Errors are corrected by ticket, and when making a correction the original record of entry or any instructions are properly marked to show the method and date of the adjustment. This ticket is essential for future reference. A complete record of all errors is kept which shows the department responsible for them. In the event that a particular department shows a noticeable in crease of errors, effort is made to learn the cause and to make suggestions to remedy it.
Many bank examiners' forms requesting information relative to accounts on the bank's books are received during the clay. These forms are entered in a register showing the date of receipt and the name of the party inquired about, and are then routed to the various interested departments. Upon their return they are examined to see that they have been properly executed and initialed by the respective department heads. The balance reported by the bookkeeper is verified, the forms presented to the officers for signature, and the date on which they are returned to the bank examiner entered in the register.
When letters are received informing the bank that the writer is expecting funds through the bank, paid for his account in some foreign country, the letters are sent to the foreign division and shown to all the departments through which payment might possibly be effected. If no instructions are found, the letter is returned to the auditor, who then institutes a thorough investiga tion to determine whether any instructions have been received but overlooked or whether the remitter's account has been charged and the beneficiary's account credited with the payment. If no such instructions are found, a form letter is forwarded informing the party that the bank has no instructions to pay.
All collection tracers are answered by the auditing depart ment. The investigator examines the collection and if returns on it are past due, a special tracer is sent to the bank's corre spondent. If an overdraft is found on the books of the bank, it is reported to the officer in charge of the district in which the ac count is located, and on his advice the depositor may be notified by telegram stating that according to the bank's books the ac count appears to be overdrawn, and giving in round numbers the amount of the overdraft. A telegram of this nature sent
under a misapprehension of facts would put the bank in an em barrassing position and the matter would require delicate hand ling. Therefore before the telegram is sent it is handed to the auditing department and a careful investigation is made in order to determine whether the account has any transactions pending from which a credit might arise or whether there is any remit tance or deposit for which it has not received credit.
When called upon, the auditing department compiles certain statistics for the Comptroller of the Currency, the clearing house, and the federal reserve bank. Of the various requests for information which the department may receive the follow ing are illustrative: 1. The amount and kinds of money shipped to the bank or by the bank.
2. The distribution of moneys on deposit with the bank as to national banks and state institutions, as to reserve cities, and as to geographical situation by states of the Union and foreign countries.
3. The number and amount of brokers' checks certified by the bank and used in the payment of loans.
4. The number and amount of drafts drawn by the bank on other cities and countries.
5. The number and amount of all checks received by the bank, the sources from which they have been received (that is, by states and foreign countries), and the places where they are payable (at the bank, through the clear ing house, by presentation in the home city, or out of town by mail).
6. The volume of country checks in transit on given days.
7. The distribution of loans and discounts along geographical lines, etc.
The Verification of Domestic Accounts The work of the subdivision of the auditing department which verifies domestic accounts consists in checking, verifying, and adjusting the debits and credits to the accounts of customers, and, with the exception of expense bills, in checking, verifying and adjusting the debits and credits of the accounts of the bank. The items checked and verified are of many kinds and are con cerned with many activities of the bank. The nature of the work will appear from the following description of the transactions handled and loosely classified under a dozen or more heads.