152. Coupon Department, Paying

Trust companies have the majority of the business of paying coupons. The paying coupon teller should have an abstract of all paying instructions before him continually. This abstract should show the name of the coupons, the due date, the title of the bond issue, the rate per cent, the serial number, the bond numbers, the total number of coupons to be paid, the value of each and the total amount to be paid. The abstract should allow ample room for special instructions and should show the account to be charged. These abstracts should be prepared from the original correspondence and filed alphabetically in a loose-leaf binder. The abstract sheet may be followed by a sheet on which is posted the total number and amount of coupons paid each day and the balance yet remaining in the account with which to pay coupons not presented. Instead of this ledger record, a special coupon ledger may be set up and kept like any other ledger.

The coupons are cancelled when paid, and sent to the corporation when the particular fund is exhausted.

153. Stationery And Supplies

The average bank does not devote sufficient attention to this subject. Few officers realize how large an item it is in their expense account. The carelessness is a relic of the days when banks were supposed to be very wealthy institutions in which expense was no object. There are cases to-day when financial institutions are paying from one-third to one-half as much again as others do for the same article. Much needless expense is incurred in purchasing and still more in using or non-using of supplies purchased. The scratch pads of most banks are made of forms, letter heads, etc., which have become valueless. The writer has in mind a case where a clerk was found short of a certain kind of form at a time when they were very much needed. He was so inconvenienced thereby that he immediately placed an order for ten thousand, where one thousand would have sufficed. They will make very good scratch pads some day. The desks of individual clerks are often stocked with stationery and supplies enough to keep a dozen men going for some time.

Supplies of all kinds should be concentrated under one man, who should have full authority to purchase the needed articles where and when he can get the best prices, with due regard to the quality. A depositor who happens to be in the supply business should not be fav-ored because he is a depositor, when it would be a loss to the bank to purchase from him. It would be far better to assure him that his account will be handled on the best basis possible, and allow him to bid with others on the bank's supplies, favoring him only when all other things are equal. If dealers know that they are bidding against others they are apt to cut their own prices to the lowest level. Orders for ledgers, check books, pass books and many other things can be placed, subject to delivery at the convenience of the printer, but before a fixed date. A printer with a large force of men will be glad to make special rates for such orders.

In a large bank, the head of each department should be held responsible for the use of supplies in his department and should sign a requisition on the stock clerk for supplies needed. A form of requisition is shown in Figure on page 267.

The stationery clerk should have a stock room furnished with ample shelf and drawer space, in dust proof compartments. Every shelf and drawer should be numbered, so that a short memorandum on his record will indicate exactly where articles will be found, e.g., 3-2 would mean closet number 3, shelf 2. This may be carried further by the use of "L" for left and "R" for right, e.g., 3-2R would indicate that the form desired would be found in closet number 3, shelf number 2 on the right hand side.

The New York National Bank. Requisition For Supplies.

New York..............................19........

The Stock Clerk will please furnish the following supplies for use in my department:

Form No....................................................................................................................

Form No.......................................................................................................................

Form No......................................................................................................................

Special Instructions:

Chief of................department

Figure 126. Requisition For Supplies.

Let us assume that the form ordered by Mr. Brown is a new one. He will attach two drafts to his requisition, one for the order clerk and one for the printer. The stock clerk has secured several bids and has decided to order the needed forms from the Meteor Printing Co. As the terms and articles will be so varied, it will be worth while to dictate a letter ordering the supplies and have a carbon copy made for his files. Before sending the form to the printer, he should give it a number and place the number so assigned on the upper right hand corner, with the number ordered and the date, e.g., 1-1,000-6-09. The form should be entered under an appropriate title in an index arranged numerically and another arranged alphabetically. Having received the goods, he first checks them with his letter and certifies to the correctness of the bill. He then charges himself with the total number of the forms ordered on a card record as shown in Figure 127 on page 269, and delivers a sufficient quantity to Mr. Brown for use in his department, crediting himself with the number of forms delivered and carrying out the remainder on hand in the balance column. The balance will be stored in his stock room and the location noted on his card, as mentioned above.

When posting future deliveries made from this stock, the clerk will note that his supply is running low and replenish in ample time to save rush and the necessary extra expense incident thereto. He should not place an order, however, without first conferring with the head of the department using the form, to ascertain whether any change is desirable.

Stationery Record

Stationery-........................

Number.............................

Article................................................................................................

Form

Number............................

Received...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Delivered.......

Date

Bill No.

Dealer

Quantity

Price

Cost

Date

Quantity-

Inventory

Value of Balance on hand

Figure 127. Stationery Record.

As the clerk will be in the habit of dealing with tradespeople it will be worth while to allow him to secure bids for carpentry, plumbing, iron work, etc. It would be possible to curtail expenses in this way.