8 BULLETIN 811, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
MERCHANDISE PURCHASES. 
Under the heading Merchandise purchases, on the debit side, are 
columns 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 lines 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 will 
not be necessary to go to the office 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 will 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 must 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 will 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. 
