

PREFACE ix 



Loss" or other terms in common use in commercial ac- 

 counting. An expense is not a loss, but a means of mak- 

 ing a profit. It is the profit-making agency of a business. 

 Without expenses one cannot expect to make a profit. 

 Nevertheless, this is considered as a distinction not essen- 

 tial to a correct understanding of the interpretation of 

 business transactions in the books of a farm ; nor is it es- 

 sential to the formation of correct conclusions to be drawn 

 from the accounts. The term "Loss and Gain" is used as 

 one which conveys to the average mind the idea of expenses 

 and earnings or income. It is also the one most in har- 

 mony with the entries in the account expenses (losses 

 so-called) to the left, incomes or gains to the right. The 

 name of the account then, as written at the head of the 

 allotted space, indicates on which side of the account an 

 item is to appear losses or expenses under the word Loss, 

 and gains under the word Gain. Of course, the rules of 

 debit and credit might be applied without any such assist- 

 ance, but everything possible should be done to make book- 

 keeping a matter of reasoning rather than a matter of 

 remembering rules. 



The method of presentation of the principles of account- 

 ing and the art of bookkeeping herein is somewhat unusual. 

 In general, it could be applied in commercial accounting. 

 It has been used by the author in lectures and note form 

 for the past several years. Its use seems partly substan- 

 tiated at least, as two or three elementary texts published 

 during the last year seem to have used a slightly modified 

 form of this method. It is especially applicable in farm 

 accounting. Students of the latter subject ordinarily do 



