Concerning the first of these it may be said that every bank with which this bank carries an "our" account must, of course, render at regular intervals an abstract of the account. It is the duty of this subdivision to analyze such abstract, verifying the in terest allowed or charged this bank, checking the entries on the abstract against this bank's ledger, which should contain corre sponding entries for every transaction appearing on the abstract. A thorough investigation is made of all exceptions and these exceptions are listed with proper notations in a permanent record book. The auditor does everything necessary to bring this bank's records into agreement with those of the foreign bank.
In performing the second group of duties the auditor in vestigates all inquiries arising out of transactions that have been passed over " our " accounts, including the adjustment of claims made by and against this bank because of loss of interest on delayed cable transfers, etc. The auditor also investigates in coming advice sheets, if the various foreign division depart ments, including the bookkeeping department, cannot locate the transaction on their records.
The importance of auditing these foreign accounts is increased by war conditions, with resultant loss of cables, delays, and mutilations. In normal times the "position sheet" kept by the bank at all times very nearly reflects the exact balances in the foreign countries and permits the foreign division departments to trade without unnecessary handicap; but during war only the actual reconciling of the account by the auditor shows the true position of the bank's accounts abroad.
Reconcilement and Investigation of Foreign "Their" Accounts and Verification of Foreign Accounts In the light of the description given of the reconciling, in vestigating, and verifying of domestic accounts and foreign "our" accounts, the work of these two subdivisions may be easily inferred and need not be restated here. Cables play a large part in this work. The auditing department receives on the day following their use a list of the authenticating symbols supplied to the foreign division for the cables they send. The cables are delivered in duplicate to the cable companies, and the duplicates, bearing the cable company's stamp, are returned to the auditor. They are first compared to see that there is a con firmation for each cable on the list of test words. The cables are then translated and verified against the original contracts. These contracts must be officially signed and are substantiated by finding that the correct amount has been either debited or credited to the proper account.
The Verification of Canceled Coupons The coupon paying department delivers, against signature, to the auditing department all coupons paid by the bank, to gether with the charge tickets debiting the respective accounts,by means of which the funds were obtained to pay each issue. The
total of paid coupons of each particular kind is entered in a register and the amounts compared with the charge tickets, and then the correspondent bank is advised of the debit to its account.
A complete record is kept of the instructions governing the disposal of the coupons; and after they have been examined for cancellation and the fact has been established that the total number of coupons correspond with those shown on the charge tickets, the coupons are forwarded, together with the statement of the account, generally on the first of each month, by registered mail or express, in accordance with the instructions on file. It is also the duty of this subdivision to prove, say, once a week, the outstanding coupon checks against the credit balance on the general ledger.
The Checking of Expense Bills All bills for purchases made by the bank in connection with stationery, furniture, or anything that constitutes expenses, are audited and proved for payment by this subdivision. No bills are paid and no purchase requisitions are honored until approved by the auditor. At frequent periods the postage stamps in the hands of the postage clerk are proved with the requisitions and purchases of stamps. Through the auditor's control of expense, the adding machines and other bank apparatus are directly under his charge.
The Balancing of Pass-Books Accounts having what is known as a "deposit book," or "pass-book," are not balanced at any stated period, but only when the book is left for that purpose. In the event that the owner of a pass-book has not left his book to be balanced for a considerable period of time, a statement is ruled off and sent to him by registered mail requesting that the balances as rendered be verified. The receiving teller enters in the pass-book all cash deposits, but credits covering collection items are entered by the auditing department; the latter also enters credits from credit advices and deposits from duplicate deposit slips if the customer's pass-book is in process of being balanced when the deposits are made. All such credits are verified in the bookkeeper's ledger before the entries are made. To guard against the statement of the account or the pass-book and the canceled vouchers falling into the hands of an unscrupulous person, a card index is kept with cards on which are specimen signatures of all persons privi leged to collect the statement or pass-book and vouchers for each account, and they are delivered only against receipt bearing an authorized signature. This subdivision also delivers blank check books to customers when the subdivision clerk knows the customer or has identified the customer's signature.