BULLETIN OF THE 



No. 225 



Contribution from the Office of Markets and Rural Organization 

 Charles J. Brand, Chief. May 7, 1 9 1 5. 



A SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTING FOR COOPERATIVE 

 FRUIT ASSOCIATIONS. 



By G. A. Nahstoll, Assistant in Cooperative Organization Accounting, and. 

 W. H. Kerr, Investigator in Market Business Practice. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 



Object 



Memorandum records 



First method 



Books and special forms. 



Opening the books 



What accounts to keep. . 

 Closing the books 



Second method 



Cash disbursements . 



Express shipments 



Trial balance 



Binders 



Conclusion 



INTRODUCTION. 



There are already several hundred cooperative organizations in 

 the United States handling deciduous fruits and produce. New 

 associations or exchanges are formed from time to time as the farm- 

 ers in the various localities begin to realize the benefits to be derived 

 from the cooperative handling and marketing of their products. 

 Many of these organizations flourish for a short time, but each year 

 witnesses the dissolution of a number of them. These failures fre- 

 quently can be attributed either directly or indirectly to the lack of 

 a proper system of accounting and the subsequent verification of the 

 accounting record by means of a thorough audit. 



The system outlined in this bulletin has been devised to meet the 

 requirements of the smaller organizations handling deciduous fruits 

 and produce on a commission basis, and it is hoped that the assistance 

 given will lead to the adoption of simple, concise, and comprehensive 

 methods of keeping records of sales and reporting the proceeds of 

 such sales to the growers. A special system has been prepared for 

 the requirements of the potato exchanges which buy outright from 

 the grower or pool on a basis of the day's sales. 



While the system here given is sufficiently flexible to admit of a 

 great deal of expansion, it will not cover the varied needs of the 

 larger associations of the West and Northwest, where the cooperative 

 handling and marketing of fruit has been much more highly developed. 

 In a later bulletin the department intends to publish a discussion of 



Note. — This bulletin should be of interest to all cooperative fruit associations throughout the country. 

 88197°— Bull. 225—15 1 



