BILLIONS OF POUNDS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 108, 10 May 1933, Page 9

BILLIONS OF POUNDS

BANKERS’ ANNUAL NIGHTMARE. Billions of pounds were juggled on paper by thousands of clerks in London on the night of December 31 in the great end-of-the-year balance of the big banks which ended at midnight. For several days previously suburban and provincial branches of tho Big Four of the banking world had been engaged in making-up their customersaccounts and balancing their own for head office statements. Each individual account is “worked,” checked and revised three times to avoid any possible error, and a trial balance takes place for the purpose of discovering a mistake which, overlooked, might result in many hours of extra labour at the close of tho balance. Sometimes a lost penny in a branch account causes the whole staff to spend a day searching for a careless clerk’s mistake. The last day of the old year is a nightmare to many a bank manager and his staff, and no one is allowed to leave tho promises until the “All clear’’ is given and the balance statement is ready for the post.