A LOOK AT THE TREASURER'S OFFICE; ROBT. A. COWLES, TREASURER, RIGHT, AND R. G. ELY, COMPTROLLER LEFT. 



Financing for Permanency 



Careful Attention to Budgets, Expenditures And Investnrients Are Necessary to Good 



Management , 



RECORD books, figures, and bal- 

 ance sheets are distasteful to 

 most people. Yet financial state- 

 ments are to a business what the pulse 

 is to the human body. Both are an 

 index to the state of health. An ac- 

 curate business audit shows up the 

 rocks and shoals in the channel which 

 careful mariners avoid. It reveals 

 strong spots as well as weaknesses. 



Sound financing is necessary to busi- 

 ness permanency. Every depression 

 like a storm at sea wrecks countless 

 numbers of big and little enterprises. 

 Why? They were not financially pre- 

 pared for rough going. They were 

 fair weather craft. 



Organized Illinois farmers have de- 

 veloped in the lUinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation what is known far and wide 

 as a soundly-financed farm organiza- 

 tion. The companies I. A. A. members 

 more recently developed have taken on 

 the character of the parent association. 

 Not that the Association is rich. It 

 isn't. But in its field, Illinois farmers 

 may well f^l proud that their or- 

 ganization has attained an eminent 

 position. 



All this didn't just happen. It's the 

 result, first, of an ideal which founders 

 of the Association believed in strongly 

 enough to back with a membership fee 

 adequate to carry out a broad program 

 of service. Secondly, it's the result of 

 careful attention to budgeting, and 

 determination to live within the annual 

 income. 



So the finance department of the As- 

 sociation quietly and without glamour 

 has made and is making its contribu- 

 tion. Records and financial manage- 

 ment of each state-wide company are 

 centralized and supervised in the treas- 

 urer's office. Expenditures and budg- 

 ets of each department and company 

 are under the constant scrutiny of the 

 president, treasurer, comptroller, fi- 

 nance committee, and the board of di- 

 rectors itself. 



As treasurer for the past 14 years, 

 Robert A. Cowles has exercised care 

 and diligence in discharging the duties 

 of his office. 



The books of the Association are 

 audited by outside Public Accountants 

 twice a year. This practice is followed 



also by the associated companies. In 

 addition the records of the several in- 

 surance companies are inspected an- 

 nually by examiners of the State Insur- 

 ance Department. Each associated com- 

 pany has its own bookkeepers but all 

 are under the supervision of the comp- 

 troller. 



The comptroller is responsible for 

 getting up the monthly financial re- 

 ports for the board of directors, for ad- 

 vising the officers and the department 

 directors, service board, and active 

 managers about their expenditures in 

 relation to the annual budget. He al- 

 locates the charges among the various 

 divisions and assists the treasurer in 

 gathering needed financial information. 



Since the organization of the auto- 

 mobile, life, and fire, hail and wind- 

 storm insurance companies, investment 

 of funds belonging to the policyholders 

 has been a growing problem. A. R. 

 Wright, former vice-president and 

 chairman of the Finance Committee, 

 now is giving almost full time to this 

 important phase of the treasurer's 

 work. Mr. Wright is chairman of the 

 (Continued on Page 11) 



10 



I. A. A. RECORD 



