The retail dry goods houses and department stores use a form of billing which is different from any other, in that the bills are rendered to the customer once a month only. There are other lines of business which render their bills monthly, and which use the same style of billing.
A folded form is used, the top sheet when completed at the end of the month is mailed to the customer. The second or duplicate is retained for the record of purchases.
When a customer makes a purchase, the saleslady makes the charge in her sales book. One copy goes with the goods to the wrapping desk, the other goes to the cashier's desk. The wrapper cannot handle a package without a duplicate sales slip. The packer removes from his duplicate slip a stub bearing the same number as the slip. This is to prevent goods being removed from the house without proper authority. The cashier retains the slip if cash has been paid, but passes the slip on to the auditing department, if the slip is marked by the saleslady charge.
Fig. 24. Compound Forms, Showing Invoice and Office Records
Remington Typewriter Co.
In large stores like John Wanamaker's, the customers are given by the credit man a brass check with their number marked thereon. This shows each clerk with whom they deal that they are entitled to credit, without having them identified each time they make a purchase. In smaller cities, the clerks become familiar with all the charge customers, and any plan of this character is not needed.
The sales slips are all numbered from 1 to 50, and the auditing department checks back each day all the slips of the different sales-people to see if all the slips have been accounted for. Some stores have a chart on the cashier's desk with the clerk's number at the top of each column, and the check numbers listed serially in each column, as shown in Table I.
Table I
CHART FOR CHECKING RETAIL SALES SLIPS
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |