Filing Procedures In Business (2 Ed)

[Music] an electronic data processing system is one of several kinds of devices used to keep business records using such a system we can quickly locate bills orders personnel files a number of kinds of records a company may keep for the most part an electronic system serves the same purposes as a conventional filing system the main purposes of any filing system are to enable us to locate records quickly to keep related records together and to provide a safe place for records not in use to accomplish these purposes file room workers records assistants do several jobs known as filing procedures three of the most important filing procedures are preparing records for filing filing records putting them in proper places in the files and retrieving records finding them and removing them from the files retrieving is a good place to begin it acquaints us with the organization of the files written requests for filed records are received each request arrives at the file room in the form of a requisition card telling a records assistant all she must know to locate material Marvin Anderson of the sales department requests correspondence in other words a letter from central construction company dated March 7 or 8 this letter is needed to help correct errors in an order to retrieve the letter the records assistant must know that this firm like most firms files correspondence in alphabetical order in this case according to names of companies which have sent letters or to which letters have been sent company names beginning with a are found here B here C and D here and so on to Z central construction begins with C letters from this company and carbon copies of letters sent to this company are among the C's the first letters of central RCE Central's correspondence is in here projections or tabs at the tops of special cards in the drawer read from front to rear in alphabetical order like the thumb index of a dictionary these cards are guides guides with tabs at the far left our primary guides central Construction Companies files should be behind this primary guide in a folder bearing the company name central is the most important word in this name and is the primary unit used in filing this correspondence primary units help us separate central constructions letters from those of centre plumbing and heating which precede them in the files comparing central construction with central radiator which follows in the files we see that the primary units central are the same two separate records of these two companies we must look at words of second most importance in each name secondary units radiator beginning with our follows construction beginning with C so in this case secondary units are of help understanding such alphabetical progressions she locates the right folder now she looks for the requested letter incoming letters and carbon copies of outgoing letters are in order of date the letter was dated March 7 or 8th there is a March 8th letter she charges it out making sure it refers to central constructions order to mark its place she prepares an out card that carries the requisition the out card a record of the letters location is placed in the file sometimes a requisition calls for an entire folder when the folder is removed its place is marked with an OP folder that has a pocket to hold records filed while the regular folder is out of the drawer using out folders and guides and relating information on requisitions to the files a records assistant quickly retrieves records as we observe retreat we are reminded that the files are well organized this is mostly the result of another filing procedure preparing records for filing the first preparatory step is inspection here as in many companies an incoming letter or the carbon copy of an outgoing letter may not be filed unless it bears a release mark usually the initials of the person who has released the letter for filing and each incoming letter must have a date app indicating date of receipt after inspection the letter is quickly read then coded first the words of the letterhead are separated with slash marks then the primary unit Revere in this letterhead is underscored it's the word the best distinguishes this company's name from others the secondary unit James helps distinguish this from other Revere's in the files and a third unit B separates it from other James Revere's such marks are coding marks like guides in the file cabinet drawer they help us separate records this letter refers to business with a company other than crown corporation named in the letterhead its name is underlined with a wavy line this name also is divided into units all including the first are numbered and annex is drawn in the margin since the letter concerns business with both companies it should be filed under both names in most offices this is done by cross-referencing a cross-reference sheet bearing the name of the first heading is placed in the files under the second some offices instead of cross-referencing copy records on a duplicator and file these copies instead of cross-reference sheets duplicating or cross-referencing is done in certain other cases for example when one company is known by several names or when names are so complex that it's hard to distinguish primary and secondary units after cross-referencing letters and cross-reference sheets are sorted they're placed in alphabetical order ready for procedures that follow filing placing records in the files comes next knowledge of retrieving and preparing makes filing easy to understand a new letter from centennial contractors must be filed the records assistant finds the proper drawer she scans the primary guides Centennial is found under cen she checks the section to see if there's a folder for Centennial there is and she files the letter in order of date latest stayed in front later in the day the March 8th letter from central construction the letter which we saw retrieved is returned records returned to the files are handled somewhat differently from new ones finding the proper drawer guide and folder she removes the out card inserts the letter in its place filing a carbon copy of an outgoing letter she finds no folder in this company a folder is assigned only to five or more letters letters without folders are arranged alphabetically in miscellaneous folders one is at the back of each section there's a lot of correspondence from crown corporation so crowns records are filed in a number of folders labeled according to the months letters were received once a year workers in this file room use another filing procedure transfer transfer means moving records that are seldom requested this company uses the two top drawers of each cabinet for records constantly in use those less than one year old the two bottom drawers indexed exactly like the two above them contain records one to two years old older records two to seven years old are packed in transfer boxes sent to a storeroom not all companies transfer this way some eliminate the lower drawer step moving older files directly to transfer boxes others especially architects and lawyers offices do not transfer once or twice a year but whenever a job is finished or a case closed so far we have seen only alphabetical files however some companies including this one use other filing methods for some or all of their records for example this is a numerical file the cards represent items in the company stock room numbers on the cards correspond to items in the company catalog to locate files for a particular kind of item if its number is unknown a records assistant must consult an alphabetical index records of Carlton gas pressure meters are found under this number another filing method used for this company's personnel records is a subject file it's alphabetical but primary guides accounting administration and so on classify personnel first according to the kinds of work they do some firms use subject files for most of their everyday filing others for executive files another kind of file useful to firms doing business in many locations is the geographic file in geographic filing numerical filing subject filing and alphabetical filing procedures are similar regardless of the equipment used a kind of equipment often used for example by hospitals is open shelf files some architects and engineers keep microfilm files of their drawings and plans the small pictures take very little space and can be enlarged when needed some companies use a similar film process for all their everyday correspondence whenever a record is requested the microfilm is placed in a printer the result is an enlargement that is a duplicate of the original record large insurance companies and credit bureaus often use elevator files sometimes along with electronic systems electronic systems aid in handling large quantities of Records but whatever system or equipment is used all industries and businesses must keep records all must apply filing procedures to quickly locate records to keep related materials together and to provide a safe place for all records [Music]