36 



BULLETIlSr 381^ U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



Form 20.— GENERAL LEDGER— Continued. 

 COUPONS. 



(6) 



1915 







i 





1 



1915 









; t 



Dec. 



31 



Redeemed 



26 



19,600 



00 ! 



Jan. 



1 



Balance 





160 00 





31 



Balance 



1 

 i 



150 



00 



De-. 



31 

 31 



Issued 



26 

 27 



12,390|00 

 7, 200 00 







1 







1916 







1 















Jan. 



1 



1 



Balance 





150 00 



General Ledger. 



The General Ledger contains the accounts of the business as a 

 whole. It contains in summarized form the accounts showing the 

 resources, habihties, losses and gains, and the administrative accounts' 

 In a corporation all the general ledger accounts are impersonal, even 

 when a credit business is done either with creditors or customers, or 

 both. A convenient type of ledger is shown in Form 20. 



It is very 'desirable from every standpoint that the accounts of 

 similar businesses be standardized so that one business may profit 

 by the experience of the rest. The Harvard Classification ^ of 

 retail accounts has therefore been adopted to a considerable extent 

 as the ledger accounts. They are equally adapted to large or smaU 

 businesses. The titles and their explanation are as f oUows : 



EXPLANATION OF THE GENERAL ACCOUNTS. 



There are only two classes of accounts in the General Ledger, 

 namely, accounts with property and nominal accounts. The accounts 

 with property represent, not only accounts with physical property, 

 but also property belonging to the business in other people's posses- 

 sion, such as accounts receivable, commission due, interest, and so on. 

 The nominal accounts are those showing losses or gains, or the results 

 of the business, such as interest, taxes, insurance, salaries, general 

 expenses, etc. In so far as property accounts show appreciation or 

 depreciation, and also if the property has been sold for more than its 

 cost, such accounts represent also losses or gains. This is true of 

 merchandise accounts, real estate, and furniture and fixtures. 

 The titles of the accounts and their contents are as follows : 

 1 and 2? Cash. — This balance includes (1) the amount set aside for 

 a revolving fund and for petty expenses, as explained on page 29, and 

 (2) the balance due from the bank or banks. This part of the cash 

 account should agree exactly with the bank statement, due regard 

 being taken for the outstanding checks. 



1 Harvard Universitj- — Bnreaii of Business Research. Bulletin No. 3. Harvard System of Accounts for 

 Retail Grocers. 1914. 

 - The numbers correspond to the items in the Manager's Report, Form 7. 



