268 FARM ACCOUNTING 



rectly to any of the so-called productive elements. They 

 are closed into Loss and Gain account direct, instead of 

 being distributed over various other accounts first. Fire 

 Loss, which has been discussed in Chapter VII, is one of 

 these. Others are commissions earned through agencies 

 of various sorts, income from a threshing machine, corn 

 shredder or other similar outfit. 



If a farmer acts as an agent for silos, automobile^ 

 some other articles, any commission received as a result 

 of such agency should be credited to an appropriate in- 

 come account until the close of the year, at which time the 

 balance of the latter account is closed into Loss and Gain 

 account. Commission from the sale of silos, for example. 

 is credited to a Silo Commission account or to a Miscel- 

 "iis Income account. The former account is preferable. 

 Any expenses incurred in connect ion with the sales are 

 charged to the same account that receives the credit for 

 the commission. If the farmer spends ten hours during 

 the month of February in trying to sell silos, the labor 

 record should show such time under the heading "Silo 

 Commission" or "Miscellaneous Income. " The proper 

 charge would be made from the labor summary to the ac- 

 count named. The balance of the Silo Commission account 

 would show the net income from the "side line/' and 

 would be closed into Loss and Gain account. A Miscella- 

 neous Income account, if used in this way, might contain 

 several different classes of information. If so, it would 

 have to be analyzed in order to find the net result of any 

 specific "side line." 



Interest as an Element of Cost. There is no other ele- 

 ment of cost accounting that causes so much discu- 

 and difference of opinion as the question of interest. Some 

 consider that interest is an element of cost just as de- 

 preciation is. Others consider that interest is a distri- 

 bution of the business profits, such profits having been 



