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

Settling Charge Accounts.

When any of our charge customers pays his bill, we make an entry in our cash book, giving to each such payment a separate line. We enter the amount of the payment in the column headed “Net Cash” and also in the column headed “Customers”. We do not enter any of this amount in the columns referring to the various departments because they have already been credited for their proper shares through the charge sales records and to do so again in the cash book would manifestly give them double credit for each charge sale. We also stamp “Paid” in the “Cash” column of Form 6, using a dating stamp that will fit neatly into this column. One using red ink is preferable. If only a part of the bill is paid, we enter in this column the amount received, extend the balance to the proper column and, at the proper time, carry it forward to next month’s account. Some book-keepers of the old school will keep a “blotter” or some such book wherein these payments are first noted, copying them at their leisure into the Cash Book. As the Cash Book is a book of original record, this is not only wrong, but is incidentally unnecessary labor and hence to be avoided. When payments like these come in, they should be taken directly to the book-keeper, who should immediately enter them in the Cash Book.

Figure 10.

All such payments occurring on any one day are entered in a lump sum under “Collections,” on the Form 4 for that day. In fact, all cash received, whether from paymasters’ collections on payrolls or any source other than cash sales by any of our departments, is taken up on Form 4 as “Collections”. If a bill is paid before the end of the month, it is treated exactly the same as if it were paid afterward, except that the date is stamped in a different colored ink. It does not confuse our accounts, because the amount paid is entered in the “Customers’” column of the Cash Book and the total of this column is posted at the end of the month to the credit side of Bills Receivable, Customers, in the ledger. The “Customers’” column in the Cash Book is solely for receipts from our charge customers and for nothing else.

If, at any time, we wish to find the total charge sales, we simply find the total of the amounts shown on Form 7, subtracting credits, if any. We also use the total sales credited to the various departments on Form 7 in making up our monthly statement for the auditing officer and for the Inspector. To find out at the end of the month the amount due us on account, we turn to Bills Receivable, Customers, in the ledger, where the balance should show the correct amount. This amount should check with the “Total” column on Form 6 reduced by credits allowed and payments received prior to the end of the month.