OCTOBEH 14, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



29 



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BOOKKEEPING BY VOUCHER 



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VVEEY retail florist neces- 

 sarily has some system of 

 credits. It may be, be- 

 cause the town is small 

 and he is acquainted with 

 everybody in it, that his 

 credit system is to trust a 

 man because he knows 

 him; and, on the other 

 hand, to refuse to trust 

 him because he knows him. No records 

 need be kept because of this intimate 

 knowledge of his customers. 



As the community increases in size 

 and the volume of one's business in- 

 {'reases, it becomes necessary to have a 

 written record to which reference can 

 be made when credit is asked. This 

 record is best kept in a card file. To the 

 name, busines* and home address of the 

 party is added such intimate details as 

 you may desire, such as banking con- 

 nection, real estate holdings, personal 

 references and manner of meeting obli- 

 gations. In cities that are served by 

 mercantile agencies, it is well to have 

 such service in connection with every 

 application for credit. Of course all 

 this information is only the evidence 

 for or against granting the credit. You, 

 yourself, must sit as the judge and 

 render, personally, the verdict upon the 

 question, "Shall credit be extended! " 

 And sometimes it is good business to 

 grant credit when the risk is somewhat 

 doubtful. In times of a glutted market 

 and particularly in the summer, this 

 might be true. It is better to have a 

 charge on the books than have the goods 

 in the garbage can. 



Bookkeeping. 



Taking up the subject of bookkeep- 

 ing, I believe it will be of interest to 

 give a short explanation of the voucher 

 system, a system that simplifies and 

 shortens the work of the average office. 



The voucher system requires only a 

 ledger, cash book and voucher record 

 book. 



By "voucher" we seek to differen- 

 tiate between the commonly accepted 

 meaning of the word, understood by 

 many to apply only to a certain form of 

 check. In this article the term "vouch- 

 er" is intended to mean the properly 

 indexed invoice, or original bill or bills 

 for merchandise or material attached 

 for convenience in filing to a printed 

 sheet or folder. In conjunction with 

 the voucher may be used a voucher 

 check, carrying not only the check num- 

 ber but also the voucher number to in- 

 dicate the invoices paid by the voucher 

 ■check. 



Simplifies Kecords. 



The voucher and voucher record do 

 away entirely with the day book and 

 journal. The purpose of a day book is 

 to have a book of original entry; but 

 what better original entry can be had 

 than that of the original invoices, at- 

 tached to a neat folder, backed with 

 proper distribution of the charge to its 

 proper accounts. An added advantage 

 of this method of original entry is that 

 your record is in the handwriting of the 

 party to whom you owe the account and 



The address of Ira C. Harper, assistant treas- 

 urer and office manager of the A. W. Smith Co., 

 Pittsburgh, before the F. T. D. convention at 

 Indianapolis October 12 on "Credit and Book- 

 keeping Systems for Up-to-date Flower Shops; 

 also the commercial end of our Industry and the 

 picture of our business from the eyes of the 

 man behind the books." 



its correctness can hardly be subject to 

 dispute. 



The method of procedure is to file the 

 unpaid current invoices, as received, in 

 an ordinary alphabetical box file, so that 

 they may be readily referred to should 

 occasion arise at any time. "When all 

 statements are received at the first of 

 the following month (and they should 

 be in not later than the fifth or sixth) 

 they are quickly checked up with the 

 invoices on file in this box. The bills 

 or invoices from any one firm or person 

 are then attached to one voucher form, 

 and the voucher properly "backed" 

 with the name of the party from whom 

 the purchase was made and the proper 

 amounts filled in opposite the names of 



If there is a weak spot 

 in the trade, it is in the 

 office end of the business. 

 Too few florists have knowl- 

 edge of accounting* — they 

 began life elsewhere than 

 in an office and bookkeep- 

 ing is irksome; its impor- 

 tance is only beginning to 

 be appreciated. But here's 

 a system devised by a man 

 who is a florist as well as 

 a system expert. 



the accounts to which the items pur- 

 chased are to be charged. The total of 

 these items equals the total of the in- 

 voices or bills. 



Journal Entries. 



If discount is to be deducted from the 

 bills, the notation "cash discount" and 

 amount are entered on the voucher in 

 the space provided for journal entries, 

 and the net balance to be paid is en- 

 tered on the bottom line. 



If contra account is to be deducted 

 before payment the notation ' ' Accounts 

 Receivable ' ' and amount are entered on 

 the voucher in the space provided for 

 journal entries and the net balance is 

 shown at the bottom. 



If for any reason, after a voucher has 

 been entered on the record, it is found 

 necessary to cancel all or part of same, 

 the entry is made in the space allotted 

 to journal entries on the back of the 

 voucher form. Example: If the item 

 to be charged off was originally charged 



to "advertising," then the entry is 

 "credit advertising, charge accounts 

 payable. ' ' 



Voucher Becord. 



After all bills or invoices have been 

 attached to voucher forms and prop- 

 erly backed, they are then ready for 

 entry in the voucher record, preferably 

 in alphabetical order for convenient ref- 

 erence. They are given a letter for each 

 month and numbered consecutively as 

 entered — A for January, B for Febru- 

 ary, etc., and each month starting with 

 No. 1. 



The attaching, backing and entering 

 of vouchers, and the ledger posting, 

 even for those houses having the great- 

 est volume of business, should not re- 

 quire more than two days' time of the 

 bookkeeper. It is conceded that cer- 

 tain items of expense are payable im- 

 mediately when incurred. Such items, 

 of course, must be vouchered and en- 

 tered in the voucher record at once, 

 without waiting until the end of the 

 month. These items are exceptions, 

 however, and in no wise interfere with 

 the working of the system. 



Columns to Meet Needs. 



The voucher .record should be a flat 

 open book, with sufficient columns to 

 meet your own needs and desires. On 

 the credit side are columns for the num- 

 ber, the name of party to whom ac- 

 count is owed, and four money columns: 

 Accounts Payable, Cash Discount, Ac- 

 counts Receivable and Sundry Ledger 

 Accounts. 



On the debit side are columns for 

 each account to which items are to be 

 charged. Should you desire specific de- 

 tails of any one department you can add 

 columns to take care of that. Example: 

 To obtain cost of delivery department, 

 over several columns write words, ' ' De- 

 livery Department." Then head col- 

 umns as follows: Gas, repairs, chauf- 

 feurs' wages, boys' wages, carfare, ex- 

 press and parcel post. Any other item 

 of expense may be subdivided as you 

 desire, and separate columns allowed for 

 such subdivision. 



Care Needed. 



The totals of the four credit columns 

 must equal the totals of all the charge 

 columns. "When these columns have 

 been totaled and agree, you may be sure 

 your voucher record is in balance. Of 

 course care must be taken to get your 

 amounts in the proper column, for if you 

 by mistake entered the amount in the 

 wrong column, your record would be in 

 balance but you may have charged to 

 merchandise what should have been 

 charged to advertising and so your rec- 

 ord of merchandise and advertising 

 would neither be true. 



After the month's bills have aU been 

 entered and the columns totaled, you 

 are ready for posting to the ledger. 

 Only the total of each column is posted, 

 so that you have but one ledger entry 

 in each account, unless there is no col- 

 umn for the account and the voucher 

 record entry happens to be in the sundry 



