﻿LIVE-STOCK SHIPPING ASSOCIATIONS. 23 



no debit will consequently appear in the live-stock account, when 

 the cash journal entry is made the advances account should be debited 

 for the amount due from the shipper when such amounts are collected 

 either in cash or by deduction from a subsequent shipment, the ad- 

 vances account will be credited. 



THE NEED OF PERMANENT RECORDS. 



Even when ordinary care is taken to file and preserve the papers 

 containing information regarding the business transacted, it seems 

 to be the general experience that sooner or later many or all of the 



Eapers are mislaid or destroyed. Unless the data they contain have 

 een recorded in permanent book form, the association is unable to 

 show what business has been done in the past or to verify the details 

 of transactions. 



RECORDS AS A PROTECTION TO MANAGERS, DIRECTORS, AND OTHERS. 



Embarrassing situations traceable to this lack of records develop 

 frequently. In a recent instance a question arose as to whether or 

 not the funds of the association had been properly accounted for. 

 Neither the secretary nor the manager had preserved a permanent 

 record of the shipments made or other business done. As a result the 

 association was unable to prove that the funds had not been properly 

 accounted for, and the manager was unable to prove that he was free 

 from blame. The fact that it was the practice to " check out " each 

 shipment completely did not save the situation. Many an honest man- 

 ager or officer has found himself in an exceedingly embarrassing 

 position because of his failure to keep the few books needed to enable 

 him to prove conclusively that his record is clear. Fidelity insurance 

 companies usually require that proper records be kept as a condition 

 to bonding officials responsible for the funds of an association. 



In view of the responsibility which rests upon the manager and the 

 board of directors in such matters, they should, for their mutual pro- 

 tection, insist that a complete, permanent record be made of all busi- 

 ness transacted, that this record be kept in the same manner from 

 year to year, irrespective of changes in the management. Further- 

 more, all accounts of sales and other details supporting records and 

 working sheets should be preserved so as to make possible a verifica- 

 tion of the entries made in the shipment summary record and the 

 cash journal. Only when kept in this way will the records adequately 

 serve as a protection to the manager, the directors, and the members, 

 and be a reliable guide in determining business policies. 



RECORDS AS A GUIDE TO MANAGEMENT. 



Mismanagement is one of the most frequent causes of failures in 

 business generally. The remedy for a large number of the cases of 

 mismanagement is to substitute facts for guesswork in the determina- 

 tion of business policies. The judicious use of the figures covering the 

 business from the time the association is organized eliminates much, 

 of the guesswork. For this purpose summaries are needed showing 

 the values, numbers, weights, shrinkage, itemized expenses, losses, 

 and other information resulting from the sale of live stock. These 

 data are also needed in calculating averages which throw light on the 

 relative economy of different methods of handling stock, the relative 



