BOOKKEEPING FOE GRAIN ELEVATORS. 31 
The individual needs and the peculiar conditions surrounding ele- 
vators in different parts of the United States may require accounts 
in addition to those discussed herein. If this be the case accounts 
covering special requirements may be opened along the same general 
lines. 
THE TRIAL BALANCE. 
From the discussion of the Journal and the Ledger, it will be noted 
that all entries made in the Ledger originated in the Journal. Two 
points therefore must be kept constantly in mind, namely: (1) No 
entries are to be made direct to the Ledger, but must be posted 
from original entries in the Journal; (2) the equality of the debits 
and credits of each page of the various Journal forms must be proved 
before any figures are either carried forward or posted to the Ledger. 
It follows, then, that if the Journal pages are proved to be in balance 
and the entries are correctly posted, the Ledger also must balance. 
In order to prove whether or not the equality of the debits and credits 
has thus been maintained, a Trial Balance must be taken of the Ledge r 
at the end of each month. A Trial Balance consists of a schedule 
of the open accounts in the General Ledger showing in one column 
the accumulated debits and in another column the accumulated 
credits of the respective accounts. The footings of the two columns 
must be equal. A stock form of Trial Balance book should be se- 
cured for the permanent preservation of the monthly Trial Balances. 
At the close of each fiscal period it is necessary to " close the books' ' 
and to prepare a Balance Sheet and an Income and Expense Statement 
in order to ascertain the results of the period's operations and the finan- 
cial position of the company. 
CLOSING THE BOOKS. 
By the expression "closing the books" is meant the process of 
balancing all income and expense accounts by transferring their 
balances to the Loss and Gain account. After this has been done, 
the only open accounts to be found in the Ledger are the balance- 
sheet accounts which represent the assets and liabilities of the com- 
pany. 
Preparatory to closing the books, it will be necessary to make the 
following schedules : 
Grain on hand and in transit List by kind, class, grade, and price. 
Merchandise List by kind, class, condition, and price. 
Storage tickets outstanding List by kind, class, grade, and price. 
Accrued storage on stored grain List by ticket number, date, bushels, and 
rate. 
Accrued interest on notes receivable List by name of drawer, date, time to run, 
interest rate, and amount of note. 
