Part 13

There is no danger of a bill being rendered without the proper charge being made.

Entries under this system occupy but one-fourth the space required for those written with the pen.

There is no waste space upon sales sheet.

Both sides of the sales sheet may be utilized.

The saving in vault space alone is worthy of special consideration.

In recent years, the typewriter companies have placed devices on their typewriters which permit of the sales sheet being held independently of the invoices. This permits one to hold the large sales sheet in the machine until enough invoices have been manifolded thereon to cover the page, at which time the sales sheet is reversed. The invoices can be placed in the machine and removed therefrom after being written, without interfering with the sales sheet. No extra width of invoice is required, which permits of old stationery being used in the form of invoices. The flat-bed machines can use old stationery, but not quite so well. However, when billing by machinery, it is false economy to use stationery designed for pen work. The reasons for this will be touched upon later.

The use of two ledgers necessitates the use of two columns at the right side of the page. All names from _A_ to _L_ are placed in the first column; all names from _M_ to _Z_ are placed in the second. For instance, an invoice reading as shown in the sales journal, Fig. 11, illustrates the idea of writing the totals in the two columns at the right side of sheet according to the initials of the last name of the firm or the individual, as the respective ledgers are arranged in that manner. If at the end of the month the first column shows a total of $3,000.00 the bookkeeper knows that he has posted that amount into Ledger _A-L_, etc.

The above plan enables the bookkeeper to add separately the totals which are posted to the respective ledgers. The desire to separate the charges to a country ledger and a city ledger can be accomplished by using two columns in the same way.

The desire to place all credit memoranda in the sales book can be accomplished by using two columns in the sales book as noted above. The first column is used for the charges, and the second one for entering the credits. One difficulty arises in connection with this plan. Credits are liable to be entered in the debit column. To obviate this, the invoices are made just wide enough to reach over the first column, the credit memoranda are made wider to reach over the last column. When an amount is written in the last column of the invoice, it manifolds in the proper column of the sales sheet. The same is true of an amount written in the last column of a credit memo.

This subdivision of columns is carried a step further to permit of the analyzation of sales in several ways.

According to classes of goods, as follows:

According to territory, as follows:

According to salesmen, as follows:

To separate the sale of regular goods from goods which are being sold on consignment, as follows:

Generally the invoice is wide enough to reach over the total column only, as shown in Fig. 12. Therefore, a total amount written in the total column of the invoice will manifold onto the sales sheet, and in the column marked _Total_.

A wide-carriage billing machine, if used, can be adjusted with tabulator stops to jump to any column desired. The total amount is then written therein a second time. The amount of the total column should always equal the total of all the columns placed to the right of the total column. This plan eliminates the old way of waiting until the end of the month, and then laboriously going over the sales book with one total column only, and picking out the various items according to the classification wanted.

The work should be planned in a manner which permits of each day's work being finished each day—leaving nothing to accumulate until the end of the month, necessitating the retracing of steps to secure certain statistical information.

In certain lines of business it is desirable to make two sales sheets, one of which is retained in a binder for an office record and the other is used for various purposes. It can be used as record of sales from a branch to a home office, each page being numbered in duplicate, and of a distinctive color. This is the plan used all over the world by the Standard Oil Company. As the sales sheets arrive at the home office, they are placed in their respective binders and are gradually made into a built-up book. The loss of a sheet would be instantly detected by the missing page number.

A large French perfumery firm in New York pursues this plan, and sends to Paris the duplicate sales sheet on thin paper. It gives the home office a fine record of every invoice sent out to any customer by the branch office or warehouse. As several invoices can be manifolded on each page, and on both sides of the sheet, it is the most economical method of billing as far as stationery is involved. The name _condensed billing_ indicates this fact.

In other instances, the duplicate sales sheet is wide enough only to allow quantity and description of goods to be manifolded thereon, prices and extensions not showing. This narrow sheet can be used for posting to the stock records without disclosing to that department the prices at which the particular goods have been sold. This form of the sales sheet is shown in Fig 13.

=Duplicate Invoices.= There are many reasons, in various lines, why duplicate invoices are desirable and even necessary. Some customers request invoices rendered in duplicate with one copy complete, the other minus the prices and extensions. To accomplish this, it is either necessary to place a piece of paper between the carbon and duplicate invoice in such a manner that the prices and extensions will not copy, or to use a short invoice cut off at the left of the price column, or to use a short piece of carbon paper between the original and second, or duplicate, invoice.

It is desirable to make extra copies of invoices or duplicates for the use of various departments of a business, for instance, analysis of sales by salesmen. Where a company employs a large number of salesmen, it is very convenient to file in binders a duplicate copy of all invoices sold by each salesman, using a binder for each salesman. This is preferable to having separate columns in the sales book (sales sheets in binders). The latter method permits each salesman to see what every other salesman is doing.

=Department Records.= A separate binder allows each man to consult his record without inconvenience to any other one. In large companies having a traffic department, it is necessary to provide a duplicate copy of each invoice for the record, showing complete details of every charge.

A distinction should be made between those firms who make their invoices before the goods are shipped, and those who make the invoices after the goods have been shipped. In the cloak business, for instance, the goods are generally billed before the goods are shipped, the invoice being placed in an envelope and packed with the goods.

Ofttimes the goods are manufactured in proper quantities, properly checked from the order to the packers' table, and then packed improperly—some customer receiving too many garments, another, too few. Yet the order will be properly checked. To obviate this difficulty, a scheme was devised whereby the packer received a duplicate typewritten copy of the bill (or invoice) showing everything but the quantities. This makes it necessary for the packer to count all the garments and mark down in pencil on this copy of the bill the quantity of each style and kind to be shipped. Before the goods are shipped, the packer's copy of the invoice, with his quantities marked in lead pencil, is compared with the quantities charged on the sales sheet. This scheme forces the packer to count all garments instead of double checking someone else's figures in an absent-minded, or even neglectful, way.

This is accomplished by placing a narrow strip of paper over the quantity column of the duplicate invoice, but under the carbon paper. The quantity figures manifold onto the strip of paper instead of onto the duplicate invoice. This plan is termed _using a blind_. The narrow strip of paper between the invoice and duplicate is the _blind_ described a little further on.

The next step in short cutting work is the printing of a label in connection with the invoice and sales sheet. In the book business, where it is generally possible to fill orders from stock, and where the invoice can be made before the goods are shipped, it is possible to place a small piece of paper (the label) between a folded invoice in such a manner that when the name is written on the invoice it manifolds onto the label as well as onto the duplicate invoice and sales sheet.

=Analysis of Quantities and Amounts.= In certain lines of business which sell three or four varieties of goods, it is desirable to analyze the weights or quantities in the proper columns, which in turn manifold onto the sales sheets, as shown in Fig. 14.

This saves a great deal of time as compared with making out the same invoice in the following way:

3000 # Brass Rods @20 $60.00 2500 # Brass Bars @21 $52.50 1000 # Zinc Bars @15 $15.00

By following the first plan, all of the weights for the respective classes of goods will be manifolded into the proper columns, and it is therefore an easy matter to total each column, and at the end of the month the classification of sales will be totaled according to weights as well as according to dollars and cents. The invoice is ruled to match the sales sheet.

=Information on Sales Sheet Not on Invoice.= In certain lines of business, such as wire-screen manufacture, it is desirable at times to substitute the next size of wire in order to fill orders promptly. In such cases, it is necessary to have the invoice show the size of wire ordered, but to have the sales sheet show the size really sent. It would seem impossible therefore to write _No. 8 wire_ on the invoice and have _No. 9 wire_ manifold on the sales sheet.

The idea used to accomplish the desired result is to place the invoice in such a position with relation to the sales sheet that a margin is left on the left-hand side of the sales sheet, which would permit the operator typewriting directly on the sales sheet, and placing thereon the actual size of the wire shipped. The size ordered would be written on the invoice in the regular manner, and of course would manifold onto the sales sheet.

There are other cases where it is desirable to use this idea. For instance, wholesale dry goods firms when purchasing dry goods from eastern manufacturers request the latter when billing to use lot numbers furnished by the purchaser. It is also necessary for the manufacturers to bill the goods according to their own lot numbers. Hence it becomes necessary to have both the customer's lot number and their own on the sales sheet. This is accomplished by writing their own lot numbers directly upon the sales sheets at the left of the invoice and then making the invoice out in the regular way. This idea carries out the customer's wishes, and always gives a comparison of lot numbers to the manufacturers on their sales sheets. Flat-bed machines require wider invoice, Fig. 15.

=Goods Purchased Outside.= It is possible to make a short cut in some lines of business where the goods sold are not kept in stock but are purchased from other firms in the same city. When placing the invoice in the billing machine over the sales sheet, requisition blanks in duplicate or triplicate can also be placed in the machine with the invoice, and the items which have to be ordered outside written first on the invoice. When all of these items have been entered on the invoice, the requisition blanks may be removed, and the invoice and sales sheet left in the billing machine, putting the remaining items which are to be shipped and charged on the invoice (sales sheet). This occurs where orders can be shipped complete.

This plan can also be used when writing up the order, where the billing is done after the goods are shipped. It is to be remembered that there is a great distinction to be made in handling the billing work of firms who are able to fill their own orders complete, as contrasted with those firms who have to wait until goods are shipped in order to determine which items to bill. Some firms who always carry a complete stock are able to make up an invoice and order blank, a label for the express package, and a charge on sales sheet, simultaneously, because they know that they can ship every item called for, and consequently do not have to wait to see what items are shipped before billing them.

=Unit Billing.= The unit idea in billing has grown considerably in the last few years, notwithstanding that the size of the bills have to be uniform, and as large an invoice has to be used for one item as for a large bill. Many firms prefer the unit idea to the condensed sales sheet idea.

This is due chiefly to the elasticity of the scheme. The duplicate, triplicate, or quadruplicate of the invoice can be sorted in any desirable way. It is especially convenient for bookkeepers to sort duplicates of the invoices alphabetically, and save a great deal of time in posting to loose-leaf ledgers arranged alphabetically, in the same manner. (In mentioning loose-leaf ledgers, card-ledgers are always included, as the same principles are applied to one as to the other, as far as accounting methods are concerned.) It is easier to handle unit billing forms on the typewriters with billing attachments, which is an added reason that many firms prefer to use them. Some of these forms are shown in Fig. 16.

Another idea to be recommended is the color scheme, whereby each copy of the invoice is manifolded onto a different-colored piece of paper. In sorting the various copies for different departments, different colors will greatly facilitate the recognition of various sheets, and the uses or departments for which each is intended.

ORDER WORK OF WHOLESALE GROCERS

There are hardly two firms who handle their order work alike. The first consideration in treating order methods is to distinguish the classes of business in which the orders are made up ready for execution by the salesman, from those which are received from customers and transcribed on typewriters. The first class will be discussed separately from the second.

Wholesale grocers, druggists, and similar lines receive the great majority of their orders from the salesmen in the field. After the orders are opened, the first step is to stamp on each order a number with an automatic numbering machine. After this is done they are copied into an order register as follows:

1012 John Smith & Co., Plainfield, N. J. 1013 A. B. Jones & Bro., Providence, R. I. 1014 U. J. Benedict, Elmira, N. Y. 1015 Grace Barnes & Co., Alliance, Ohio.

After the orders are filled and charged, they are checked on the order register. About once a week all of the unchecked numbers on the order register are compared with the unfilled orders. If an order should become lost, the fact would not remain unknown longer than one week's time.

It should always be remembered that in case an order is not completely filled and is "back ordered," the back order should always show the original order number in order to prevent confusion. A little practical experience will quickly show how wrong it is to use a new number for a back order.

=Back Orders.= In the problem of systematizing any kind of business, the question of back orders and the proper method of handling them is one of the most troublesome. Some firms do not wish an order blank returned to the warerooms after it has once been there, because they do not wish the wareroom or factory to know the prices which are placed on order blanks in the office after they have been received there for pricing, extending, and billing. Many firms therefore make an entirely new order to be returned to the factory or wareroom with the letter A used in connection with the order number, as follows: _1013A_. This of course delays the filling of the order until the back order is typewritten. If it is necessary to make a second back order, the same would read _1013B_. Other firms use the color scheme. This is a very good idea, as it indicates clearly to the order fillers old orders which should receive attention first.

Many important improvements in the order and billing methods have been inaugurated in recent years in the business of wholesale grocers. Formerly it was the custom, after the order had been numbered and recorded in the order register, to pass the orders out into the warehouse with the general understanding that they were to be filled as quickly as possible. The order fillers would generally start at the top floor and pick all of the items which were to be shipped, place them on a truck and take them to the next lower floor, and follow this plan until the order was entirely filled. In stores above a certain size this resulted in considerable delay.

The first improvement was to send the orders to the shipping department, where they were split up by clerks known as _Slippers_, who wrote on slips the items which were to be taken out of stock, each slip representing the goods to be gotten out on a certain order from a certain floor. This idea allowed the order fillers on all floors to work simultaneously, and resulted in considerable saving of time.

Another favorable result obtained through this system is that the shipping clerk retains an original copy of the order (the copy sent in by the salesman) and is enabled therefore to follow up all departments and hurry up any department which may be delinquent in the filling of a certain order. In planning work, it is always advisable to have one department act as a follow-up on some other department. In the grocery business, it is much more satisfactory for the shipping clerk to have a complete record of all the orders to be shipped that day, than to hand the original orders into the warehouse to be sent down to the shipping department after the order has been entirely filled, and then have the shipping clerk rushed _at the last minute_ to plan his loads and do all of the clerical work, such as making up bills of lading, etc.

The next improvement was necessitated by a desire on the part of those wholesale groceries which are located in cities having an efficient interurban electric car service to fill orders at different hours of the day. One western firm transcribed all of its orders on cylinder billing machines, giving the shipping clerk a full copy of the order, and each department a copy of the items which are to be filled from that department only. On the shipping clerk's copy, the notation _11 A.M._, is marked, also on all of the department order slips. This indicates that the order is to be shipped on the 11 o'clock car. Other stationery is printed with the _1 P.M._, _2 P.M._, _3 P.M._, _4 P.M._, _5 P.M._ to indicate the hours at which the orders are to be shipped. Many small retail merchants delay ordering until the last minute, and the wholesale house which can give the promptest service gets the business. The above plan advises the shipping department the time that the goods are to be delivered, and makes it responsible for results. All delays are noted, and a daily report made of the causes, which are promptly investigated and removed.

=Split Orders.= Some wholesale drug houses have their stock arranged on different floors, of which their salesmen are fully advised. If the salesman takes an order for goods which are held in stock on four different floors, he sends in the order on four sheets of paper with the items for each floor written on the respective sheets which indicate the respective floors. Different-colored sheets of paper are used for the various floors. This scheme puts more clerical work on the salesmen, but it enables the office to quickly hand each department its part of the order without the delay of transcribing the department slips on the typewriter at the office. In all order schemes where an order is split up and written on several sheets of paper in order that each department may fill the order without delay, the term _split orders_ is used. In all split-order schemes, the number of sheets in which the order has been divided is written on each sheet. For instance, if there are departmental order sheets for three different floors, the figure 3 is marked on each slip. In this way the biller, by counting the number of sheets attached to the complete order, will know that all of the split-order sheets have been returned to the office. Fig. 17 illustrates this system of orders. The three blank sheets at the top are departmental order sheets, and each contains _only a part_ of the whole order. This is accomplished by removing one departmental sheet at a time from the billing machine, but allowing the three top sheets to remain in the machine until the entire order is written.

Some firms are willing to make four copies of an order, each copy containing _all_ of the items of an order. Other firms do not wish the employes to know what a customer is buying outside of the goods relating to the department in which the employe is working. Further, sometimes two departments in the same factory are equipped to make the same class of goods, and if each department received a complete copy of the order there might be some confusion and duplication in the filling of the order.

Some firms, instead of making split orders, make a summary of the goods to be delivered from each floor, giving each floor several of these summaries in the course of a day. The goods are delivered to the shipping department in large quantities, and are separated by the shipping clerk according to the quantities wanted for each order. Concerns which are using this idea claim that it takes less time for the shipper to separate goods than it does for the order department to make split orders for each individual.

In planning the clerical work in order billing and shipping methods, the volume of business being handled must be taken into consideration. A plan which is necessary with a large business would be considered as red tape in a smaller one. The larger a business grows, the more it is possible to "specialize" the work.