Ultimate Book of Business Forms

THE FORMS IN THIS CHAPTER ARE DESIGNED to increase your company’s sales. The Sales Call Log is for use by salespersons; it serves as a record of telephone conversations with customers and prospects. The Client/Prospect Contact Log is a related form that summarizes the calls to and contacts made with a particular prospect. The Sales Prospect File is the best log for use by salespersons in industries where sales are made through incoming calls and during advertising campaigns.

The Customer Satisfaction Survey lets you learn from your most valuable critics—your customers. The Customer Service Request helps you effectively gather, track, follow, and respond to customer service inquiries.

Use the Product Information form to keep a unified and complete description of all of your products and services. The Order Card is a handy and simple card that you can include in mailings and facsimile advertisements. It enables your customers to quickly and easily place orders for your products and services. Use the Work Order Request for Quote form when your customers request custom goods and services. The Sales Order Form is a familiar receipt/invoice form.

The Daily Sales Recap is an internal sales tracking mechanism; it enables you and your staff to see a day-by-day analysis of your company’s sales. The Month-to-Month Sales Comparison Log enables your staff to compare sales performance on a month-to-month basis.

The Cash Receipts Control Log (on the Web) is an effective tracking mechanism for cash-based businesses; the form may also serve to prevent employee theft and loss. Ensure that the cash on hand at the end of each business day reconciles with the amount on the Cash Receipts Control Log.

Controlling business operations is essential to generating a profit and meeting your business expectations. This chapter provides you with a range of worksheets to develop and control key operation issues, production schedules, and costing.

The Vendor Information Sheet helps you compile and maintain complete information on current and potential vendors. Use this form initially to confirm approval of new vendors. When deciding among the goods or services of several vendors, use the Vendor Price and Comparison Analysis (on the Web) to compare the offerings of each.

If your business conducts manufacturing operations, use the Daily Production Planning Schedule to formalize your production goals. Use the Production Completion Notice to internally notify departments (sales and billing, especially) of the completion of an order.

The Marketing Department Budget Recap helps you analyze the sales, margins, and marketing expenses for your products or services. The Sales Price Estimate helps you budget and calculate the expenses you’ll incur in the production of goods. This calculation helps you determine a sales price for your production with an adequate profit margin. The Job Costing Report helps you budget and calculate the expenses you’ll incur in the completion of a job or project; this calculation helps you determine your profit. The Job Costing Comparison Report (on the Web) is an analytical tool that compares your estimated and actual revenues, material costs, and labor costs.

The Ratio Analysis Worksheet is a powerful analytical and budgeting tool. It helps you analyze key financial ratios by comparing your current year ratios with prior year ratios. The Ratio Analysis Worksheet can pinpoint trouble areas in your business and reveal areas where your business operations are improving.

This chapter offers tools that streamline and control your purchasing procedures. The Purchase Order is likely familiar; use it to place orders with vendors. You and your employees can use the Expense Report (included in Chapter 11) both internally and in connection with expenses billable directly to clients.

The Check Requisition is an internal control and recordkeeping tool; instruct your staff members to use this form to request checks for purchases.