Cash and charge orders should then be separated, and on the charge orders the next step is to investigate the credit and check the address, especially when no advance payment is made. The address is checked against any list that may have been used, or against city directories, when such are available. If the list used has proved reliable, it usually is safe to pass the order from one whose name appears therein. Or the occupation given in the directory may warrant the acceptance of the risk. If he is a customer, his manner of paying in the past is the best guide. Should all of these sources of information fail, and if the customer gives no references, it is well to secure a report from some commercial or collection agency. It may be necessary to follow up the agency, but if a reliable agency, like Martindale, is unable to obtain information, it is best to refuse the order except on a cash basis. The order having been accepted, it should be entered in an order register, giving the name of the purchaser, the address in detail, description of the article ordered, source of the order, and the price. A sheet, as shown in Fig. 15, should be used for each day's sales. The sheets should be in duplicate, as a copy is needed by the statistical department, from which to tabulate the sales from different sources. The next step is to open an account on a ledger card, as shown in Fig. 16. At the same time a collection card should be made. Both of these cards should be filled in from the original order--not from the register. If the number is large, the accounts should be numbered, the number being entered on both the ledger and collection cards. From the ledger cards, the numbers are entered on the register. Two indexes are made--one alphabetical and one geographical--on plain index cards, only the name and address, name of publication ordered, and the account number being shown. One of these cards is filed alphabetically and the other geographically, while the ledger cards are filed numerically. [Illustration: Fig. 16. Ledger Card] Each day, before the cards are filed, the amount of the new accounts should be obtained on an adding machine, and checked against the total of the order register sheet. This will guard against errors in transcribing, for it is improbable that the same error will be made in entering the order on the register and on the card. [Illustration: Fig. 17. Shipping Order and Label Made at One Writing] The statistical department will obtain a record of total sales from the duplicate register sheet, and, for this reason, the amount should be checked against the original sheet. Since these sheets are footed by different people, this comparison affords a reasonable proof of accuracy, and also insures the use of the same totals by the statistical and order departments.