UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 811 
Contribution from the Bureau of Market? 
George Livingston, Acting Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
December 5, 1919 
A SYSTEM OF BOOKKEEPING FOR GRAIN 
ELEVATORS. 1 
By B. B. Mason, Assistant in Market Business Practice; Frank Robotka, Field 
Agent in Market Business Practice, cooperating with the College of Agriculture of the 
University of Minnesota; and A. V. Swarthout, Investigator in Market Business 
Practice. 
CONTENTS. 
Introduction 1 
Types of elevator accounting systems 2 
Description of the system and directions for 
its operation 3 
Grain receiving and shipping records 3 
Other grain records 6 
Cash Journal and P urchase and Sales Record 6 
Reports : Grain, Merchandise, and Manager's 10 
Ledgers 11 
Classification of General Ledger accounts — 12 
Trial Balance 31 
Closing the books 31 
Balance Sheet 35 
Income and Expense Statement 37 
Cost Analysis 40 
Balancing cash with bank 40 
Supply accounts settled with grain 41 
Conclusions 41 
Forms and illustrated entries 43 
INTRODUCTION. 
The close relationship between business success and efficient 
accounting is recognized by all who are familiar with commercial 
affairs. The accounting and business practices of marketing enter- 
prises located at country points present relatively difficult problems, 
because of three facts: First, these enterprises have grown rapidly; 
second, it is difficult to secure managers who are proficient in book- 
keeping; and, third, the volume of business of the individual organ- 
izations, in most cases, does not warrant the employment of a skilled 
bookkeeper. 
The general adoption of a uniform system of accounting sufficiently 
elastic to meet the requirements of organizations operating under 
varied conditions is believed to be not only practicable, but essential, 
1 This bulletin supersedes United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin 362: A System of ac- 
counts for Primary Grain Elevators, by John R. Humphrey, Assistant in Market Business Practice, and 
W. H. Kerr, Investigator in Market Business Practice. 
1 
