1st Year Principles of Commerce Notes Ch# 09

Indexing

Introduction:

Index is simply a list arranged alphabetically showing the required reference. An index to file may be set out in the form of a bound or loose leaf book whereas a separate page or group of pages is allotted to every letter of the alphabet, the field no. being entered against each name. Thus indexing is a system through which the location of the records may be found easily. It may be placed near to the records or may be kept apart from the records or the records themselves may be so arranged as to be self indexing eg . 1 index of a book (apart from the records) and 2. Telephone directory (self- indexing).
Indexing Equipment

VERTICAL CARD INDEX:

There are number of card in it and each card deals with one item of the index. On the top edge of the card, reference heading is written. On the remaining part of the card, the location of the item is written, where the self- indexing system is in use, the remaining part of the card contains the record itself. These cards are arranged vertically in a drawer or tray in such a way that they can be used very conveniently for reference to make the function or finding the reference more easily, tabbed guide cards may be inserted at required intervals.


STRIP INDEX:

It is consisted of frame into which strips of shout paper or card can be fitted in any required order and subsequently withdrawn and rearranged whenever changes are to be made. Each strip is devoted on one item of not more than two or three lines. Frames can be made up in various forms to suit different purposes; they can be fixed to the wall made up in book form or where a large number is necessary arranged on a rotary stand which is easily turned to give reference to any desired portion of the index.


VISIBLE CARD INDEX:

This is an index which offers the ready visibility of the strip index and also the additional record space provided by the vertical card index. It consists of series of cards, arranged so as to overlap leaving a strip of each card exposed. This exposed edge is used for the reference heading, the remaining part of the card is readily available for record purpose. The trays in which these cards are kept are fitted with devices which enable the cards to be held in position and yet permit individual cards to be written upon withdrawn replaced or rearranged as may bar required. The trays of cards are usually kept in cabinet but as in the case of the strip index frames can be arranged in book form when they make an easily portable record.

VISIBLE BOOKS:

Overlapping visible index records can also be kept in book form. A viable book consist of a loose leaf binder in which paper pages are arranged in a similar formation the cards in visible card index.

WHEEL INDEX:

This is a form of vertical card index in which the cards are arranged about the circumference of wheel set in a cabinet or desk. Thousand of such cards can be attached to one wheel and as many as six wheels set up within the reach of one clerk seated at his desk.

STAGGED CARD INDEX:

This is an arrangement of the vertical card index which has been developed to give easier reference to headings. Cards are arranged in groups and overlapped so that the reference headings on the cutaway concern of a whole group can be seen at once. This system of indexing is sometimes applied to ledger cards to facilitate the extraction of accounts for posting.

SLOTTE CARDS:

The cards are punched with holes along one or more edge, each hole represents a classification or figure in code number. Written information is recorded by hand or typewriting in the centre of the card. The information in term of which it is required to deselected or sort can be recorded along the edge of card by cutting the appropriate holes into slots. Once they have been prepared the card may be filed in trays in any order. To select the card for a particular classification batch of several hundred cards is removed from the tray and a long needle is passed through the holes representing the class required. When the needle is lifted the cards which have been slotted at these holes fall out so separate themselves from the remainder.

1st Year Principles of Commerce Notes Ch# 08

Inflow and Outflow of Paper

Introduction

Correspondence is of great importance in modern times. Almost each business transaction involves exchange of papers of different kinds and other material, letters orders samples, cheques drafts, bills , government instruction through circulars and official letters invoices and so on. It is therefore imperative that the correspondence department must be vigilant and efficient in disposal off the letters and maintaining the accurate and complete records of all the papers concerning the commercial transactions.

The correspondence in commercials office had been divided into two categories.

1. Inflow or inward correspondence.

2. Outflow or outward correspondence. Inflow and outflow of papers are guided by the individual requirements and environment or business location and the type of business. They are discussed as below.


INFLOW OF PAPER

1. OPENING OF LETTER:

This letters are usually opened in the presence of the general manger of some responsible officer who by quick glance over each letter assertions whether it deals with matters of routine or required any special notice to be taken. He is particularly watchful of letters which contain a discordant note or complain. Care has to be taken to see that the contents of the letters are properly emptied before the outside covers are thrown away. If the letters is addressed by human name or is marked privateer it is not opened but is handed over to the person concerned. Remittances received are sent to the cashier for entry in cash book. All the cheques received are crossed and endorsed before being sent to the bank for collection and credit to account.


2. STAMPING AND SORTING THE LETTER:

The letters are then sorted out and marked with the date and time of their receipt noted on each of them; this is done with a view to prevent laziness and irresponsibility on the part of the staff in dealing with the letters. They are then sorted out bin batched according to their nature and each is handed over the person entrusted with the dealing letters of that type. Sometimes each letters is impressed with an identification mark indicating the department which it belongs to. The officers are thus enabled to ensue that prompt action is taken on all the letters by each department and filing is up to date and correct. The letters may also then be numbered for quick reference in the office n, if a numerical system of reference is maintained.


3. ENTRY IN LETTER RECEIVED BOOKS:

The letters received are briefly recorded in a let ter received book. It records a date of receipt the name of the sender, and the subject of the letter , the departments to which they have been handed over , the manner of their disposal and the reference through which they have been disposed off.

4. PREPARATION OF REPLIES:

The concern department then deals with the letters take any action necessary upon them and draft replies which are forward to officers, for correction and approval, along with the letter to which they are replies. When the draft is approved the officer sends it to the typist and also initials in the last column of the letters received book to indicate that the letter has been dealt with. Officers my also dictate letter to the typist who may take them down in shorthand and then final letter to be dispatched.
OUTFLOW OF PAPER

It means all those letters invoices, documents etc which are being sent from the office. The outflow paper includes the replies of the letters received by the office as well as the original correspondence done by the office. The outflow correspondence passes through the following stages.


1. REPLY OF LETTER RECEIVED:

The outgoing letters must be prepared with promptness and accuracy and they must be politely worded. They have been described as the silent ambassadors of the business concerns and as such they must have an up to date finish to capture the imagination of the reader. A typewritten letter makes a better impression on the addresses than a hand written letter, since the former is better to look and can be read more easily.


2. THE COPYING OF LETTERS:

It is very essential to have a copy of the letter sent on record for future reference. In case of any dispute this copy would be quite helpful in settling the same. The copy can be obtained by a carbon, press copying machine and in many other ways.


3. THE DUPLICATING OF LETTERS:

The circular letters are to be sent to a large number of firms. In such cases hundreds of copies of the same letter are needed. When these copies are prepared by the help of a machine the same is known as duplicating machines in use which help in the preparation of these copies.


4. FILING OF LETTERS:

The letters received and the replies of the letters sent or a copy of the original letter is to be then filed properly. The files are to be arranged in a systematic manner so that the previous correspondence when required may be found out quickly and easily.

5. DISPATCH OF LETTERS:

The work of sending the letters away from the office is given over to a dispatch clerk. In sending away the letters, he must be very prompt and must also look to the postal requirements in connection with letters which are to be sent through the post office. Neat folding of letters, seeing that the letters are properly addressed and accompanied by the relative enclosures, and making sure that all letters are properly signed by the officers concerned, are matters which the dispatch clerk must look to. He is also required to send away all the telegrams from the office.


6. ENTRY IN A POSTAGE BOOK:

A brief record of all the outflow of papers is kept in a postage book which also serves the purpose of a letter outward book. The dispatch clerk is usually given an advance which he uses to buy postage stamps of various denominations. He uses the postage book to maintain an account of the money advanced to him the postage stamps used by him in dispatching letters.


7. USE OF PEON BOOK:

Some letters are to be sent to the local businessman. These letters are not sent through post but through a peon duty entered in a peon book. The dispatch clerk before sending letters will sort out all those letters separately which are to be send to the local businessman. He will then make entries of all such letters in the peon book and hand over the same to the peon who will personally deliver these letters to the addresses concerned and obtain their signatures to the peon book maintains a complete record of all the letters sent locally.

1st Year Principles of Commerce Notes Ch# 07

Labour Saving Devices

INTRODUCTION

There was a time when business used to be small and the total number of employees used to be quite a few. The office appliances were regarded merely as luxury. With the expansion of business, there has been a great development in the use of office appliances and labor saving devices, which have been introduced to save time and manpower. These machines can do the job more speedily, accurately and at lower cost. In fact, they have become a necessity for smooth and efficient working of the office. Labor saving devices can be classified into the following three groups:

A. General Machines

B. Communication Machines

C. Accounting Machines


A. GENERAL MACHINES

1. TYPEWRITER

It is a common machine and is used in each and every office, as time and labor saving devices. Through this machine, many letters and documents can be typed with speed and neatness. It can prepare more copies in no time. As the industry advanced and requirements increased the improvement in typewriting machines have also been made. Noiseless typewriters are used where typists work near executives and other clerks as noise is likely to cause disturbance. Electric power is also used for operating typewriters. Electric machines require less human exercise and can type more copies than the ordinary machines of typewriter. This is more liked by a typist as he gets less tired and maintains his output better than he does by an ordinary machine. Electric typewriters are more expensive and cannot be used in small offices.


2. DICTATING MACHINES

There are a number of dictating machines but they are all based on same principles on which the gramophone works. These machines record the dictation given by the office executive who can be transcribed by the audio typists and thus, the presence of stenographer is not necessary. These machines however, usually consist of three machines the actual dictating machine, the transcriber and the shaver. The first is used by the person for dictating. The second on e is used by the typist an the third machine is used fo9r shaving of the dictated matter. This machine is most useful for secretaries, partners, managers and others who rare subject to frequent interruption. With special attachment, the dictating machine can be connected so as to record telephone, messages and by the use of microphones, it can also be used for recording speeches.


3. DUPLICATORS

When 100 of copies are required the duplicating machines are used. Each class of machine has its advantages and in selecting a machine for use in particular office, these advantages should be be Given consideration. A variety of duplicators are in use nowadays and few of them are given below;


A) SPIRIT DUPLICATOR

These duplicators can reproduce typewriting, hand-writing or drawings in a variety of colors. A master copy is prepared on a sheet or art paper by means of hectograph carbon paper. This is the only type of machine which can reproduce in several colors in one run. According to the quality of paper and carbon paper used, 100 to 250 copies can be made.


B) STENCIL DUPLICATOR

These duplicators can reproduce type writing .the stencil is out either on typewriting or by writing or drawing with a special pen. Up to 4,000 copies can be obtained and stencils can be stored and re –used if carefully handled and protected.


C) OFF SET LITHO DUPLICATOR

These duplicators can re-produce typewriting, hand writing and drawing. As in the case of stencil, different colors can be reproduced on the finished copy. Up to 50,000 copies can be obtained from the machine.


D) TYPESET DUPLICATOR

These machines are in fact, small printing press of letter press type. It is a sloe method and it also requires some skills to do job. Up to 500,000 copies may be printed.


4) ADDRESSING MACHINE

This machine is bit different from the duplicators .these machines are generally used for addressing the envelope to the regular clients or for the preparations of labels. These machines are adaptable enough to take the wide variety of other work in the office .These machine are operated by electric power.

In this machine, addresses are embossed on metal plates or are stenciled on specially prepared fiber material. These plates are placed alphabetically or in any other manner. When the actual addressing work is t be done, these plate are placed and passed through the machine, and the address are printed on the envelopes.

5) CASH HANDLING MACHINE

The work of the cash department can be helped considerably by machines for handling coins. There are machine for sorting out coins of different denominations from a mixed heap of coins and appliances are also available for counting them. There are also machines for giving change quickly. As no mental calculation is necessary, a great saving of time is affected by such a machine where the number of transactions is very large.


6) CASH CHECKING MACHINE

There are number of appliances which may be used to check automatically the receipts of cashiers. They are usually known as cash registers. Some of them also have arrangement for adding up the receipts so that at any time the machine shows the total cash that should be in be the cash drawer attached to the machine. Some are also so constructed as to issue the receipts to customers while keeping the record for the office.


7) FRANKING AND STAMP FIXING MACHINE

Franking machine saves a good deal of time in scaling the letters and in getting ready for the mail. This machine makes an impression on the envelopes showing in red ink the amount of the postage and the place of origin and date of posting. No postal stamps need to be used. The machine have matters attached to them and they are locked and sealed by the postal authorities to frank up the amount after which the machine gets automatically locked. Some of these machines also have an automatic envelope scaling device. Some business houses have the stamps affixing machine which are fed with postage stamps, and there are devices to cut the stamps off, to moisten and affix them and to count them.


8) TIME RECORDING MACHINE

These machine records the time of arrival and departure of the employees of he office. These type of machine is used in the office where payment are made on the basis of time spent on the job. This machine is like a clock and when the employee enters the office he cuts card in the machine which prints the time. Similarly when he goes out, further he cuts the card in the machine and departure time is printed on the card.
B) COMMUNICATION DEVICES

1) TELEPHONE

The use of telephone is so common and all its importance is so well known that it does not need further explanation. It is maintained by high business houses internally and externally. Internal system enables the executives of same organization to talk to each other on telephone whenever they need so. External systems enables them to talk outside parties. Every city is linked by telephone system so that through trunk call any one may have talk anywhere in the country with the required person.


2. RADIO-TELEPHONY

It is a system which link by telephone mobile vehicles in city or may be in an area. This system is in advance countries. Under this system mobile units such as cars, vans, etc can control each other on radio-telephony through the central station located in the city.


3. PUBLIC ADDRESSING SYSTEMS

In big factories, shops and offices this system is a useful means to give instructions to all of the employees or only those particularly concerned with any special instruction. This system has an advantage of quick communication of message to the concerned persons but it has also the disadvantage of distributing all of the employees while instructions are concerned with any particulars employee.


C. ACCOUNTING MACHINES

1. ADDING MACHINES

After typewriter, adding machine in perhaps the most commonly used machine in office routine working. Adding machine is basis for all further calculations. These machines are of two type: listing and non-listing. These machines have following advantages:

1. Cross-casting is much further faster. Most clerks, unless they are very highly skilled, cannot add horizontally with the same speed as they can add vertically.

2. Selected items can be added from different documents or from scattered positions in one document.

3. Less skill and concentration are required by the clerk.

4. With the aid of adding machines, junior clerks can add with speed and accuracy equal to or exceeding that of a skilled clerk.


2. CALCULATING MACHINES

In a large business there is a lot of calculation work, in order to asses the position. In calculation various forms such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are involved. There is likelihood of accounting mistakes, and takes more time in corrections. Keeping in view both the important factors time as well as accuracy nowadays the calculation work is carried on through calculation machines. With the help of calculating machines addition, subtraction, multiplication or division can easily be made with accuracy and without loss of time. Apart form this with the help of said machine the problems of exchange, discount etc. can be solved with great accuracy. It does not require any special training to operate the machine, the mistakes can only occur when the machine in question is not properly handled or when out of order.


3. POSTING MACHINES

Posting means the transfer of amounts from original entries to the appropriate ledger accounts. Accuracy of entries and easy to read are the most important requirements of this function. These machines play an important role in maintaining the accuracy.


4. ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS:

The computers operate at the fastest speed which ever is thinkable by human mind, because these machines do not depend on mechanical movements but on electronic pulses with duration of about one millionth of a second. Computers are able to perform the following functions:-

1. Receive a programme of orders representing the routing to be carried out, store this and refer to it as may be required.

2. Take in original information through one or more input channels and store it for reference as required by the programme.

3. Perform any arithmetical calculation as and when required by the programme.

4. Store the result of any calculation for further reference and accumulate totals as required by the programme.

5. Select any information from the store, arrange it in any required sequence and discharge it through one or more output channels to be printed punched into cards or paper tape, or recorded on.

Apart from computer speed, the principal characteristic of electronic computers is their flexibility as would appear from the following:-

1. They can be made to carry out any electrical operation only by feeding in the appropriate orders.

2. They can proceed from one kind of operation to another automatically.

3. They can automatically select alternative courses of action according to the nature of the date received or the results of previous operation.