BULLETIN 811, U. S. DEPAKTMEISTT OF AGRICULTURE. 



MERCHANDISE PUKCHASES. 



Under the heading Merchandise purchases, on the debit side, are 

 cohimns captioned: Hard coal, Soft coal, etc., with provision for 

 entering both pounds and amounts. Purchases of merchandise of 

 this character are entered in their proper columns and only the totals 

 posted at the end of the month to the debit of their respective ac- 

 counts in the general ledger. Expense items which contribute direct- 

 ly to the cost of a particular line of merchandise, as, for instance, 

 freight on a car of hard coal, or labor for unloading it, should be 

 entered under Hard coal. Such items constitute a part of the cost 

 of the merchandise delivered at the elevator and should not be 

 charged to expense. Where more Imes of merchandise are carried 

 than the number of columns provided, such purchases must be re- 

 corded in the General ledger column and posted to the debit of their 

 respective ledger accounts in detail. 



Each amount under Merchandise purchases will be balanced by 

 an entry of a similar amount on the right hand page of the Cash 

 Journal, either in the General ledger column, to the credit of the firm 

 from which the purchase was made, or under Bank withdrawals, 

 to the credit of the bank, depending upon whether the purchase was 

 a time or cash transaction. 



LOCAL SALES OF MERCHANDISE AND GRAIN. 



Sales Ticket. — All sales of merchandise will be recorded on Sales 

 Tickets (Form No. 13, p. 46) at the time of sale. These tickets are 

 put up in pads and may be carried by the employee, so that it wiU 

 not be necessary to go to the ofhce after each sale to make the proper 

 record. At convenient times the information on the Sales Tickets 

 will be entered in the Cash Journal. 



The number of each Sales Ticket wiU be listed in the Sales ticket 

 number colunm, and the merchandise, in pounds and amount, will 

 be entered in the proper column under Local sales on the credit side 

 of the Cash Journal, i. e.. Hard coal, Soft coal, Flour, etc. 



Each sale of merchandise thus entered on the credit side m.ust be 

 balanced by an entry on the debit side, either under Cash or Accounts 

 receivable, depending upon whether the transaction is a cash or 

 charge sale. 



Where the volume of the retail business is large, it is recommended 

 that the Sales Tickets be recapitulated daily and an entry be made 

 in the Cash Journal for the total of the sales. The debits to the 

 Accounts Receivable Ledger wiU then be posted direct from the 

 Sales Tickets. 



The merchandise sales columns will be totaled at the end of the 

 month and the totals posted to the credit of the proper accounts in 

 the General Ledger. 



