DIVIDENDS IN COOPERATIVE GEAIN COMPANIES. 5 



ward the standardization of the operation of cooperative marketing 

 organizations/ and especially should they unite on a uniform system 

 of accounting records. 



DIVERSITY OF CONDITIONS AND METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION. 



The methods of distribution of dividends, however, must be modi- 

 fied to fit the varying conditions under which elevators operate. The 

 cooperative principle of marketing is applied to the single com- 

 nmnity and to areas embracing counties and even districts of several 

 counties each. Any method of doing business which contemplates 

 the management of these organizations must be as varied as the 

 business with which it is used. In dealing with such methods or 

 systems- the general classes of enterprises previously outlined will 

 be considered, but since few elevator organizations are able to conduct 

 their business under exactly the conditions of any of the groups cited, 

 it is probable that a determination of profits on a pro rata basis 

 necessarily will be a combination of some of the plans described. 



PATRONAGE DIVIDEND RECORDS. 



The method of accounting in a single cooperative elevator is not 

 unlike that which would be employed in any other single elevator, 

 except that certain records must be kept which will show the total 

 business transacted between the elevator and each of its patrons. 

 This total includes the business conducted by the elevator of both 

 purchasing and selling. For the single elevator the simplest method 

 of accounting for the business transactions can be obtained through 

 the use of what may be called the patronage ledger. This ledger is 

 so arranged as to receive the tabulation of bushels and pounds of 

 each kind of grain purchased and of the selling value of all com- 

 modities of merchandise sold. The record of grain purchased may 

 be obtained from the stubs of the checks given in payment for grain, 

 and the amount of sale of each kind of merchandise may be simi- 

 larly obtained from the duplicates of the sales tickets. In this 

 ledger the requisite number of sheets is assigned to each customer, 

 so that at the end of the year the total business transacted with each 

 patron is recorded under his name. 



BASIS OF DISTRIBUTION. 



When the books of record of the company have been closed for 

 the year and the profit determined a certain percentage on the capi- 

 tal stock outstanding can be paid as a dividend. After deducting 

 this percentage from the total amount of profit a determination can 

 be made of the amount of money still on hand available for distri- 



1 Kerr, W. H., and Nabstoll, G. A. : Cooperative organization business methods, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 178. 1915. 



