After all the charges have been made, the operator adds up on the adding machine the totals of all the last charges on the various bills to which charges have been made that day. This total must agree with the amount which the auditing department handed over to each bill clerk to be entered upon these bills. The Smith Premier and Elliott-Fisher have tally-strip devices which automatically record the total of each charge made to all the various bills each day. This paper strip, when added up, must agree with the total of the auditing department figures.
At the end of the month, about the 26th, most firms begin to total the columns of the bill. The final total of each bill added to the total of every other bill must give a grand total equal to all the charges for the month. This proves that each bill has been correctly added. The balance due from the previous bills is then brought forward, and any payments made during the month deducted, and the bill footed. All credits for returned goods are entered during the month the same as the charges, excepting that they are placed in a separate column provided for that purpose, and deducted at the end of the month from the charges.
Some firms post the total charges and credits for the month to the ledger in two lump sums. Other firms prefer to post the total of each day's charges to the ledger daily, instead of letting the posting go until the end of the month. This is a matter to be decided from a bookkeeping standpoint. If the bookkeepers have the current month's charges in the ledger, it saves referring to the bills at the bill clerk's desk for information or the current month's charges.
Fig. 25. Monthly Statements of Retail Dry Goods Houses
Remington Typewriter Co.
Fig. 26. Smith Premier Device for Inserting Dry Goods Billing Forms Evenly
After the bills have been sent out, the duplicates are filed away. The best known way to file them is alphabetically; each customer's bill for the various months together. This is in contrast to the plan of filing each month's bills away separately. If it is wished to refer to any one person's charges for a given number of months it is necessary, under the latter plan, to refer to several binders.
Fig. 27. Remington Billing Machines