Why Balances Should Be Extended At Once

A habit to be avoided is that of making entries in an account without at the same time extending its balance. The manager is liable at any time to present himself at the ledger and to ask what balance a certain customer has. If he finds he has often to wait while the ledger-keeper completes the extension of the balance down to the last entry in the account, he is not apt to be so favorably impressed with the officer's qualities as he would be if he always got the information immediately the account folio was turned up.

Posting The Customers' Pass Books

As soon as the bank doors are opened, at ten o'clock, the dealings with the public commence. Early depositors hand in their deposits to the teller, their pass books to the ledger-keeper. While the teller is checking off the items of the deposit, the ledger-keeper is entering in the pass book all items that have been posted in the customer's account since his pass book was last presented. When the teller passes the deposit slip through, duly initialled, the amount of the deposit is posted in the customer's account and entered in his pass book.

The pass book is supposed to be a copy, running from month to month, of the customer's account in the ledger. It remains in the customer's possession. By it he may keep himself informed as to the state of his balance.

It should be remembered that there is nearly always a difference, in the case of active accounts, between the balance as shown by the bank pass book and that shown by the customer's own books. The pass book shows the more favorable balance. It does so because of the outstanding cheques.

Whenever the customer draws a cheque on his account he must credit the bank in his own books; the bank, of course, does not debit the cheques until they are presented for payment or certification.

As the deposits entered in the pass-book constitute credits accorded by the bank to the customer, they must be made in a manner to show that the bank authorizes or confirms them. Therefore, it is stipulated that the ledger-keeper initial each deposit on behalf of the bank. The entries of cheques are not initialled, because they are merely records of instruments bearing the customer's signature, which the bank has in possession, and which it can produce, if necessary, to prove the correctness of the account.

Certifying Cheques

All through the day there is more or less of a procession of people at the ledger-keeper's wicket wishing to get cheques "marked," "accepted," or "certified." If there are other banks in town, their representatives are likely to be the most important of these. They present cheques and bills, the manner of dealing with which has already been described. Others, wishing to cash cheques, present them at the ledger for certification before demanding the cash from the teller.

Watching For Forgeries

As the payments of money are made by the bank on the strength of the customer's signature on the cheque forms, special care has to be taken to ensure that the signatures, on the cheques to be paid, are genuine. On opening an account each and every customer is required to furnish the bank with a specimen of his signature. If the account is to be operated by more than one person, each one of the authorized signers gives a specimen. If any customer adopts any peculiar mark or sign as a special preventive of forgery, a record is taken of it. These specimens and records are in the ledger-keeper's charge. They are kept in a book or on cards so as to be available for instant reference in case of need.

With regard to most of the cheques presented to him the ledger-keeper has no doubts whatever. It happens either that the holders of the cheques are well known and their bona fide character clearly evident, or that the signatures are so familiar that he is able to pass on them at a glance. But sometimes a stranger presents a cheque of a customer whose account is not very active, or maybe recently acquired. Any one or more of half a dozen other things may suffice to attach suspicion to any particular document. A bright and attentive clerk gets to know by instinct which cheques demand special examination and which can be passed instanter.

The clerk can hardly afford to take chances. He is responsible for any forged signatures he may pass, and, as a rule, his salary is not large enough to permit deductions being made for losses of this kind. When the authenticity of a signature is open to doubt, which cannot be removed by a reference to specimens and records, there are several courses open-consultation with superiors, a telephone or other message to the drawer of the cheque, asking for confirmation of his signature, etc. The ledger-keeper's first thought is to avoid the ignominy and monetary loss that would be his if a forged cheque were passed on the bank. He will also have in mind the fact that it is important, if a forgery is being attempted, to apprehend the forger. It is thus necessary for him sometimes to resort to finesse to detain a suspected individual while investigating the authenticity of the signature.

In marking cheques presented to him from outside, there is another thing which he has to keep constantly in mind. The holder of it may try to raise or increase the amount after it is marked. To illustrate: A swindler might have a balance of $15 at his credit. Having this, he could present his cheque for $5 and get it certified or marked at the ledger; then he might raise it to $500 and try to pass it at the bank or outside for that sum.

To guard against a trick of this kind, the ledger-keeper must observe how each cheque is drawn as he marks it. If a space is left which would facilitate the raising of the amount, he must draw a heavy line to stop it. He should make sure that where the amount is written in the body, and where the figures are placed, there is no empty space, either in front or after the amount, that could be put to an improper use.