JCE Commerce & Office Procedures 25 cheat sheet

Span of control = number of subordinates reporting directly to one supervisor; wider spans flatten the hierarchy and increase each supervisor's coordination load.

Centralisation keeps decision authority at the top; decentralisation pushes it to unit level and shortens response time but raises inconsistency risk.

A procedure is a step-by-step sequence for a recurring task; a policy is a standing rule or principle that constrains how procedures are written.

Meeting notice periods, quorum, agenda circulation and minute approval are the four formal controls that make a meeting decision valid.

Records retention schedule: statutory minimums override internal preference; where two rules conflict, apply the longer retention period.

A standard operating procedure should state purpose, scope, responsible role, sequence of steps, records produced and review date.

Delegation transfers authority, not accountability; the delegating manager remains answerable for the outcome.

Workflow bottleneck test: a step is a bottleneck when its arrival rate exceeds its capacity; adding capacity elsewhere does not raise throughput.

Office layout choice: open plan lowers space cost per employee but raises noise and interruption; cellular offices raise cost and privacy.

Standard business letter order: sender address, date, inside address, salutation, body, complimentary close, signature block, enclosures note.

Formal salutation uses a title and surname with a colon or comma; 'Dear Sir or Madam' is used when the recipient's name is unknown.

Full block format left-aligns every element and uses open punctuation (no punctuation after salutation or close); modified block indents the date and close.

Memorandum heading lines are To, From, Date, Subject; no salutation or complimentary close is used because the audience is internal.

Readability: average sentence length of 15-20 words and active voice generally raise comprehension; passive voice suits bad news or unknown actors.

The 7 Cs of effective messages: clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, courteous.

Bad-news structure: neutral buffer, factual explanation, the refusal stated clearly, then an alternative or constructive close.

Minutes record decisions, actions, owners and deadlines; verbatim transcripts are not minutes unless the body resolves to keep them.

Gross profit = sales revenue - cost of goods sold; gross profit margin = gross profit / sales revenue x 100.

Mark-up is calculated on cost; margin is calculated on selling price; mark-up percentage always exceeds the equivalent margin percentage.

Incoterms define who bears cost, risk and customs duty; risk passes at the named point, which may differ from the point of cost transfer.

FOB: seller delivers goods on board the vessel at the named port; CFR/CFR adds freight to the buyer's port but risk still passes at shipment.

CIF adds insurance and freight to the seller's obligations, but risk still transfers when goods are loaded on board.

Bill of lading is a receipt for goods, evidence of the contract of carriage, and a document of title that can be endorsed to transfer ownership.

A letter of credit obliges the bank to pay against complying documents, not against the goods themselves; discrepancies allow rejection.

Terms of trade measure export prices against import prices; an improvement means exports buy more imports per unit.

Accounting equation: assets = liabilities + equity; every transaction preserves the balance.

Double entry: each transaction has equal debits and credits; debit entries increase assets and expenses, credit entries increase liabilities, equity and income.

Trial balance lists closing debit and credit balances; equality proves arithmetic only, not the absence of errors of principle or omission.

Bank reconciliation: adjusted bank balance = statement balance + deposits in transit - outstanding cheques +/- bank errors.

Accrual basis records income when earned and expense when incurred; cash basis records only when money moves.

Depreciation straight line = (cost - residual value) / useful life; reducing balance applies a fixed percentage to the carrying amount.

Gross profit = net sales - cost of goods sold; net profit = gross profit - operating expenses + other income - other expenses.

Current ratio = current assets / current liabilities; a ratio below 1 signals possible short-term liquidity strain.

Petty cash imprest system: the float is restored to its fixed amount by reimbursing exactly the vouchers paid out.

Document life cycle: creation, distribution, use, maintenance and storage, then disposal or permanent archiving.

Records classification: active (frequently used, kept at hand), semi-active (occasional reference, off-site), inactive (retained only for legal or historical reasons).

Alphabetic filing uses strict letter-by-letter or word-by-word order; letter-by-letter ignores spaces, word-by-word treats each word separately.

Chronological filing suits transaction records; numeric filing allows unlimited expansion and acts as a cross-reference index.

A document management system controls versioning, access rights, audit trail and retention; version control prevents overwriting approved copies.

Disposal must be authorised by the retention schedule; confidential records are shredded or securely destroyed, never placed in general waste.

Indexing and cross-referencing allow retrieval by more than one key, e.g. client name and invoice number.

Backup rule: keep at least three copies, on two media types, with one copy off-site.

Service quality gaps arise between expectation and perception, between specification and delivery, and between promise and performance.

Complaint handling sequence: listen without interruption, acknowledge the feeling, gather facts, agree a remedy, confirm and follow up.

First-contact resolution rate = enquiries resolved at first contact / total enquiries x 100.

Telephone technique: answer within three rings, identify the organisation and yourself, ask permission before placing a caller on hold.

Reception duty priorities: greet and acknowledge visitors promptly, verify identity and appointment, log arrival, notify the host.

Confidentiality rule: never disclose a visitor's presence, client details or staff movements to an unverified caller.

Service recovery paradox: a well-handled failure can raise loyalty above the pre-failure level; an ignored failure lowers it sharply.

Escalation trigger: raise a complaint to a supervisor when the remedy exceeds your authority or the customer requests it.

Photocopier faults map to codes: paper jam, low toner, drum unit end of life, fuser error; each code has a distinct remedy.

Multifunction device functions: print, scan, copy, fax; scan-to-email requires a configured SMTP server.

Ergonomic workstation: monitor top at or slightly below eye level, elbows near 90 degrees, feet flat, screen an arm's length away.

Data protection basics: strong unique passwords, multi-factor authentication, automatic screen lock, encrypted removable media.

Phishing indicators: mismatched sender domain, urgency, unexpected attachments, requests for credentials or payment changes.

Backup types: full copies all data; incremental copies changes since the last backup of any type; differential copies changes since the last full backup.

Equipment maintenance log records date, fault, action taken, technician and downtime; it supports warranty claims and replacement decisions.

Cloud storage shares responsibility: provider secures the infrastructure, the organisation secures accounts, permissions and data classification.

Conflict of interest exists when a personal interest could improperly influence professional judgement; declare it and withdraw from the decision.

Confidentiality survives the end of employment; the duty covers client data, pricing, staff records and unpublished business plans.

Accepting gifts: apply the employer's threshold and disclosure rule; gifts that could influence a pending decision must be declined or declared.

Whistleblowing protects disclosures of wrongdoing made in the public interest; retaliation against a discloser is itself misconduct.

Harassment test is the effect on the recipient, not the intent of the actor; unwelcome conduct creating a hostile environment qualifies.

Professional competence duty: decline work outside your competence or obtain supervision, rather than risk harm to the client.

Fairness in procurement: separate specification, selection and approval roles; never award to a related party without disclosure and recusal.

Data ethics: collect only the minimum personal data needed, use it only for the stated purpose, and retain it no longer than necessary.