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

Pay Table Procedure.

It may be just as well to discuss this point here, because it is related to our coupon sales more closely than to anything else.

The first thing to do is to make sure there is available a plentiful supply of change. Where there is no bank convenient to the post and the men receive their money from a paymaster, he will sometimes agree to bring with him an amount of change sufficient for the needs of the Post Exchange, but if there is a bank available, we should hesitate before imposing upon the good nature of the paymaster to this extent. It is a great convenience to the men to have their ten dollar bills “changed”, and no Post Exchange should demur when the men offer such bills in payment of their debts. We must always remember that the principal reason why the Exchange exists is to be a convenience to the enlisted man.

There should be three persons at the Exchange table on pay days; the Exchange Officer to personally receive the cash and make change, the Steward or book-keeper to read from Forms 25 the amount each man owes, and a clerk to check this reading with the men’s notes (Form 19), cancel them and deliver same to the men. A non-commissioned officer of the organization being paid is stationed beside the Steward to identify the men. He calls to the Steward the names of the men as they come up, the Steward calls off the amount that each man owes, the latter gives the money to the Exchange Officer. The clerk has meanwhile checked the total amount covered by Form 19 with the amount read off by the Steward, stamped the card “Paid” and placed it in front of the Exchange Officer for his inspection. The latter then gives the card to the man with his change and the incident is closed. It is usually found advisable to have a selected non-commissioned officer detailed to see that all men report at the Exchange table.

After payment is finished, 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 25. The sum of all these remainders should equal the amount of cash actually taken in at the Exchange table. This check should always be made, and at the earliest possible moment.

It sometimes happens that a man pays for his coupons before pay day; he may have been discharged or transferred, etc. In such a case this fact should be stamped on Form 25 and the total of such amounts deducted at the bottom of the sheet before going to the pay table. The amount of such payments should also be entered on the debit side of the Cash Book as “Pvt. Jones, Co. A, ... $3.00 ... $3.00”, the sums coming under the net cash and the credit coupons columns respectively. If he also paid $1.40 for laundry work done, this entry would be “Pvt. Jones, Co. A, ... $4.40 ... $3.00 ... $1.40”, the sums coming under net cash, credit coupons and laundry coupons respectively. The amounts collected at the pay table are entered in the Cash Book in the same way, all on one line. At the end of the month or when the books are closed, the total of the credit coupons column is posted as a lump sum to the credit of the Bills Receivable. Credit Coupons account in the Ledger and the Laundry collections are handled in the same way.

Having traced this branch of the coupon business to its end, let us retrace our steps and follow another branch until we come to the same goal, the Ledger.