The various stages of the work at a country branch, from junior up to manager, having been outlined, it remains to describe what takes place during an inspection.

It is to be remembered that the head office is constantly receiving from the branch, reports, statements, and letters, setting forth the condition of the branch's business, and the capability and trustworthiness of its various officers. The information thus derived has to be taken as dependable and truthful; but obviously head office could not go on indefinitely accepting all the statements and reports emanating from the branches as being absolutely true and correct. So a staff of inspectors is maintained, with headquarters at head office, taking their orders from the general manager and reporting to him and to the board of directors, whose duty it is to visit all the branches without notice, to examine and verify all the balances shown by the books, and to satisfy themselves generally that the business of the branches is well and faithfully administered.

Qualifications For An Inspector

To fill inspectors' posts specially bright, tactful and trustworthy men are required. They have to be able to cover thoroughly that part of the branch work where defalcation or malfeasance may be hidden; to notice suspicious looking entries and transactions with an unerring instinct, and to trace them unfailingly to their obscurest origin. They must have tact so as to efficiently perform their duty to the bank without needlessly antagonizing or offending the branch officers; and lastly, they should be capable of sizing up the advantages and disadvantages of the branch's operations and position, and of advising the manager how to improve them.

Usually, the first notice the branch has of the coming of the inspector is his appearance at the door or in the office with his heavy suitcase, filled with inspection forms, and, perhaps, with an assistant in his train. His coming is, almost invariably, saluted with groans, not always inaudible. Manager and clerks alike recognize that it means nightwork, perhaps till twelve o'clock or later, and that the current work of the office will have to be allowed to accumulate to a considerable extent, while the staff bends its energies towards completing the inspection. First of all, the inspector must present his credentials and authority to inspect the branch. On delivering these to the manager, the latter has no choice but to allow him to proceed.

Verifying The Cash

The inspector always makes the cash the object of his first investigation. If he arrives before the books and cash are balanced, he takes possession of the teller's box as soon as the latter has balanced. If the cash is already balanced, he goes into the box at once. And if the money is in the safe and the time-lock set for the next morning, the inspector puts his seal on the safe, or on the vault, so that none can enter without his knowledge. In short, he takes whatever precautions seem to him necessary to prevent a hasty fixing or covering up of such shortage or irregularity as may exist.

In connection with this subject of inspecting the cash it should be said that ordinarily the rules of the bank provide for at least two full examinations of the cash by the manager during each month. One of them is on a fixed date or occasion, the end of the month; the other is left to the manager's choice. He aims to surprise the teller, appearing at the teller's cage some evening after the balance is struck and demanding admission for the purpose of counting the cash. So the teller never knows for certain what day his cash will be examined. Any day during the month the manager may inspect him, and any day in the year the inspector may arrive.