Consumer, Market And Society

Who is a consumer?

A consumer is a person or group of people who buys and uses a product or

service at a particular time. A consumer is the end-user of a product and this
is the one who completes the process of production.

Who is a customer?

A customer is a regular buyer of a product or service who has established a

sustainable relationship with the seller or producer of a product.

What is a market?

A Market is a place where buyers and sellers are in contact with one another
to buy or sell goods and services. It is a means by which buyers and sellers
are brought in contact with one another. It could be face to face, through
either letters or any other communication medium.

Meaning of society

Society is a group of people living together in organized, communities with

laws and traditions, controlling the way that relates and behaves towards
one another.

Need for consumer education

It is of great importance to educate the consumers because they are most

vulnerable, sometimes the producer produces less standard products and
sells to the consumers, to be enlightened, there is a need for Consumer
education. The following are the needs for consumer Education in Nigeria:

 To protect consumers from falling victims of fraudulent and bad

producers.
 To create a healthy and cordial relationship.
 To enable consumers to be aware of products or services that are
standard and fit for consumption.
 To enable the consumers to know their rights and obligations.

Consequences of lack of consumer education

 It can encourage producers to supply poor quality products.

  It will lead to a consumer not getting the right satisfaction from the
product purchased.
 It can lead to consumer entering into a false agreement with
producers.
 It makes consumer ignorant

Need for Monitoring and Control of Chemical

Meaning of chemicals

Chemicals are compounds or substances that are artificially prepared or

purified. Chemicals are substances used in chemistry or produced by a
chemical reaction or process. Chemicals can be solid, liquid or gas. Examples
are ice, gold, petrol, water, salt, cooking gas etc. They can be grouped into
suitable and unsuitable chemicals.

Chemicals Suitable for use and not Suitable for use

Suitable Chemicals: A chemical is considered to be suitable when its use

does not bring any bad (or negative) effect on health or pose danger to lives
and properties. Examples are flavourings, spices and preservatives for foods.

Unsuitable Chemicals: A chemical is said to be unsuitable when its use leads

to adverse effects on lives, property and environment. Examples are caustic
acids, ammonia, cyanide, etc.

Need for monitoring and controlling food, drugs, and chemicals

To check if they are not harmful to the body.

To check if they are consumable.

To check if they are not contaminated by germs, fungus and other harmful
things.

To ensure they will not kill when consume.

Ways of controlling chemicals

1. Elimination:
The risk control measure that has the greatest level of effectiveness is
elimination. Before any other control measures are considered, elimination
must be applied first. Elimination is the method of totally removing a hazard
or hazardous practice from the workplace. Some examples of eliminating the
use of a hazardous chemical in the workplace include:

Eliminating the use of chemical adhesive by using fasteners such as screws

or nails.

Eliminating the use of flammable forklift gas by using electric power forklifts
instead of LPG powered forklifts.

2. Isolation:

If it’s not possible to substitute the use of a hazardous chemical with another
chemical that is less hazardous, you must then isolate the hazardous
chemical from people and other incomparable substance. This can be done
in a number of ways. For example; if one part of a manufacturing process
involves the use of a hazardous chemical, you could build a ventilated
enclosure over this part of the manufacturing process. This enclosure would
stop the airborne contaminants from this area moving into other areas of the
manufacturing facility where people are present.

The airborne contaminants that are generated inside this enclosure should
be vented to the outside atmosphere in a safe location where people do not
congregate. If large quantities of hazardous chemicals are stored in the
workplace, you could isolate these hazardous chemicals from people by
storing them outdoors in a compliant chemical storage control. Isolating
hazardous chemicals from people by storing them outdoors reduces the risk
of harm to people in the event of a workplace fire or chemical spill.

Hazardous substances must also be isolated from other incompatible

substances. If incompatible substances mix, it can result in violent chemical
reactions that can harm people and property. Incompatible hazardous
substances can be isolated by storing them in separate chemical storage
cabinets and dangerous goods storage containers.

3. Engineering controls:

If isolation cannot be achieved, you can implement several engineering

controls to reduce the risk associated with hazardous chemicals. Engineering
controls are physical and are devices or processes that eliminate exposure to
hazardous chemicals. Engineering controls can be used to:

Minimize the generation of hazardous chemicals

Suppress or contain chemicals.

Limit the area of contamination in the event of spills

Effects of lack of monitoring of chemicals

It can lead to loss of life

It might cause sickness.

Organ damage.

The weakening of the immune system.

Development of allergies or asthma.

Reproductive problems and birth defects.

Effects on the mental, intellectual or physical development of children.

Can cause cancer.

Introduction to Bookkeeping

What is bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping is the act of systematic keeping of a daily adequate financial

record of all transactions of a business. It involves the recording, daily, of a
company’s financial transactions. With proper bookkeeping, companies can
track all information on its books to make key operating, investing, and
financing decisions.
Bookkeepers are individuals who manage all financial data for companies.
Without bookkeepers, companies would not be aware of their current
financial position, as well as the transactions that occur within the company.

Importance of bookkeeping

Individual and firm are made to know how to spend money prudently,

It creates employment opportunity in the area of accounting.

It prevents fraud by dishonest staff.

Individual, businessperson are helped by it to remember all items bought or

sold in connection with the business.

It enables an individual or firm to be aware of the true financial position of its

business.

Common bookkeeping practices

These are the steps taken by the bookkeeper before the accountant then
takes over. These steps or practices undertaken by the bookkeeper include:

Posting of transaction ledgers.

Preparing of subsidiary books.

Extracting the trials balance from the ledgers.

Classifying source documents.

Common bookkeeping ethics

Hard work

Loyalty

Objectivity

Integrity

Current and up-to-date

Types of bookkeeping
The following are the types of bookkeeping:

Double-entry system

Single-entry system

Virtual bookkeeping

Bookkeeping software.

Source Document

What is a source document?

A source document is those document that contains all information’s on the

goods and services bought, sold, or paid for by a business. It is the original
record of transaction.it states the basic facts of the transaction such as its
date, purpose (description of a transaction), the quantity of the goods
exchanged, amount of money involved, name of the seller and buyer and so
forth.

Uses of source documents

It is used for:

Record purposes.

Accounting purposes.

Auditing purposes.

Legal purposes

Types of sources documents

The types of sources documents include the following:

Purchase order

Cash receipt

Invoice

Cash register

Tapes

Credit

Debit note

Deposit ships

Withdrawal slips

Cheque

Purchase order:

This is a statement sent by the buyer to the seller. This order may be in the
form of a letter or may be prepared on a printed form. Description of the
goods to be bought, the amount to be bough, address of delivery, the unit
price of items and the delivery date must be changed to show on the order.

Cash receipt:

This is written or printed acknowledgement on a piece of paper that money

has been received. It is referred to as sales slips. It shows the date of
payment, the person who made the payment, the amount and the signature
of the receiver.
Cash register tapes:

A cash register is a machine for a quick, easy and accurate transaction. Each
item sold is clearly indicated and the prices totalled-up. This is registered on
the tape and at the end of the day, becomes a source document.


Cash register book:

At the end of the business day, entries are made into a cash register book
from the receipt books. These are found in stores or shopping malls with a
large volume of sales

Invoice:

It is a document prepared by the seller and sent to the buyer of goods or

services. An invoice shows the items of sales, the number of goods sold,
description of the supplier, discount granted etc. It is mostly prepared in
duplicate. It also serves as a receipt.
Credit note:

A credit note is a document prepared and sent by the seller to the buyer for
goods or not as ordered.

Debit note:

This is written out by the seller to the buyer to correct an undercharge or

when goods are not charged on the invoice.

Deposit and Withdrawal slip:

These are commonly found in banks and some other financial institutions.
Whenever a customer wants to lodge in money into an account, he makes
use of a deposit slip issued by the bank. If on the other hand, he or she
wishes to withdraw money from a savings account, a withdrawal slip of the
bank is filled and presented to the cashier.

Cheques:

A cheque is a negotiating instrument instructing a bank to pay a specified

sum of money to the person whose name is written on it. Money can be
withdrawn either by the account holder authorizes to withdraw. A cheque can
be crossed or open.

A cross cheque is a cheque that has two parallel lines drawn with or without
any words, generally on the left-hand top corner or the middle of the cheque.
A crossed cheque is payable only through a collecting banker and not directly
at the counter of the bank.

Journal

Meaning of journal

The journal is a book of original entries or prime entries, which recorded

transaction in chronological order that is a day by day recording of
transactions arranged according to when something happened. Journal can
equally be referred to as a daily record into which transactions are entered
and classified as debit DR and credit CR before they are posted to the
ledgers. The journal has columns for date particulars, folio, debit and credit.
The entries are recorded and explanation will be given to show the nature of
the transactions, this is referred to as narration.

Double Entry Bookkeeping

Double-entry bookkeeping means that every debit entry must have a

corresponding credit entry. This is a principle or rule that is followed globally
in the bookkeeping system.

Every financial transaction has two aspects of it. These are the giving and
the receiving parts. So the double-entry system stipulates that to make a
complete recording, the bookkeeper should:

Debit the receiver

Credit the giver

Therefore, the double-entry principle state that for every debit entry, there
must be a corresponding credit entry or for every credit entry there must be
a corresponding debit entry, vice versa

All expenses and losses are to be debited.

All receipts and profit are to be credited

The fundamental concept of accounting is that every business transaction in

money or money-worth has two effects: the receipts of a benefit by one
account and the giving of alike benefit by another account. Thus, if a value is
given, it is also received. The meaning of this is that where there is a giver,
there is also a receiver who is called a debtor. The first Golden Rule of
bookkeeping, therefore, states that you debit the receiver and credit the
giver.

In the process of debiting the account, receiving the value and crediting the
account surrendering the value, you end up recording every transaction
twice, once as a debit entry and again as a credit entry. Every credit entry
must have a corresponding debit entry, and every debit must have a
corresponding credit entry.
Ledgers

Meaning of Ledgers

A ledger is a book or digital record that contains a record of business

transactions.

Classes of Ledger

The three classes/types of ledgers are the general, debtors, and creditors.

I. General Ledger

A general ledger is a ledger used for recording all other accounting

transactions such as receivable, inventory account, cash account,
investment account, machinery account, etc.

II. Debtors Ledger

A debtors ledger is a ledger used for recording all sales on credit.

It is also known as as sales ledger.

III. Creditors Ledger

A creditors ledger is a ledger used for recording all the goods made on credit.
It is also known as as purchase ledger.

8. Classification of Accounts

I. Personal Accounts

Personal accounts are the accounts used for recording all transactions that
are related to individual persons, firms, companies, or other organizations.

II. Impersonal Accounts

Impersonal accounts are the accounts used for recording all transactions that
are not related to individual persons, firms, companies, or other
organizations.

There are two (2) types of impersonal accounts – real and nominal accounts.

III. Real Accounts

Real accounts are permanent accounts that still continue at end of

accounting period.
Examples of such accounts include machinery accounts, land accounts,
furniture accounts, cash accounts, and accounts payable accounts.

Mostly, real accounts are included in the records of balance sheet of the
business.

IV. Nominal Accounts

Nominal accounts are temporary accounts that are closed at the end of
accounting period.

Examples of nominal accounts include sales, purchases, gains on asset sales,

wages paid, and rent paid.

Nominal accounts are used for preparing income statements, trading and
profit and loss accounts.

Introduction to Keyboarding

Keyboarding can be defined as the process of typing text into a device such
as a computer by pressing keys on the keyboard.

IMPORTANCE OF KEYBOARDING 1. It helps maximize time at work 2. It helps

reduce risk of typing wrong data 3. It makes job seekers more marketable

CORRECT SITTING POSTURE FOR KEYBOARDING 1. Body position: Always sit

with your back straight against the chair 2. Keep your feet flat on the floor 3.
Place the keyboard on a flat surface 4. The monitor should be at eye level
when looking straight 5. Put your finger in upright position.

Similarities between a the Typewriter and Computer Keyboard

The similarities between typewriter and computer keyboard are as follows:

 1. Both are input devices.

2. Both are used to produce data.

3. Both are used for typing documents.

RECEPTION OFFICE

Meaning: The reception office is where visitors to an organisation are

received and attended to. It is the first point of physical contact with a
company or an establishment.

A good reception’s office should have the following;

Reception desk and good office.

An office chair for the receptionist.

Chairs for guests, while waiting.

A table to hold literature, magazines or to provide guests with a place to put

their briefcase or laptop while waiting.

Wall clock

Calendar

Visitor’s book

Stapler etc.

Receptionist

Meaning: a receptionist is an important member of a business organization.

He/she is the point of communication between the organization and the
external environment.
The receptionist is therefore strategic to the organizational accomplishment
of goals. He/she may grant security services like granting pass or permit
clients and reporting suspicious characters to the security unit.

The work of a receptionist is usually performed in a waiting area such as a

lobby or front desk of a business organization.

Importance of the receptionist

The following constitutes the importance of the receptionist.

The receptionist assists in receiving visitors that come into the company or
organization.

He/she also helps in directing visitors to the very offices they want to go to.

The receptionist ensures that letters and mails are sorted and handled with
the utmost care.

He/she answers telephone calls on behalf of the other officers in the

establishment.

The receptionist can also help to set appointments on behalf of his boss.

One important duty of the receptionist is to keep office records safe, by

storing them in the computer or other storage devices.

Qualities of a receptionist

The receptionist should maintain certain welcome attitudes, positive

dispositions and essential qualities, in order to do the job successfully.

The attributes are;

 He/She should be calm and courteous at all times, regardless of the visitor’s
behaviour. The receptionist should not show personal feelings concerning a
customer’s or visitor’s behaviour.

A receptionist should be attentive to customers/clients.

He/She should be neat and well-groomed in appearance.

A receptionist should respect confidentiality and show discretion in conduct.

This implies that the receptionist should not gossip about what he sees or
hears at the workplace.

He/She should show maturity in handling issues presented, and exhibit good
human relations skills.

A receptionist should be polite in answering questions. This includes using

“sir” or “ma” while responding and in a clear and cheerful voice.

A recewptionist should be patient when dealing with visitors/customers and

co-workers.

He/She should demonstrate loyalty and devotion to duty.

Dependability: A receptionist should be dependable to be trusted by the

management of the organization.

He/She should possess very good communication skill. This includes:

answering telephone calls and communicating with the management of the
company on those important calls and issues of concern.

Ability to remember names, faces, in order to deal with customers

individually and also in relating with co-workers.

He/She must be knowledgeable about people and the type of work or service
that the organization does or provides.

Tips for answering telephone calls

Be organized. Have everything required ready, like your pen, desk pads,
message book, etc.

“who may I say is calling?” Will be a good way to find out the caller’s name.
Ask the caller how you may help or what his problem is. Listen attentively
and do not interrupt.

Thank the caller for calling.

Pass on the message accordingly and in time too.

Office correspondence