8 BULLETIN 840, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



INCREASES AND CANCELLATIONS. 



The keeping of a special book for increases and cancellations, while 

 adding no data not already contained in the policy register, is never- 

 theless highly important. Its value lies in the convenience that such 

 a book offers in making up a summary of the business for any given 

 period. Such a summary is necessary at least once a year, when the 

 report to the State insurance supervisor and to the members gathered 

 in annual meeting is called for, and it is likely to be desired at least 

 quarterly, if not monthly, by the officers and directors of the com- 

 pany. In the preparation of such a summary the amount of insur- 

 ance written in the form of new policies issued is easily found from 

 the main record book. Similarly the amount which has regularly 

 expired may be ascertained by the relatively simple process of find- 

 ing the net amount (original amount, plus increases, less cancella- 

 tions) of a consecutive list of policies in the policy register. The 

 amounts added to or canceled from existing policies during the year 

 or other period for which a report is desired, however, will be scat- 

 tered over a considerable number of pages in the policy register, since 

 these adjustments are made not only in policies written during the 

 year in question, but also in policies one, two, three, or more years 

 old, depending on the term for which insurance is written by the 

 company. To go through the list of all these policies in the main 

 record book and pick out the changes that apply to the current xoeriod 

 becomes a tedious task. A special book for increases and cancella- 

 tions makes the process of summary one of mere addition of columns 

 of figures without any tedious search for the items to be taken into 

 account. This convenience more than offsets the extra work involved 

 in the double entry of increases and cancellations. 



In the models for this book (Form 2, left-hand page and right- 

 hand page) provision has again been made for keeping the record 

 by classes as well as for recording the total amount of increases and 

 cancellations. 



CASH RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS. 



The cash-receipts book (Form 3), and the cash-disbursements 

 book (Form 4) contain special columns for such classes of items as 

 frequently occur, and a catch-all column for such items of receipts 

 or disbursements as occur only rarely. Such a plan saves much 

 work when a detailed report of the company's affairs is to be pre- 

 pared. The column headings in these books are believed to be serv- 

 iceable for most companies, though it is advisable to consult the 

 blanks furnished for annual reports by the insurance supervisor of 

 the State in which the company operates, before deciding upon the 

 exact headings to be used for these columns. 



While it is the general custom to combine Forms 3 and 4 into a cash 

 book, the receipts occupying the left-hand page and the disburse- 



