Play Meter

PLAY METER: Do you have a bookkeeper?
LONDON: The route has a bookkeeper who is
responsible for all the money systems, the
disposition of all the cash collections, commissions,
inventory, that's his area. Now, I also have a main
bookkeeper who does all my bookkeeping for all the
corporations, and he prepares monthly operating
statements for me.
PLAY METER: Exactly what kind of statements or
financial information do you get from your main
bookkeeper?
LONDON: We break the operation down into
four -week reports so that we have continuity; that
comes out to thirteen four -week reports in a year.
Now, in those reports, my main bookkeeper
balances the cash collected. So the report gives us
cash in, expenses, payroll, etc. That way we know
exactly where we stand every four-week period.
PLAY METER: So, in effect, what you get every
four weeks is a profit-and-Ioss statement. Do you
get a balance sheet?
LONDON: No, we don't bother about balance
sheets, the accountant prepares those. We get
those quarterly.
PLA Y METER: How do these reports help you in
running your business?
LONDON: We use them to monitor expenses and
collections. Also, I get weekly production reports
on each route. So we're on top of our cash in-flow on
a weekly basis, and we monitor our expenses on a
four -week basis.
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PLA Y METER: What sort of records do you keep
insofar as your locations are concerned?
LONDON: We maintain a weekly record for every
collection on every machine at every location. We
have a data processing unit with a video screen so
that we can go back to varying periods-primarily,
we carry thirteen collections on the screen. That
information is broken down so that we have a
six-week average for each piece of equipment. This
way we can tell what the current machine and the
complete list of other machines have been doing for
a complete year.
PLA Y METER: You do this with the use of a
computer, is that right? And your bookkeeper
doesn't get involved with that?
LONDON: That's right. General bookkeeping is one
function with us, and data processing is completely
separate. I have not allowed my primary
bookkeeping to get onto data processing. I feel I
would lose control. And there's not enough volume
there. My bookkeeper handles all my accounts
payables, my payroll, and records all the receipts;
but the data processing is a completely different
function. By the way, I got started with a computer
when a friend of mine who is in the computer
business saw an operation, and he asked me if all
operators operate with such a mess? "Pretty much
so," I said. And he answered, "My God, what I
could do with a computer for you guys." You see, he
had the idea of developing a program that would be
PLAY METER, June, 1978
9