No. 4.] DIVERSIFIED FARM ACCOUNTING. 151 



Well-kept accounts showing knowledge of details of your busi- 

 ness constitute one of the strongest arguments you can present to 

 the banker when in need of more capital. 



Small Farm Accounts. 



Principles only can be discussed with intelligence as individual 

 needs require different methods even for the same kind of business. 



Enlist the assistance of the young folks. It will increase their in- 

 terest. Interest generates ambition which spells success. 



Weigh your milk. Count your eggs. Milk weights and egg yields 

 kept on weekly or monthly sheets may eliminate unnecessary entries. 



Avoid details. Let the accounting system grow with your business. 



Necessary to use : a multi-column journal and card index, or in- 

 dexed bill-board file. 



Credit columns or pages are right-hand; debits left-hand. 



The many columns of the journal serve the purpose of different 

 books in keeping tlie business of departments separate, at the same 

 time showing practically the profits or losses of any department at 

 a glance. Debit column shows pay-outs, credit column, receipts. 



Cards or bills in your file may be used exactly as a page in a 

 ledger and accounts opened for departments the same as for cus- 

 tomers. Columns most frequently used should be nearest the name 

 columns, except that column to post from should come first of all. 



Column footings are carried forward from page to page, and 

 those of the credit side added together should always equal those 

 of the debit side. 



Accounts thus kept, by a double-entry system, provide for a 

 check on errors and proof of cash. 



Prove your cash daily by comparing the count of the money Avith 

 the difference between footings of the cash columns. 



It is preferable that your cash columns include check account at 

 the bank, though you may have separate columns for it if desired. 



All entries must first be made in the journal. 



Every time you credit or charge anybody or anything you must 

 charge or credit somebody or something to balance. 



A person's capital or assets consists of their possessions, real and 

 personal, cash on hand and in the bank, plus what is owed them, less 

 what they owe. 



Profit or loss for an exact period is the difference between the net 

 assets at the start and close of the period. 



Departments of which the credit side is larger than the debit side 

 make the amount of profit shown by the difference. 



Those where the debit side is the larger lose the difference. 



Sales for a given period consist of the money received plus what 



