COMPLETE SET OF COST ACCOUNTS 491 



300. Personal accounts. All personal and family ex- 

 penses are charged to the personal account. 



The value of the labor done by the farmer, and the value 

 of farm work done by members of the family and not paid 

 for, must be charged to the labor account and credited to 

 the personal account. 



Products used in the house should be charged to the per- 

 sonal account. Sometimes it is just as well to include 

 some enterprises in this account. For instance, if one cow 

 and a few hens are kept for personal use only, these may 

 be included with the personal account. The garden or a 

 lew pigs for home use may be similarly included. The 

 costs of these things are then charged to the personal ac- 

 count, and any products sold are credited to that account. 



Or me may go to the other extreme and split the per- 

 sonal account into food, clothing, furniture, household 

 expenses, and miscellaneous expenses. It is not necessary 

 to open a separate account with any item that occurs only 

 a few times in a year. For instance, if coal is bought only 

 a few r times in a year, the amount and cost can quickly be 

 picked out from the household expenses. It is not neces- 

 sary to have a separate account with fuel. 



301. Order of closing the books. Because men, 

 horses, and machinery each work for the other, it would 

 be difficult to find exactly what each cost. It is, there- 

 fore, best to estimate the value of some of the work in 

 closing accounts. Perhaps the best way is to estimate 

 the value of horse and equipment labor and charge the- 

 labor account with the time that these worked for the 

 hired-men. Also charge horses with equipment at the es- 

 timated rate for the time that equipment worked for 

 horses. The value of man and horse and equipment labor 

 can then be determined and charged to other accounts. 



