Post Exchange Methods / A Manual for Exchange Stewards, Exchange Officers, Members of Exchange Councils, Commanding Officers, Being an Exposition of a Simple and Efficient System of Accounting Which Is Applicable to Large and to Small Exchanges Alike.

by Paul D. Bunker

Coupon Sales.

When the men receive their coupons, they use them for purchasing articles from the Exchange. The clerk making a coupon sale should identify the man making the purchase and make sure he is using his own coupons. He should also satisfy himself that there is no fraud, forgery, etc., connected with the coupons. These two operations are ordinarily instantaneous, requiring no waste of time whatever. The clerk then gives the purchaser the desired articles, tears off a corresponding value in coupons and drops them in his private drawer or compartment, meanwhile ringing up the sale on the cash register and giving the purchaser the receipt printed by the register.

Figure 17, (Reduced in size)

After the day’s work is over, each clerk handles his coupon sales in the same manner as previously described for charge sales, and they are checked by the Steward as before. The latter enters on his Form 4, (Fig. 5) the amount of coupon sales made by each clerk, also, the total amount of coupons issued during the day. All these coupon transactions for any one day are then entered on a single line of Form 26 (Fig. 17) which is the same as that used for Form 7. As will be noted from an inspection of the cut, the coupons issued are entered in column A and the total receipts from all departments are entered in column B. These receipts are distributed among the department as shown, the value carried in column B equalling the sum of the amounts carried in the columns to the right.

Each Form 26 refers solely to one month’s transactions, there are no “brought forward” items. At the end of the month or whenever the books are closed, all of the columns on this form are footed up and the totals checked across. The total of column A should agree with the strip record which the coupon clerk has been keeping as previously described. The detailed process of checking this account will be described later, but it is evident that if the Steward has made out his daily reports (Form 4) correctly, and correctly copied the coupon records to Form 26, there can be no error in the latter statement. After successfully withstanding the checking process, the total of column A is posted as a lump sum to the debit side of “Bills Receivable, Credit Accounts” in the Ledger, writing the entry thus:—“Aug. 31 Credit Coupons $54.00”. It will be remembered that we must also credit this amount to the Outstanding Coupon account. We now transfer the total of the Store column to the Store Account in our Ledger, entering on the right hand or credit side, “Aug. 31 Coupon sales $8.15”. We proceed in like manner with our other departments. The total of column B must, of course, be charged (debited) against the Outstanding Coupon account in the Ledger.

A summary of all these operations is shown graphically in Fig. 18. The solid lines show how a record is carried through the books until it arrives at the Ledger. The dotted lines show the various checking operations that are possible. Attention is especially invited to checking Forms 25 and 26 against each other.

Figure 18.

In leaving the subject, it is deemed proper to state that the Exchange Officer should keep a single entry record of all unused coupons on hand. When they are first received from the printer, he should carefully check them in person and see that they are safely stored. 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 time.

Coupons should be issued at a fixed time daily, and the Exchange Officer should see to it that the men are never disappointed, but are always able to secure their coupons at the specified time.

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