=Using the Sheets Serially.= All sales sheets should be serially numbered, in order that when placed in a binder the loss of any sheet may be detected by a missing number. Some firms prefer to use one side of a sales sheet only. In this case, a sales binder holding 375 sheets would have 375 pages. Where the sheets are numbered on both sides, the sales binder would have 750 pages. If the appearance of a page is marred by an invoice being spoiled, that sheet is not thrown away, and the fact that it is not is an incentive for the operator to do good work.
=Handling Credit Memoranda.= Some firms prefer to handle their credit memoranda on different-colored paper (generally pink) for both invoices and the large sheets which correspond to sales sheets. All of the rules which govern the making of invoices and loose-leaf sales sheets apply to the execution of credit memoranda.
=General Remarks Regarding Billing Machines.= The flat-bed billing machine enlarged somewhat upon the idea of using special characters for certain abbreviations peculiar to various lines of trade. For instance, in the shoe business, the following abbreviations are some of those used:
WOM means Women's CHI " Child's BOYS' " Boys' BAL " Balmorals BLU " Bluchers PR " Pair PRS " Pairs DOZ " Dozens
The cylinder machines have adopted the same plan. In the cylinder machines there are two distinct classes—those having two type to a type-bar, such as the Remington and the Underwood, and those having one type to a type-bar, with double the number of bars, such as the Smith-Premier. Both classes of machines can use special characters, but the machines having one type only to a bar have a preference in that they have more room in which to place special characters.
There is considerable saving in the use of special characters, as evidenced by the following example:
This necessitates nine strokes where each letter is written separately. Had this been written by three special characters, it would have necessitated five strokes only. The special characters would be used as follows: _OCT._-space-_14_-space-_09_.
To the uninitiated, it would seem that a special character of three letters, such as the abbreviation OCT., would occupy three spaces on the machine, and consequently would overlap on the word at the right. This is obviated by placing the type on the type-bar in such a manner that the letter T of the abbreviation is in the printing point of the paper. The following illustration will show how the type are placed or aligned in order to secure the desired results: