Forms 5 for the month should be preserved until the auditor has finished with them, and it is perhaps advisable to keep them until after the next visit of the inspector. Our Forms 4 are very important and should be kept until after the inspector has inspected the accounts of the Exchange, if not indefinitely. Forms 6, 7 and 9 are a part of the permanent records of the Exchange and should be preserved indefinitely.
The foregoing description of this system of handling charge accounts may sound formidable to the layman, but in reality, it is not so. As shown in the graphic chart (Fig. 10) it is a logical system, proceeding in a simple, orderly way from the charge sales slip to the ledger and the customer’s bill. It belongs to the class of book-keeping called “controlled accounts”—each part of the system knits evenly into the others, and there is a continual process of summation going on throughout the records. There is no duplicated work and every step is one of definite progress towards the goal. It will be found to fulfil the requirements we imposed at the beginning of this essay. It has actually proved its worth wherever installed. It is equally adapted to the large and to the small Exchange. Due to the many available opportunities for checking the correctness of results, mistakes are easily located and corrected. However, if the checks described are applied, especially those relating to Form 4, there should be little excuse for a mistake to appear in any of the higher accounts.
In the light of the preceding discussion of charge sales, our methods of handling cash sales can be disposed of in a few words. In all cases of such sales, the clerk simply gives the customer his goods, receiving the money therefor, makes change if necessary, rings up the amount of the sale on the cash register and places the cash therein. The most important part of this transaction, insofar as our system is concerned, is described in the next-to-last clause. If the salesman once rings up the correct amount on the cash register, the store is sure that the transaction is closed, and closed properly. Means to this end will be discussed under the heading of “Cash Registers”.
It is customary to loan, secured by various kinds of receipts, a suitable sum to the heads of the various departments of the Exchange for the purpose of making change. In some cases, it may be advisable to require them to make a cash deposit to cover these amounts. When the Cashier or Steward is under bond, it is feasible to turn the “change money” of the whole Exchange over to him, taking his note for it.