SALES TICKETS
23. In a retail business it is necessary for the sales person to record purchases at the time the goods are selected by the customer. When but one or two clerks are employed, it is possible to record these sales in a counter book or blotter; but in a larger business employing several clerks, this method would be extremely inconvenient. The bookkeeper would be obliged to wait for the books; and even if two sets of counter books were provided for use on alternate days, the work would always be at least one day behind.
The increase in the volume of business transacted, and the multiplicity of transactions in a retail store, have been responsible for the introduction of many labor-saving methods and devices. One of these now used in all large stores and in many small ones, is the sales ticket.
The sales ticket is to all intents and purposes a small invoice blank. Sales tickets are put up in pads or in book form, and are numbered in duplicate. The number is prefixed by a letter—as H 10—which is intended to indicate either the department or the sales person. When a sale is made, the ticket or bill is made in duplicate by means of carbon paper; one copy is given to the customer, and the other retained. If it is a cash sale, the copy retained goes to the cashier with the money; if a sale on account, to the bookkeeper to be charged.
These sales tickets are also used for taking orders for future delivery, both copies being retained until the order is filled. When delivery is made, one copy goes to the customer as a bill. Aside from the time saved, the sales ticket is a great convenience, as its use gives the customer a bill for every purchase.
DEPARTMENTAL RECORDS
24. When the goods sold are divided into departments, it is here customary to record carefully the purchases and sales for each department. These records are provided for by the use of purchase and sales books having as many columns as there are departments. Let us suppose that the business under consideration is a single proprietorship, and that the goods sold are clothing, shoes, and furnishings. Each class of goods is kept in a separate department, sales and purchases being recorded by departments.
25. Purchase and sales books of a special design are used, each having three special columns. It will be noted that neither purchases nor sales are recorded in detail, but that both purchase invoices and sales tickets are recorded by number, and only the totals extended in the proper column. The charges and credits are posted to personal accounts from the purchase and sales books. All purchase invoices are filed in numerical order. The sales tickets are kept in bundles, each day's tickets by themselves. The tickets of each department and each sales person are also kept by themselves. If it becomes necessary at any time to know the items of an invoice or sales ticket, it is an easy matter to refer to the files under the proper date and number for the desired information.
The combined totals of the three department columns must equal the footing of the total column. All footings are carried forward until the end of the month, when the totals are posted directly to purchase and sales accounts, completing the double entry. In the ledger, purchase and sales accounts are kept with each department; but when the books are closed, the results from all departments are combined in the trading account. Instead of recording cash sales in a special column in the cash book, all receipts of this kind are entered in the regular cash received column. These sales are not posted from the cash book, but are entered in the sales book daily. Thus they are carried forward in the footings, and at the end of the month the totals of the sales book represent all sales, both on account and for cash.
26. The cash book in this set presents some new features. Instead of using both pages of the book, one page is used for both debit and credit. The bank account is also kept in the cash book, debit and credit columns being provided for this purpose. Deposits are entered in the bank debit column and in the cash credit column. Checks are entered in the bank credit column and posted to individual accounts.