory01 the cost price of all articles found on hand in the various departments at the end of the month4 o ,subtract 7n7 from 7m7 and enter the respective remainders in the spaces for 8,cost of ,goods ,sold04 ,check these remainders vertically and horizontally4 p ,subtract the ,cost of ,goods ,sold from ,net ,sales and enter the remainders in the spaces for 8,gross ,profit04 ,check results as before4 ,the lower part of this form is made out as follows3-- a ,under 8,cash ,discounts0 7unless credited to ,office as before explained71 enter the total of the ,discounts column in the cash book4 b ,cash in excess of daily checks is self explanatory4 c ,under 8,goods ,sold on ,consignment01 should be entered all such sales actually made during the month4 d ,miscellaneous credits is self explanatory1 being for such items as junk1 receptacles sold1 etc41 as are not credited through the stock records4 e ,entrance fees cover all payments by organizations joining the ,exchange4 f ,interest on ,bank balances is self explanatory4 g ,lost ,accounts collected refers to amounts that have previously been dropped from the books as lost1 but have afterwards been collected4 h ,under 8,income not otherwise accounted for01 is entered the amount that will make the books balance4 ,as it is impracticable to give precise weights on bulk merchandise and as mistakes will sometimes occur1 the books will never balance exactly and all discrepancies are thrown into this item4 ,as an example1 suppose we unintentionally give short weights on our sales of1 say1 crackers4 ,at the end of the month1 we will have more money on hand than our sales would call for1 and such excess is taken up under this heading4 ,if1 as sometimes happens1 there is a deficit 7for example1 caused by melting and wastage of ice7 it should be taken up under the 8,general ,expense0 side of this form4 ,it should be noted that this item cannot be filled in until the ,general ,balance ,sheet is made out4 i 8,freight and ,express ,out0 refers to transportation charges on goods returned to our creditors or sold to our customers4 j ,under the item1 8,insurance01 should be entered the total premiums paid out during the month1 but not the pro-rata share that is charged off monthly4 k ,under 8,paid on ,consignment01 should be entered the net amounts paid to our creditors for the goods sold by us4 l ,to the ,total ,gross ,profit1 add the total ,other ,income1 from this amount1 subtract the ,total ,general ,expense and the remainder is the net profit for the month2 it should be carried to the ,surplus and ,adjustment part of the general balance sheet4 ,,pay ,,rolls4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cc1 7,reduced in size7 ,a thoroughly satisfactory form for pay rolls is shown by ,form #b in ,fig4 #cc4 ,the ,recapitulation at the bottom of the form is for the purpose of distributing the cost of labor among the various departments when we make out our statement of income and profit and loss4 ,if employees are not paid up to date1 that is1 if a part of their pay due is withheld1 this form allows such information to be recorded4 ,in some cases1 it has been found practicable to pay off three times a month1 especially in the case of civilian employees4 ,in any case1 all hands should be paid promptly at the last of the month1 thus getting all of these wages out of the way and avoiding the necessity of any reversing entries or other expedients to show the real operations of the ,exchange4 ,if any wages due the employees are not paid by the end of the month1 these amounts become 8accrued wages0 and must be carried as such4 ,,figuring ,,selling ,,prices4 ,this is done by some employee designated by the ,exchange ,officer2 sometimes it is done by the ,exchange ,officer himself4 ,it is sometimes prescribed by the ,council that when organizations 7shareholders in the ,exchange7 order articles not in stock1 the selling price shall be actual cost to the ,exchange of such articles4 ,this cost would1 of course1 include any transportation charges1 etc41 that were incurred1 but the ,exchange would get the benefit of all cash discounts4 ,it is also prescribed in some instances that persons not stockholders in the ,exchange who order merchandise that is not in stock shall be charged a commission of #e4 ,both of these rules are sound1 because1 in the first case1 any profits made by the ,exchange would simply revert in dividends to the organizations from which the profits were made1 assuming that all organizations transacted the same amount of this kind of business4 ,if they did not1 it would still be unjust to penalize one company for patronizing the ,exchange by taking from it money for distribution in dividends to other companies1 regardless of the amount of patronage the latter gave the ,exchange4 ,the second rule is sound because the transaction is a quick sale1 and the money of the ,exchange is tied up in stock for the minimum length of time4 ,the selling price in the above cases is1 therefore1 very easily determined4 ,in figuring out the selling price for the ordinary run of goods1 the process1 while different1 is never very difficult4 ,we must base our calculations on the smallest value used in coupon sales1 except in the case of staples sold only to charge customers4 ,ordinarily1 the smallest purchase that can be made with coupon books is five cents4 ,we should1 therefore1 in every possible case1 make our selling price a number divisible by #e4 ,cheap articles may be sold 8#b for #e01 etc4 ,it is a bad policy to sell articles for #d or #i cents and have the clerk hand back change when a coupon sale is made4 ,articles that can be quickly and easily sold can be handled at a small margin of profit1 but articles that may prove to be 8stickers0 or those representing a considerable investment should be made to pay a larger profit4 ,in this connection1 the general policy of the ,exchange may be made to take one of two trends4 ,the first policy is to sell all articles at the minimum price consistent with making the ,exchange self-supporting4 ,in this case1 the amounts paid to the organizations in dividends will be proportionately small1 and consequently1 the various companies will receive little money to spend on their messes1 athletics1 etc4 ,this plan would be of considerable benefit to such customers of the ,exchange as are not stockholders4 ,the other policy is to charge about the same prices as obtain in the stores of nearby towns4 ,in some cases of isolated posts1 the prices could be put even higher4 ,this plan would result in larger dividends paid to the companies but might entail the loss of customers1 especially in these days of mail-order and catalogue houses4 ,this latter policy is upheld by many able authorities1 especially since the passage of the 8anti-canteen0 law4 ,according to one of the most able officers the writer has ever known1 this policy was stated about as follows3--8,we should charge as high a price as the traffic will stand4 ,i do not want my men to spend their money in town1 for obvious reasons4 ,i want them to spend it where they themselves will get the benefit of the profits made on their purchases4 ,therefore1 give them good value for their money--as good as they can get anywhere--but do not try for low prices and do make the ,exchange so attractive that they will naturally gather there and patronize it40 ,in view of the above facts1 and knowing the general policy of the ,exchange it is not difficult in the ordinary case1 to fix a selling price for our goods4 ,we simply add the cost of transportation to the cost price of the goods1 add the desired profit and this gives us our approximate selling price4 ,in some ,exchanges1 other items of overhead charges1 such as clerk hire1 depreciation1 etc41 are taken into consideration in fixing the selling price4 ,there should be ample space in the right hand columns of ,form #bh1 the receiving record1 in which to figure the selling prices4 ,one of the results to be tried for in every ,exchange is ,,quick ,,sales4 ,it is a serious mistake to keep money tied up in stock any longer than is absolutely necessary4 ,a vivid illustration of this point is obtained by taking the case of1 say1 an ,italian banana vendor on the street4 ,let us assume that he buys a bunch of bananas in the morning for #a4jj4 ,we may rest assured that he will have sold out by evening2 it is a certainty2 he is too good a merchant to do otherwise4 ,even supposing that he had a bad day1 and was compelled to close out part of his stock in the evening at cut prices1 he will have realized anywhere from #a4ej to #b4jj on his sales1 thus giving him from #be to #ej gross profit4 ,at this rate1 he will turn over his capital at least #be times during one month1 thus transacting a total amount of business #be times greater than his actual net resources1 and securing a profit equivalent to that of the greater amount4 ,this is the ideal toward which the ,exchange should strive4 ,in this connection1 do not state your profits as a percentage of the ,,cost price of your goods1 but of the ,,selling price4 ,in other words1 if an article costs the ,exchange #aj4jj1 do not add one dollar to this for the selling price and then imagine your profits will be #aj of your sales4 ,if you desire #aj profit1 then the cost must constitute #ij and you must sell the article for #aa4aa in order to make #aj on the sale4 ,take a pencil and figure it yourself4 ,a very good talk on this subject 7and many others of interest7 is given in 8,a ,better ,day's ,profits01 published by the ,burroughs ,adding ,machine ,company4 ,another most excellent book containing many hints which would prove of value to any ,exchange ,officer is one entitled1 8,where ,have ,my ,profits ,gone801 published by the ,american ,sales ,book ,company of ,elmira1 ,new ,york4 ,,laundries4 ,many ,exchanges run laundries and while no attempt will be made here to show how a laundry should be handled1 it is thought proper to explain how the books should be kept4 ,the handling of actual laundry work can be learned only by experience and it is an exceedingly difficult task to prevent a flood of complaints unless careful supervision and checking is in force4 ,as far as the ,post ,exchange ,books are concerned1 the ,laundry need furnish but three items3-- 7#a7 ,the amount owed by each customer for laundry work done during the month4 7#b7 ,the total value of expendable articles on hand at the end of each month4 7,inventory47 7#c7 ,the data for paying the wages of employees4 ,any other records that may be kept are for the information of the ,laundry management1 and are not essential to the proper running of the ,exchange4 ,the above three headings will be discussed in turn4 ,bills ,receivable for ,laundry ,work4 ,the methods used in the case of enlisted men differ from those used in the case of ,officers and others of like classification2 the former is rate work and the latter is piece work4 ,the former will be explained first4 ,the system about to be explained hinges about the ,laundry ,list1 ,form #bj1 shown in ,fig4 #cd4 ,these are #e #h inches in size1 made up in pads of #ajj1 fifty originals printed in black ink on white paper and fifty duplicates printed in red on white paper4 ,thus1 each book or pad will last one man about one year4 ,each original and duplicate are on the same piece of paper1 folded at the bottom and the lower 7duplicate7 forms are bound by their top edges1 a piece of carbon paper being bound into each pad so as to fall between the two copies4 ,a glance at a 8,paragon0 style of duplicating sales book will show clearly how this simple arrangement works4 ,the backs of all sheets should be fairly well covered with advertising or other matter in order to prevent persons from ekeing out their supply of stationery by using these forms4 ,if desired1 the instruction shown on the face of the blank in the illustration could be placed on the back instead4 ,in quantities of #a1jjj or so1 these books should cost in the neighborhood of #g cents apiece4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cd1 7,reduced in size7 ,with this arrangement1 each man makes out two copies of his laundry list with as little trouble as he formerly made out his single copy4 ,the amount of clerical labor which this simple expedient obviates is simply enormous4 ,it makes the system practically automatic and saves labor costs in the ,laundry4 ,the man puts both copies of his list in his bag of laundry1 and the laundry wagon calls at the company at the proper time and collects same4 ,the bag of wash is given to the 8,marker01 who checks off on the duplicate slip1 all wash found in the bag4 ,if everything is right1 the marker places the duplicate slip in a sorting tray1 and lays the original aside to be filed4 ,if the list contains a mistake1 the whole bundle is immediately placed aside and is not touched until the owner has been sent for1 his mistake explained to him1 and he has personally corrected both copies of the list4 ,this not only prevents controversies1 but1 also1 makes the men careful in making out their lists in order to avoid the necessity of visiting the laundry to correct their lists4 ,in case any article is damaged when received at the laundry1 it is examined to see if it is properly marked1 and then placed aside for the inspection of the ,officer in charge4 ,this point will be touched upon later4 ,the duplicate lists remain in the sorting tray behind numbered guides until the time comes to sort out the finished wash of the organization to which the slips belong4 ,when 8marking in01 the marker either uses the space 8,,marking ,o4 ,k40 provided for the purpose1 or1 as is usually the case1 we depend upon the personal check mark she places opposite each item on the list4 ,this marking is done on the duplicate list only4 ,when the finished wash is sorted1 preparatory to delivery1 the sorter makes another check mark 7different from the first one7 opposite each item that is put in the batch4 ,no batch is allowed to go out with a shortage if it can possibly be avoided2 if any article is held for re-washing1 it is rushed through 8special0 and the whole bundle belonging to that particular man is held back to wait for it4 ,this prevents the laundry from acquiring garments belonging to customers4 ,if this is not done1 a receipt for the shortage should be delivered to the customer with his wash1 and a duplicate kept as a sort of tickler1 to insure the missing articles being put in the next batch of washing received from and done up for that customer4 ,the original slips are inserted in alphabetical order in loose-leaf binders1 one binder for each organization4 ,these binders should have a #b inch back in order to hold one month's slips conveniently4 ,they form our retained record and are invaluable in case of disputes4 ,the duplicates are given to the men when they come for their wash4 ,while it is a great convenience to the men to be permitted to get the wash of their friends1 at times1 it has been found that this privilege is abused4 ,in such a case1 each man may be compelled to come for his own wash1 which will be found to have a salutary effect4 ,ordinarily1 it is sufficient to tear off the top of the duplicate slips at the time of delivery1 thus showing that the wash has been called for and delivered4 ,at the beginning of each month1 each organization makes out a list of the men in the company1 a carbon copy of ,form #be is the easiest to furnish4 ,on the first day upon which any organization sends wash to the laundry1 some designated ,n4,c4,o4 of that organization marks in the first blank column opposite each man's name1 information as to whether or not he sent laundry on that date4 ,such entries would be 8,,yes0 7by using a rubber stamp7 if the man sent laundry2 8,s01 if he did not1 through being sick in hospital2 8,a01 meaning temporarily absent2 8,d01 meaning discharged1 etc4 ,when the batches of wash belonging to this organization are received at the laundry and each bundle or batch has been checked as before described1 the entries on the consolidated list are checked against the original laundry slips as the latter are being placed in the binders4 ,this is to insure the correctness of the consolidated list4 ,after this is done1 the consolidated list is returned to the organization1 and the above operations are repeated upon every succeeding wash-day during the month4 ,at the end of the month1 all extras1 such as charges for pressing uniforms1 excessive number of pieces in wash1 etc41 are charged up on the original lists1 the totals for the month found by mental addition and said total entered on the last original list for the month pertaining to each man1 also1 if desired1 but only for cogent reasons1 on the consolidated list4 ,these totals are then sent to the ,post ,exchange for incorporation in the pay table collection sheet4 ,if the binders are taken to the ,exchange1 the totals can be read from them without the necessity of entering these totals on the consolidated list at all4 ,at this time1 all of the original lists are lifted from their binders1 temporarily bound with twine1 and sent to the ,exchange for file until the bills are paid1 when they may be destroyed4 ,piece ,work4 ,in this case1 a different list is used4 ,see ,form #ba1 shown in ,fig4 #ce4 ,these lists are made up into duplicating pads just the same as the soldiers' laundry lists1 and are handled in exactly the same manner1 except that no consolidated list is kept4 ,they measure #e #h inches1 like the others4 ,at the end of the month1 the amount of laundry bills on each retained original list is carried forward and the total entered on the last slip4 ,these totals are then transferred to the ,charge ,accounts ,book previously described4 7,tearing a half inch off the upper right hand corner of all but the last slip for the month for each customer makes the binder self-indexing47 ,illustration3 ,figure #ce1 7,reduced in size7 ,the above shows how all amounts due the laundry are transferred to the ,exchange books1 but there are one or two points in this connection that deserve at least a passing notice4 ,the first of these is the ,damage ,report4 ,this1 ,form #bd1 shown in ,fig4 #cf1 should be made up in the form of a duplicating pad1 #c #e inches being a standard size4 ,one copy of this form1 preferably1 the original1 is retained in the book or filed in a card index drawer2 the duplicate is returned to the proper customer with his wash in which the damaged articles were found4 ,as before noted1 when damaged clothing is found in any wash during the 8marking in0 process1 the damaged articles are placed aside4 ,they are then entered on this form1 inspected by the officer in charge1 or person designated by him1 and then sent through the wash4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cf1 7,reduced in size7 ,claim ,settlements4 ,when a claim for damages1 loss1 etc41 is settled in favor of the claimant a report should be made on ,form #bb 7,see ,fig4 #cg71 to the ,post ,exchange4 ,this form should be made up in triplicating pads1 one copy for the ,exchange book-keeper2 another1 plainly stamped 8duplicate01 for the claimant1 and a third to be retained by the ,laundry1 either in the book or in a card index drawer1 preferably the latter4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cg1 7,reduced in size7 ,inventories4 ,these are taken in the same general way as in other branches of the ,exchange except that the cost price alone is considered4 ,when finished1 the totals shown by the various cards are added on the machine and the result given to the ,exchange book-keeper in order to permit him to make out the profit and loss sheet4 ,the cards are filed in a card index drawer until they are used up1 when they may be transferred to a dead file4 ,pay ,rolls4 ,these are handled in exactly the same manner as the ,exchange pay roll4 ,they may be made out separately by the ,laundry authorities or incorporated in the regular ,exchange roll4 ,in any case1 they should be made out from the time book kept by the ,laundry superintendent4 ,the accuracy of this book should be checked frequently in the usual ways4 ,miscellaneous ,laundry ,records4 ,in addition to the above1 the laundry should keep accurate track of the amounts spent in repairs or renewals of each machine or component part of the laundry4 ,in the inventory book should be entered a proper rate of depreciation against each machine1 etc41 and this depreciation should be written off periodically by the ,exchange ,council1 say once per year4 ,then1 if any organization wishes to sell out or to buy in1 it will be a simple matter to arrive at a proper valuation of the laundry and its fixtures4 ,there should be on hand blueprints of the laundry building1 showing dimensions and details of construction4 ,there should also be on hand a complete diagram of all the steam and water pipes1 connections1 valves1 etc4 ,for cost-keeping1 which would be desirable if it can be done conveniently without adding too much cost1 other records would have to be kept4 ,the ,baker-,vawter ,company has given this point special attention and have devised a system which is used by many members of the ,laundryman's ,national ,association4 ,,auditing4 ,it is not too much to say that the monthly audit of the ,exchange books is usually done poorly and inefficiently4 ,this is due to several causes4 ,in the first place1 very few officers have ever had experience fitting them for such a task1 and still fewer have any liking for the operation4 ,the average audit consists of counting the cash and seeing if the vouchers to the cash account are correct1 but a proper audit is something different4 ,the ,council should expect1 as a result of the audit1 a clear statement of the status of the ,exchange together with recommendations for improvement and reports of any irregularities1 etc4 ,an auditing officer who spends his time finding out whether or not the books contain any mistakes in addition is not performing his proper functions as auditor4 ,reduced to its simplest terms the duties of an auditor may be expressed as finding the correct answers to the following3-- 7a7 ,were all assets on hand as shown8 7b7 ,were there any assets not shown8 7c7 ,were all the liabilities real ones8 7d7 ,were all liabilities shown8 7e7 ,were all liabilities properly incurred8 7f7 ,were all earnings accounted for8 7g7 ,were any earnings omitted from the statement8 7h7 ,were all disbursements1 expenses and losses properly stated and supported8 ,in the following pages an attempt will be made to lay down a system of procedure which will enable the auditor to secure proper answers to the above questions in the most expeditious manner4 ,for this purpose1 the use of ,form #cc1 shown below1 is recommended4 ,they should be on sheets conforming in size and punching to those used in the book used for recording the proceedings of the ,exchange ,council4 ,this remark also applies to ,forms #af and #cb1 previously described4 ,form ,no4 #cc4 ,,statement ,,of ,,audit ,,of ,,post ,,exchange1 ,,fort ,,hancock1 ,n4 ,j4 ,for the month ending ,march #ca1 #aiae4 ,i certify that the cash balance of the ,post ,exchange1 ,fort ,hancock1 ,n4 ,j41 on the #cast day of ,march1 #aiae1 was three thousand five hundred forty-two dollars and seventy-six cents 7#c1edb4gf7 and was held as follows3-- ,second ,national ,bank1 ,new ,york ,city #c1jjj4jj ,in ,office ,safe #edb4gf --------- ,,total #c1edb4gf 7,signed7 ,e4 ,a4 ,,brown1 #ast ,lieut41 ,c4 ,a4 ,c41 ,exchange ,officer4 ,,auditor',s ,,statement4 #a4 ,charge ,accounts3-- ,take retained sales slips for at least three different days and select1 at random1 at least five sales on each4 ,are these sales entered on ,form #i8444 ,compare several consecutive sales on each day's record with adding machine and cash register strips4444 ,are the totals for each of these days entered on the ,steward's daily report1 ,form #d8444 ,are these entries on ,form #d supported by clerks' reports1 ,form #e1 for same totals8444 ,are the total charge sales on ,form #d correctly transferred to the daily summary shown on ,form #g8444 ,do they check with ,form #f8444 ,has the ,bills ,receivable account in the ,ledger been debited with the total shown on ,form #g8444 ,have amounts shown on ,form #g been credited to the various departments in the ,ledger8444 ,have all credits been entered on ,form #f8444 ,are they charged against the various departments8444 ,are they credited to ,bills ,receivable8444 ,are they noted on ,form #d8444 ,in separate list1 show what bills have been due the ,exchange for more than one month4 #b4 ,cash ,sales3-- ,take the clerks' reports for the above selected days3 are the cash sales and coupon sales shown thereon properly entered on the ,steward's daily report1 ,form #d8444 ,do ,forms #d agree with the cash register records8444 ,are entries on ,form #d correctly transferred to the cash book8444 ,are totals of department columns in cash book correctly posted to the accounts of the respective departments in the ,ledger8444 #c4 ,coupon ,sales3-- ,do the total coupons sales shown on ,form #d for the selected days agree with the cash register records for these days8444 ,are entries on ,form #d correctly posted to ,form #bf8444 ,are total coupon sales for each department shown on ,form #bf credited to these departments in the ,ledger8444 ,are total coupon sales debited to ,check ,account in the ,ledger8444 ,are coupon books on hand safely stored8444 ,are they correctly accounted for8444 ,what value of coupons issued during the month of which there is no record8444 ,are total coupons issued during the month correctly credited to ,check ,account in the ,ledger8444 ,are they properly debited against ,bills ,receivable1 ,credit ,coupons8444 ,is there any ground for believing the stated value of coupons outstanding to be erroneous8444 ,any complaints from men that they are erroneously charged for coupons8444 ,is total cash received for coupons 7shown in cash book7 credited in ,ledger to ,bills ,receivable1 ,credit ,coupons8444 ,deduct from the total coupons entered on all ,forms #be the amounts shown in cash book as received for coupons2 is the remainder properly supported by unpaid ,forms #ai8444 ,have these unpaid amounts been properly entered on ,forms #be for next pay day8444 ,what efforts made to collect payments on coupons past due8444 #d4 ,stock ,records3-- ,perform or check the following operations on the record of ,stock ,transactions1 ,form #bg1 at selling price3--,to inventories at first of month add all stock received during the month1 subtract from this the inventory at the end of the month4 ,the remainder should equal the total sales from the respective departments during the month4 ,any marked discrepancies should be brought to the attention of the ,council immediately4 7,initials7444 ,check several copies of ,form #bh against corresponding invoices and against ,purchase ,record2 do they agree8444 ,are these values correctly transferred to ,forms #ag1 ,,both at cost and at selling prices8444 ,are these ,forms #ag correctly transferred to ,form #bg8444 ,are totals on ,form #bg properly charged against the various departments in the ,ledger and on the ,statement8444 ,are inventories entered properly in each department's account in the ,ledger8444 ,under whose supervision was stock taken at the last of the month8444 ,are results of inventory correctly noted on ,statement8444 ,are all wastages1 accidental breakages1 etc41 entered on the stock records and properly supported8444 ,are windows and doors of ,exchange provided with efficient locks8444 ,are all civilian employees under bond8444 ,are the stock records kept up to date8444 #e4 ,purchases3-- ,check ,purchase ,record against the ,cash ,book2 do entries correspond8444 ,from 8,total ,purchases0 subtract 8,creditors0 column in cash book2 does the remainder check with the balance shown in the ,bills ,payable1 ,merchandise 7or ,creditors7 account in the ,ledger2 444 with the credit balance shown on the ,purchase ,record8444 ,are all bills discounted8444 ,if not1 is there any excuse for it8444 ,who makes purchases8 #f4 ,cash ,book3-- ,check all vouchers against cash book disbursements4 ,were all expenditures proper ones8444 ,if not1 give particulars under remarks4 7a7 ,the following vouchers not rec'd back4444 7b7 ,vouchers not supported by canceled checks4444 7c7 ,nos4 of outstanding checks4444 7d7 ,total value of same4444 7e7 ,cash found on hand at end of month4444 7f7 ,cash in bank at end of month1 per bank statement4444 ,does total of 7d71 7e7 and 7f7 agree with ,statement8444 ,look up items 7a71 7b7 and 7c7 mentioned in preceding audit1 are they now complete8444 ,state items lacking4444 ,does ,exchange ,officer keep the cash book himself8444 ,does he attend personally to all cash transactions8444 ,does any employee have access to the cash after it is turned over to the ,exchange ,officer8444 ,cash reserve is 4444 #g4 ,ledger3-- ,inspect trial balance2 is it correct and does the ,ledger balance8444 ,is the system being rigidly adhered to8444 ,report to the ,council any omissions or faults found in the manner of keeping the books4 #h4 ,statements and ,balance ,sheets3-- ,check all items on ,statement of ,income and ,profit and ,loss against the original entries2 do they agree8444 ,what earnings cannot be accounted for8444 ,what earnings are not taken up on the books8444 ,check all entries on ,general ,balance ,sheet against the original entries2 do they agree8444 ,are any assets left off the books8444 ,were all assets actually on hand as shown8444 ,are any liabilities left off the books8444 ,among the liabilities shown1 are there any which are not real obligations of the ,exchange8444 #i4 ,general3-- ,is copy of ,steward's ,report posted for information of customers8444 ,any books or papers which should be destroyed8444 ,any recommendations8444 ,if so1 submit them to ,council in separate report4 ,remarks4444 7,signed7 4444 ,captain1 ,c4 ,a4 ,c41 ,auditor4 ,,cash ,,registers4 ,in ,post ,exchange business1 these machines are ordinarily used in recording all sales1 although some ,exchanges do not ring up their charge sales1 but rely upon the sales slip alone1 an unsafe practice4 ,there is1 besides1 a saving in ringing up all sales4 ,these machines1 if properly handled1 and used in conjunction with our stock records at selling price should amply protect the ,exchange4 ,in order to secure the maximum benefit from a cash register1 however1 it should be suited to the work in hand4 ,many registers handle but two kinds of sales1 charge and cash2 but we have a third kind1 coupon sales1 and the registers in use by every department which handles all three kinds should be arranged for such work4 ,this kind of a register has three separate adding mechanisms1 the appropriate set being thrown into mesh by means of a movable clutch and indicator at the left of the keyboard4 ,in ringing up each sale1 the clerk sets the indicator at 8cash01 8coupons0 or 8charge01 as the case may be1 before turning the handle2 the total sales of any kind can be read at any time by anyone possessing the key which unlocks the reading window4 ,thus1 the ,steward1 at the close of business on any day1 can ascertain these totals in a few seconds1 instead of having to transfer them from the cash register record tape to the adding machine4 ,thus1 considerable time and labor are saved4 ,we should also be able to tell which clerk made every sale4 ,this is accomplished by having a separate push button for every clerk and requiring the clerks to punch the proper button before ringing up their sale4 ,the record tape of the machine will then show the full particulars of every sale--how much it was1 what kind of a sale it was and who made it4 ,the size of the keyboard is determined by the probable value of the largest sale4 ,in departments where there can be but two different kinds of sales1 say charge and cash1 a machine without the movable clutch can be used4 ,a modern development of the cash register is the 8,slip ,printing0 device4 ,by this1 we mean the printing of the amount of sale on the sales slip itself1 instead of on the 8chop ticket04 ,in our system of recording charge sales1 where the customer is given a copy of the sales slip1 it is unnecessary for him to have the chop ticket1 too1 but it is necessary for us to know that his sales slip calls for the same amount that has been rung up on the register4 ,for this purpose1 the register can and should be arranged for 8,slip ,printing01 that is1 for printing directly on the sales slip whatever amount is rung up on the register4 ,this arrangement can be made without extra cost in the case of a new machine4 ,the sales slip then handed to the customer then shows him exactly what amount was rung up on the register4 ,the slip shown in ,fig4 #a was treated in this way1 although the slip was not originally designed for this work4 ,another slip is shown in ,fig4 #ch4 ,a cash register embodying the above described characteristics is shown in ,fig4 #ci4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ch1 7,reduced in size7 ,illustration3 ,figure #ci ,it is apparent that if we can be sure that all sales are rung up on the register the ,exchange can suffer no loss except by persons taking stock from the shelves1 a proposition which is cared for by our stock records4 ,therefore1 it is important to devise means for insuring that every sale is properly rung up4 ,there are various means to this end4 ,one is to provide a series of locked boxes1 one for each organization at the post1 each provided with a slit in the cover large enough to admit a chop ticket4 ,these boxes to be plainly labelled with the designation of the respective organizations1 and all customers to be instructed to drop their chop tickets into these boxes4 ,whenever dividends are declared1 a certain proportion of same to be divided in the same proportion as exists among the total values of the tickets in the various boxes4 ,unless these tickets are counted by a committee from the various organizations1 this scheme would entail considerable clerical work for the ,exchange office force4 ,the scheme practically amounts to distributing a part of the dividend according to the amount of business done by the respective organizations--a necessity in the rare case when one or more organizations boycott the ,exchange4 ,it is said that the members of the various organizations soon become efficient agents in promoting the practice of customers demanding the chop tickets from the clerks4 ,another scheme is for the ,exchange ,officer to inspect the serial numbers of the sales recorded for a certain time1 say one month1 and to arbitrarily select some one of these numbers1 publish a notice concerning same1 and to present to the person who produces the chop ticket bearing that number1 a credit at the ,exchange of #e4jj or so4 ,the ,exchange could easily afford to do this1 as the advantages accruing from having every sale rung up will more than counterbalance this small expenditure4 ,other devices will readily suggest themselves to those who are interested in the subject4 ,the ,steward should1 of course1 keep accurate track of the readings of the various dials of the registers4 ,cash register companies issue books for this purpose4 ,the keys to the registers should be jealously guarded1 including those to the reading windows4 ,a record should be kept of the readings of those dials which show how many times the lid of the register has been opened4 ,in leaving this subject1 a further discussion of which is necessarily curtailed1 it will be well to add that the best way to get satisfaction in this line is to write to the firm whose register you intend buying and ask them to send you their local representative and such descriptive literature as they may have at hand4 ,it will then be an easy matter to secure a machine exactly suited to the needs of the case4 ,,conclusion4 ,in the foregoing pages1 the writer has attempted to outline a system of record-keeping for our ,post ,exchanges that is at once simple and efficient1 complying with the desiderata set forth in the opening pages4 ,no contention is made that the system is perfect and incapable of improvement2 but it is the best that the writer has seen in twelve years' experience with ,post ,exchanges4 ,it is hoped that it will at least prove worthy of being taken under advisement by most ,post ,exchanges and many of its points put into practice4 ,strenuous efforts have been made to explain the system in such simple language that the average employee of an ,exchange could install and operate it1 without the necessity of the ,exchange ,officer devoting his personal efforts to it4 ,an effort has also been made to simplify matters for the ,exchange ,council and for officers detailed to audit the accounts1 to show what points are important and what are not1 how to secure a clear idea of what the business is actually doing in all its branches1 and how to prevent leaks4 ,,the ,,end4