EFFICIENT OFFICE SYSTEM 



23 



word "accounting'' is used in place of the word '*book- 

 keeping/' which impHes simply a method of recording 

 sales, credits and debits, whereas accounting has a broader 

 meaning.) As with your filing equipment, standardize 

 on some one of the better known systems of accounting, 

 selecting, preferably, a loose-leaf system that can give you 

 other facts than the mere story of debits and credits. In 

 these days of heavy competition and small margins there 

 must be a knowledge of costs and profits and an ability 

 to tell vital facts about your business. (For some ad- 

 mirable suggestions as to simple cost accounting for grow- 

 ers, see Appendix A, page 83.) 



The correspondence file is something that almost 

 every business makes use of. But too often it is confined 

 more strictly than it should be to '^correspondence.'' 

 It should include not only letters, but also records of your 

 conversations when they relate to orders and other busi- 

 ness matters of importance. For instance, if a customer 

 calls and you quote him verbally on certain trees, put 

 that fact in writing, date it and file it. 



Files should be gone over yearly and combed of useless 

 matter; the semi-important documents may be ''retired" 

 to boxes where they can be reached if needed. Around 

 the first of January is a good time to do this. 



Yoii will find it very helpful to keep also an advertising 

 record in the form of a scrapbook. Every bit of 

 advertising that you do should be pasted in this book, 

 together with a short written record of how much it cost 

 you, how many copies were used, how successful it was, 

 etc. When you come to plan advertising in after years 

 you will find this book useful in determining what things 

 really pay. 



After you have all the above-mentioned factors in 

 working order you can pat yourself on the back and con- 



