=Monthly Sales Records.= Fig. 40 represents a sales sheet arranged for a monthly summary, the statistics being obtained from the daily records. The monthly summary follows the same lines as the daily record, except that sales are not divided by departments. Where the business is divided into several departments one of these monthly summary sheets can be used for each department. [Illustration: Fig. 41. Daily and Monthly Record of a Salesman] These daily and monthly summaries provide for a comparison of wholesale with retail, mail order with personal salesmen, and departments. If there is a gain in one department and a loss in another, or a fluctuation in total sales, these summaries point out the source, showing where greater efforts are needed and where praise is deserved. =Salesmen's Records.= While the sale summaries described afford many valuable comparisons, they do not provide a classification that will indicate the value of each salesman. There should be a record showing the volume of business of each man. The form shown in Fig. 41 shows a card used for a daily and monthly record of one salesman. The form might be elaborated to show cost of goods, salary, expenses, gross and net profits; but the tabulating of this information is more properly the work of the statistical department. These cards should be filed alphabetically by name of the salesman, and divided according to states. They will then show the sales of each man and in each territory. For a business in which goods are sold by resident agents, a card similar to the one shown in Fig. 42 should be used. The upper half of the card provides for the recording of certain essential information, while the lower half is used to record sales. [Illustration: Fig. 42. Record of Sales by an Agent or Dealer] [Illustration: THE CREDIT DEPARTMENT OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK, CHICAGO, ILL.] THE CREDIT ORGANIZATION THE CREDIT MAN Acknowledged specialists may be employed in every branch of an enterprise, the shrewdest brains may be engaged in buying, producing, and selling, but the final conservator of the business is the credit man; others may be profit makers, but he is the _profit saver_ in every commercial organization. He is on guard constantly--always on the lookout for the slightest sign of danger, ever ready to take prompt and vigorous action to avert disaster to his house or to lend a helping hand to a customer. His duties make him the most misunderstood man in the entire organization. He is thorough, methodical, painstaking, a keen student of human nature, possessing faith in the inherent honesty of his fellow men. The insistent search for facts that he demands, may cause him to be regarded as an inquisitive busybody by the very customer whom he desires most to help; as a carping critic, by the salesman of his own house.