28 BULLETIN 590, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The manager should include in his report a brief summary regard- 
ing other features of the operation of the business for examination by 
the directors. 
CLOSING THE BOOKS. 
Preparatory to closing the books, an inventory should be taken of 
all supplies on hand, and this schedule should be written up in per- 
manent form. With this should be included a schedule of expense 
items, such as postage, stationery and supplies on hand, and of- the 
unconsumed balances of such accounts, as prepaid insurance and pre- 
paid taxes. 
The balances of all expense accounts and income accounts should 
be transferred to the profit-and-loss account in order to ascertain the 
net profit or loss for the season’s operations, and this balance then 
should be transferred to the surplus account. After the books are 
closed and a post-closing trial balance has been taken to prove the 
mechanical accuracy of the work, the various financial and cost 
statements are made up for presentation to the members. 
As a guide for the preparation of a financial statement, or balance 
sheet, to portray the condition of the business at the close of the year, 
the statement shown on page 29 is submitted. 
