Inflow and Outflow of Paper

1st Year POC - Principles of Commerce Notes

Inflow and Outflow of Paper



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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.