Another duty which falls frequently to the junior in a country branch is the writing of the cash-book, or day-book, as it is sometimes called. This book contains a record of all the vouchers and entries representing the transactions of each day. Theoretically, the particulars of every item, debit and credit, should be entered, but in practice this would be inconvenient. At many offices it would make the book too bulky an affair. Therefore, supplementary books are used. They may cover any class of entry, the items of which are too numerous to be entered in the main or parent book. For example, a supplementary book might be used for the cheques and deposits in either the current accounts or the savings bank ledgers, for the entries between branches or with the head office. It is possible to avoid repetition and to economize labor by using the original records in other main or primary books, such as the discount diary and the discount register, as supplementary to the cash book. Whenever the cash-book is supplemented in this way the totals only of the credits and the debits are incorporated in the main book, along with a record of where the individual items composing the totals are to be found.

Declaration Of Cash Balance

Besides being the book of record for the transactions of the day, the cash book is the medium through which is made every evening the official declaration of the cash balance of the branch, and in consequence the teller, as custodian of the bank's fluctuating cash, is directly concerned in its correctness.

There is no set order of entry for the items. Generally, the headings are arranged so as to permit the entering, as far as possible, of the day's work during the course of the day. The totals cannot be extended until the final entries come from the teller's box after the end of banking hours. All the entries in the book are made from slips or vouchers, except those referred to as being taken by totals from other books. It is endeavored to arrange the headings in the cash-book so that they will come in order down the page, as the accounts to which they belong come in the general ledger. This facilitates the posting of the latter book, which is usually done by a senior officer.

It has been implied that a portion of the items are put through the cash-book during the course of each day. The method of writing up will be easier understood if we imagine that nothing has been done till after the closing hour, when all the entries are gathered and are available for writing in.

How The Vouchers Are Entered

The junior has his book ready, headed up: "Dr., Cash-Monday, 10th June, 1913- Contra-Cr.," the left page being for credit entries, the right for debit entries. He has raised headings for some of the accounts part way down both sides, as far as he can go with an accurate calculation of space requirements for each heading. From the file or box provided for the purpose, he takes the vouchers that are to be entered. Before a commencement can be made they must be sorted properly.

First, the credits are separated from the debits To emphasize the distinction between the two classes of entries, lessening the probability of mistakes and facilitating sorting, the printing on the credit slips is of a different color from that on the debits. When both kinds of vouchers are sorted so that all items for every account are together, arranged in alphabetical order or in order of the folio numbers written upon them, they can be written in.

Most numerous among the items will be the deposit slips and cheques that have passed through the current account or deposit ledger. Nearly everybody who has done business with a bank is familiar with the form of the deposit slips. The name of the bank at the top, with a line for the date; then the word "Credit," with a blank space for the name of depositor, and underneath the specification of the bills and cheques deposited. Before they come to the junior, these slips must pass through the hands of the teller and the deposit ledger keeper. The teller, on checking and finding the slip to be a true representation of the deposit made by the customer, places his initial immediately alongside the total sum at the foot of the slip.