6-82 Film Processing

Write no more than one page about the possible areas where internal controls should be instituted in the following business described briefly. Keep in mind the size of the business, and do not suggest controls of a type impossible to set up in a firm of this sort. Make any reasonable assumptions about management duties and policies not expressly described.

You have a film-developing service in Houston, with 12 employees driving their own cars 6 days a week to contact about 40 stores each, where film is left to be picked up and developed. Drivers bring film in one day and return the processed film the second or third day. Store managers pay the driver in cash the amount customers pay for the developing, less a percentage for the stores work as agents. The driver then turns this cash in to the Houston office, where all film is developed and books are kept. Between 6 and 10 employees work at the Houston office, depending on the volume of work. You run the office and have one full-time accounting-clerical employee. Route drivers are paid monthly by miles of route covered.