OFFICE ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 599 



Of elemental importance in any park department, be it large or small, 

 is the existence of a general journal and a general ledger. Briefly, the general 

 journal is a chronological record of the financial transactions of all park 

 activities. It contains a detailed entry of all appropriations and their pur- 

 poses, all bills paid and money received, but may contain only a summa- 

 rized entry of monthly expenditures for labor and similar items which are 

 elsewhere kept more in detail. The important thing is that it contains an 

 entry of each and every financial transaction affecting the activities of the 

 park department it is the authentic record. On page 600 is a sample 

 page of the general journal of a comparatively large park system. The 

 general ledger contains the same information as the general journal, except 

 that the information is here ledgerized into various classifications, usually 

 as to funds. In many of the small park departments these two books may 

 be so designed as to answer all the purposes for which financial records will 

 be required. Other park departments will find it necessary to compile more 

 detailed information than that shown in the general ledger and consequently 

 will have additional books of account known as subsidiary ledgers in which 

 is subdivided into more detailed classifications the information found in 

 the general ledger. 



In systems which expend hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, 

 very likely this information will not be sufficient and it will be necessary to 

 supplement the subsidiary ledger with supporting ledgers, statements and 

 compilations of various sorts. There will come a time in the department's 

 history when the method of making the entries in these books will require 

 considerable thought in order to determine the most economical method. 

 The books of account in the larger park departments will obviously be 

 varied, their relation one with the other will be quite complicated and known 

 to perhaps not more than one or two in the organization. Frequently the 

 relationship between certain of the books is so seldom referred to that it 

 is often beclouded on account of infrequent usage. It is of great assistance 

 to chart all the books of account in the office much in the same manner 

 that an organization chart is compiled. 



It will be noted that the receipts are charted on the left hand side of 

 the chart and the expenditures on the right. At the bottom of the chart 

 is shown the original sources of information. Next above it occur the first 

 postings of that information in the books of account. This is not generally 

 in the most usable form and consequently reports and compilations occur 

 which are grouped in the third row from the bottom. All of this information 

 has also been posted in the general ledger and the general journal which 

 are indicated at the top, and the figures in these two books control and 

 verify the figures in the "most usable form" group. A brief description of 



