Americans and Germans and English. There are a large number of small
manufacturers and jobbers in France. The large department stores, like
the Louvre, in Paris, are run on a strictly cash basis.
MACHINES FOR MANIFOLDING
Neither the billing machines (book-writing machines) nor typewriters
were originally intended for heavy manifolding work. The flat-bed
billing machines were originally invented to write in books used for
court records, sales books, etc. The book was to remain stationary and
the machine was to travel over the books. The flat-bed machines are the
only machines made for writing in bound books—the latter are being
gradually replaced by loose-leaf books. A flat-bed machine for bound
books is shown in Fig. 2.
[Illustration:
Fig. 2. Flat-Bed Typewriter for Bound Books. _Elliott-Fisher Co._
]
The typewriter was originally intended to write on one sheet of paper
only. If extra copies were needed, a copying ribbon was used, and a wet
copy taken in a letter-press book. In the evolution from bound books
(official record and commercial) to loose sheets, the book typewriter
was equipped with devices for holding loose sheets of paper—used alone
or in connection with books. In the evolution from letter-press copies
to carbon copies, the typewriter was equipped with hard-rubber and brass
platens for taking from one to twenty-five copies, and in some cases
even more, with extremely thin paper and carbon paper.
The flat-bed billing machines are equipped with heavier type-bar springs
than the cylinder machines. The operator in depressing the keys
overcomes the additional resistance to the touch, due to the heavier
type-bar springs, and strikes a heavy blow on the paper, making a good
manifold copy in all cases. The operator on a cylinder billing machine
strikes a heavier blow than usual to secure the heavy manifolding
results. The heavier the blow, the clearer the result on a billing
machine. The Underwood billing machine is shown in Fig. 3.
[Illustration:
Fig. 3. Underwood Billing Machine
]
All typewriters equipped with special attachments for holding the sales
sheets, invoices, and orders are called _cylinder billing machines_. The
paper upon which the machine writes is held by, and passes over and
around, a round rubber roll, the cylinder.
This is in contrast to the flat-bed billing machines (or book
typewriters) on which the paper lies flat on a rubber plate while the
machine moves over the paper.
=Development of Billing Machines.= This text has been prepared by taking
the simplest forms of billing and order work, and leading up gradually
to the more complicated forms. This is actually what took place in the
improvement of office and factory work.
A bill and a copy were first made—an extra sheet was made for some
additional purpose. The advantages of doing two or three things at once
led to further investigation. This resulted in still additional sheets
being used for other purposes. Every time an additional sheet was added,
the labor of typewriting that sheet separately was eliminated.
Gradually it developed that it would be useful to copy a part only of
the typewritten information on some of the under sheets. Means were
found for accomplishing this. For instance, on an order form, it was
desirable to have the prices show on the office copy, but not on the
copy which was intended for the warehouse or factory.
In some cases it was desirable to write all the information on the top
copies and split up the information thereon on the sheets underneath.
The final development of all the above ideas is embodied in the compound
form, in which all sheets for the office, customer, warehouse, factory,
shipping room, and loading platform are typewritten at one operation,
and the invoice and duplicate finished as a separate operation.
Wholesale and manufacturing lines are used mostly in this text to
illustrate the evolution and improvement of billing and order work. Some
of the conditions which have to be considered in installing office
systems are as follows:
Whether the orders are received from customers or salesmen or both,
and which are in the majority.
Whether the goods are carried in stock or manufactured or bought
outside, or all of these.
Whether the orders can be filled completely, or nearly so.
Whether or not the factory may know the prices.
Whether the goods are shipped by freight, mail, express, or all of
these.
Whether copies of the bills have to be made for any other purpose.
Whether a copy of the sales sheet has to be sent to the home office,
or made for any department.
If additional copies of either are necessary, what colors to use for
readily distinguishing them.
How many ledger clerks, and how to sort their work to the best
advantage so that each clerk handles his work only.
How to file office and factory copies for quick reference.
How to plan all the above so that improper filing of sheets does not
destroy the chain of record.
The reasons for these considerations will be better appreciated after
further progress is made.
If the business student learns the capabilities of office machinery, the
advantage of manifolding, the use of colored papers, and the important
feature of correctly grouping statistics (which is almost an art in
itself), he will have accomplished much. He should learn also to develop
his own power of originality and suggestion.
The natural order in which order billing and shipping ought to be
presented is the way in which the transactions occur. Methods of billing
(making out invoices) in many businesses govern the manner in which the
orders are made up, and therefore will be considered first.
In order to more clearly bring out the advantages of new methods, it is
deemed advisable to consider old-style methods and contrast them with
the newer ideas. By showing the weak points in the older methods and why
the new are better, the gradual evolution and improvements can be
traced.
=Old-Style Method of Billing and Making Wet Copy in Tissue Book.= There
are enough firms who still follow this plan of billing to resent the
term "old-style." The best that can be said for this plan is that it is
shorter than writing the bill-and-sales book, or sales journal,
separately. The wet copy takes the place of rewriting the bill. One
objection to this method of copying bills is that if all the bills are
copied some of them are either blurred or are too light when the copy
has dried on the tissue leaf. This is a difficulty which can be
corrected by careful attention.
The worst feature is that one never knows whether all the bills have
been copied, and there is no way of knowing this unless the copies in
the tissue book are checked back with the orders from which the bills
were made. Many firms spend thousands of dollars in advertising,
traveling expense, labor, etc., ship out and bill large invoices of
goods, "double check" the invoices, and leave the copying of the
invoices in tissue books to a young office boy. They never think to
check back the invoices with the orders to be absolutely certain that
the goods have been _charged_ as well as invoiced (billed out).
[Illustration:
Fig. 4. Old-Style Cloth Bath. _Underwood Typewriter Co._
]
If one should ask them how they know that all invoices are charged (or
copied into the tissue books) the invariable answer would be, "Oh! we
never lose any bills before they are copied." Ask them how they know
none are lost and, after thinking a while, they will admit that they
really do not know _for sure_. They begin to check back the tissue book
after some customer brings in a bill for payment which has never been
copied into the tissue book, and hence has not been posted to the
customer's account.
[Illustration:
Fig. 5. Old-Style Copy Press. _Underwood Typewriter Co._
]
Fig. 4 shows the old-style cloth bath, Fig. 5 the old-style copy press,
and Fig. 6 the old-style sales book (tissue paper leaves).
LOOSE-LEAF SALES SHEETS AND INVOICES
This style of billing was the first variation from the plan of using
copying ink, or pencil, on invoices and then transferring the ink to
tissue paper books, by wetting the leaves with water and then absorbing
the surplus water with paper blotters. Or this was done by placing damp
cloths on the under side of the leaf and covering it with a leaf,
placing the invoice downward on the tissue leaf, closing the book, and
placing it in a copying press. The ink from the invoice was sufficiently
transferred to the tissue paper to make an impression thereon.
[Illustration:
Fig. 6. Old-Style Sales Book. _Underwood Typewriter Co._
]
If the person who did the copying did not use due care, the paper would
be too wet and the ink would run and blur the copy and the invoice. If
two invoices were accidently picked up by the person copying, the top
invoice would not be copied on the tissue sheet. This is a most serious
objection, for the reason that the copy in the tissue was used as record
of the invoice for the purpose of posting into the ledger.
Another difficulty was the usual one experienced through the use of
bound books in office work. Only one person can use a book at one time.
If Fayette Henry, the accountant, was using the tissue-copy book, and
Dave Pike, the order clerk, wanted to use it to see if all invoices had
been copied by the office boy, he had to wait on Fayette Henry. The
loose-leaf sales sheet shown in Fig. 7, with the pages serially numbered
and placed in proper binders after each sheet has been filed, overcomes
all of the difficulties mentioned—with many additional benefits.
[Illustration:
Fig. 7. Loose-Leaf Sales Sheet and Invoices. No Ruling on Sales Sheet.
_Remington Typewriter Co._
]
The loose-leaf sales sheet and invoice were first used with the flat-bed
billing machine, the sales sheet being held in position by being placed
over studs (round metal posts), which fitted into the punched holes in
the edge of the paper. These punched holes were used ultimately for
fitting over the metal binder posts in the loose-leaf binders. The
invoices were wider than the regular-size invoice and were perforated
about 1 inch or 1½ inches from the left side, as shown in Fig. 8. To the
left of the perforated edge were two small holes about 2¾ inches apart,
which fitted over two small studs on a sliding bill-holder device. This
plan provided a means of holding the large sheet and invoice in proper
relation to each other. A piece of carbon paper the same size as the
sales sheet was placed between the invoice and the sales sheet. This
ruling of the sales sheet is shown in Fig. 9.
[Illustration:
Fig. 8. Invoice for Use on Billing Machine
]
When an invoice was written on the billing machine, it was manifolded on
the sales sheet beneath. When the invoice was finished it was ready to
mail—no delay in copying invoices, no blurred invoices through careless
copying. No fading of the manifolded copy where black carbon paper was
used. Inks are not made of indestructible carbons as black carbon paper
is made. A condensed billing or invoicing loose-leaf sales book for this
purpose is shown in Fig. 10.
The following are some of the many good features of the condensed
system, as it is in use to-day, briefly stated:
[Illustration:
Fig. 9. Loose-Leaf Sales Sheet
]
Bill and entry in sales book are obtained at one operation.
Entries upon sales book agree absolutely with bill rendered.
The bill clerk becomes bill and entry clerk combined.
There is no danger of a bill being rendered without the proper
charge being made.
Entries under this system occupy but one-fourth the space required
for those written with the pen.
There is no waste space upon sales sheet.
Both sides of the sales sheet may be utilized.
The saving in vault space alone is worthy of special consideration.
[Illustration:
Fig. 10. Condensed Billing or Invoicing Loose-Leaf Sales Book.
_Underwood Typewriter Co._
]
In recent years, the typewriter companies have placed devices on their
typewriters which permit of the sales sheet being held independently of
the invoices. This permits one to hold the large sales sheet in the
machine until enough invoices have been manifolded thereon to cover the
page, at which time the sales sheet is reversed. The invoices can be
placed in the machine and removed therefrom after being written, without
interfering with the sales sheet. No extra width of invoice is required,
which permits of old stationery being used in the form of invoices. The
flat-bed machines can use old stationery, but not quite so well.
However, when billing by machinery, it is false economy to use
stationery designed for pen work. The reasons for this will be touched
upon later.
The use of two ledgers necessitates the use of two columns at the right
side of the page. All names from _A_ to _L_ are placed in the first
column; all names from _M_ to _Z_ are placed in the second. For
instance, an invoice reading as shown in the sales journal, Fig. 11,
illustrates the idea of writing the totals in the two columns at the
right side of sheet according to the initials of the last name of the
firm or the individual, as the respective ledgers are arranged in that
manner. If at the end of the month the first column shows a total of
$3,000.00 the bookkeeper knows that he has posted that amount into
Ledger _A-L_, etc.
The above plan enables the bookkeeper to add separately the totals which
are posted to the respective ledgers. The desire to separate the charges
to a country ledger and a city ledger can be accomplished by using two
columns in the same way.
The desire to place all credit memoranda in the sales book can be
accomplished by using two columns in the sales book as noted above. The
first column is used for the charges, and the second one for entering
the credits. One difficulty arises in connection with this plan. Credits
are liable to be entered in the debit column. To obviate this, the
invoices are made just wide enough to reach over the first column, the
credit memoranda are made wider to reach over the last column. When an
amount is written in the last column of the invoice, it manifolds in the
proper column of the sales sheet. The same is true of an amount written
in the last column of a credit memo.
This subdivision of columns is carried a step further to permit of the
analyzation of sales in several ways.
According to classes of goods, as follows:
[Illustration]
[Illustration:
LAMSON FOUR-INCH PNEUMATIC TUBE ORDER CARRYING SYSTEM FOR A LARGE
WHOLESALE ESTABLISHMENT OR A FACTORY
Lamson Consolidated Store Service Co.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 11. Sales Journal Arranged for Distribution to Two Ledgers
]
According to territory, as follows:
[Illustration]
According to salesmen, as follows:
[Illustration]
To separate the sale of regular goods from goods which are being sold on
consignment, as follows:
[Illustration]
Generally the invoice is wide enough to reach over the total column
only, as shown in Fig. 12. Therefore, a total amount written in the
total column of the invoice will manifold onto the sales sheet, and in
the column marked _Total_.
A wide-carriage billing machine, if used, can be adjusted with tabulator
stops to jump to any column desired. The total amount is then written
therein a second time. The amount of the total column should always
equal the total of all the columns placed to the right of the total
column. This plan eliminates the old way of waiting until the end of the
month, and then laboriously going over the sales book with one total
column only, and picking out the various items according to the
classification wanted.
[Illustration:
Fig. 12. Loose-Leaf Sales Sheet and Invoices with Columns for
Distribution of Labor and Stock
]
The work should be planned in a manner which permits of each day's work
being finished each day—leaving nothing to accumulate until the end of
the month, necessitating the retracing of steps to secure certain
statistical information.
In certain lines of business it is desirable to make two sales sheets,
one of which is retained in a binder for an office record and the other
is used for various purposes. It can be used as record of sales from a
branch to a home office, each page being numbered in duplicate, and of a
distinctive color. This is the plan used all over the world by the
Standard Oil Company. As the sales sheets arrive at the home office,
they are placed in their respective binders and are gradually made into
a built-up book. The loss of a sheet would be instantly detected by the
missing page number.
A large French perfumery firm in New York pursues this plan, and sends
to Paris the duplicate sales sheet on thin paper. It gives the home
office a fine record of every invoice sent out to any customer by the
branch office or warehouse. As several invoices can be manifolded on
each page, and on both sides of the sheet, it is the most economical
method of billing as far as stationery is involved. The name _condensed
billing_ indicates this fact.
In other instances, the duplicate sales sheet is wide enough only to
allow quantity and description of goods to be manifolded thereon, prices
and extensions not showing. This narrow sheet can be used for posting to
the stock records without disclosing to that department the prices at
which the particular goods have been sold. This form of the sales sheet
is shown in Fig 13.
=Duplicate Invoices.= There are many reasons, in various lines, why
duplicate invoices are desirable and even necessary. Some customers
request invoices rendered in duplicate with one copy complete, the other
minus the prices and extensions. To accomplish this, it is either
necessary to place a piece of paper between the carbon and duplicate
invoice in such a manner that the prices and extensions will not copy,
or to use a short invoice cut off at the left of the price column, or to
use a short piece of carbon paper between the original and second, or
duplicate, invoice.
It is desirable to make extra copies of invoices or duplicates for the
use of various departments of a business, for instance, analysis of
sales by salesmen. Where a company employs a large number of salesmen,
it is very convenient to file in binders a duplicate copy of all
invoices sold by each salesman, using a binder for each salesman. This
is preferable to having separate columns in the sales book (sales sheets
in binders). The latter method permits each salesman to see what every
other salesman is doing.
[Illustration:
Fig. 13. Sales Sheet for Condensed Billing
]
=Department Records.= A separate binder allows each man to consult his
record without inconvenience to any other one. In large companies having
a traffic department, it is necessary to provide a duplicate copy of
each invoice for the record, showing complete details of every charge.
A distinction should be made between those firms who make their invoices
before the goods are shipped, and those who make the invoices after the
goods have been shipped. In the cloak business, for instance, the goods
are generally billed before the goods are shipped, the invoice being
placed in an envelope and packed with the goods.
Ofttimes the goods are manufactured in proper quantities, properly
checked from the order to the packers' table, and then packed
improperly—some customer receiving too many garments, another, too few.
Yet the order will be properly checked. To obviate this difficulty, a
scheme was devised whereby the packer received a duplicate typewritten
copy of the bill (or invoice) showing everything but the quantities.
This makes it necessary for the packer to count all the garments and
mark down in pencil on this copy of the bill the quantity of each style
and kind to be shipped. Before the goods are shipped, the packer's copy
of the invoice, with his quantities marked in lead pencil, is compared
with the quantities charged on the sales sheet. This scheme forces the
packer to count all garments instead of double checking someone else's
figures in an absent-minded, or even neglectful, way.
This is accomplished by placing a narrow strip of paper over the
quantity column of the duplicate invoice, but under the carbon paper.
The quantity figures manifold onto the strip of paper instead of onto
the duplicate invoice. This plan is termed _using a blind_. The narrow
strip of paper between the invoice and duplicate is the _blind_
described a little further on.
The next step in short cutting work is the printing of a label in
connection with the invoice and sales sheet. In the book business, where
it is generally possible to fill orders from stock, and where the
invoice can be made before the goods are shipped, it is possible to
place a small piece of paper (the label) between a folded invoice in
such a manner that when the name is written on the invoice it manifolds
onto the label as well as onto the duplicate invoice and sales sheet.
=Analysis of Quantities and Amounts.= In certain lines of business which
sell three or four varieties of goods, it is desirable to analyze the
weights or quantities in the proper columns, which in turn manifold onto
the sales sheets, as shown in Fig. 14.
[Illustration:
Fig. 14. Sales Sheet for Analyzing Quantities and Amounts of Goods
]
This saves a great deal of time as compared with making out the same
invoice in the following way:
3000 # Brass Rods @20 $60.00
2500 # Brass Bars @21 $52.50
1000 # Zinc Bars @15 $15.00
By following the first plan, all of the weights for the respective
classes of goods will be manifolded into the proper columns, and it is
therefore an easy matter to total each column, and at the end of the
month the classification of sales will be totaled according to weights
as well as according to dollars and cents. The invoice is ruled to match
the sales sheet.
=Information on Sales Sheet Not on Invoice.= In certain lines of
business, such as wire-screen manufacture, it is desirable at times to
substitute the next size of wire in order to fill orders promptly. In
such cases, it is necessary to have the invoice show the size of wire
ordered, but to have the sales sheet show the size really sent. It would
seem impossible therefore to write _No. 8 wire_ on the invoice and have
_No. 9 wire_ manifold on the sales sheet.
The idea used to accomplish the desired result is to place the invoice
in such a position with relation to the sales sheet that a margin is
left on the left-hand side of the sales sheet, which would permit the
operator typewriting directly on the sales sheet, and placing thereon
the actual size of the wire shipped. The size ordered would be written
on the invoice in the regular manner, and of course would manifold onto
the sales sheet.
There are other cases where it is desirable to use this idea. For
instance, wholesale dry goods firms when purchasing dry goods from
eastern manufacturers request the latter when billing to use lot numbers
furnished by the purchaser. It is also necessary for the manufacturers
to bill the goods according to their own lot numbers. Hence it becomes
necessary to have both the customer's lot number and their own on the
sales sheet. This is accomplished by writing their own lot numbers
directly upon the sales sheets at the left of the invoice and then
making the invoice out in the regular way. This idea carries out the
customer's wishes, and always gives a comparison of lot numbers to the
manufacturers on their sales sheets. Flat-bed machines require wider
invoice, Fig. 15.
=Goods Purchased Outside.= It is possible to make a short cut in some
lines of business where the goods sold are not kept in stock but are
purchased from other firms in the same city. When placing the invoice in
the billing machine over the sales sheet, requisition blanks in
duplicate or triplicate can also be placed in the machine with the
invoice, and the items which have to be ordered outside written first on
the invoice. When all of these items have been entered on the invoice,
the requisition blanks may be removed, and the invoice and sales sheet
left in the billing machine, putting the remaining items which are to be
shipped and charged on the invoice (sales sheet). This occurs where
orders can be shipped complete.